GSE Pulling Out Of British Superbikes?
Cycle News Staff | November 30, 2009
GSE Racing, the reigning champions of the British Superbike Series, has announced that they are pulling out of the series due to a lack of sponsorship money.GSE, which won the title this year as the Airwaves Yamaha team with Leon Camier, has lost its sponsor of five years, Wrigley’s Airwaves, according to the team. The team is, however, making one final push to obtain a sponsor for 2010.”It is with great regret that we have had to issue the team with their notice of redundancy, with a view to withdrawing from the British Superbike Championship at the end of 2009,” team owner Darrell Healey said in a release issued today. “We have enjoyed tremendously our time racing in the most competitive domestic Superbike series in the world, and therefore this decision was not taken lightly. Alongside Yamaha, we will be doing all we can to try and secure a partner in the remaining time available, and greatly hope we can return to once again successfully defend our championship title.”Since 1997 GSE Racing has won British Superbike titles with Troy Bayliss, Neil Hodgson, Gregorio Lavilla, Shane Byrne and Camier. The team has also featured riders such as James Ellison, Chris Walker, Leon Haslam and James Toseland.”Everyone at GSE Racing is incredibly saddened that we may no longer be able to compete in the British Superbike Championship,” said team manager Colin Wright. “We enjoyed our most successful season ever in 2009. Leon Camier and James Ellison were the only two riders to have finished every race in the points (barring Leon’s exclusion at Cadwell) and we enjoyed numerous double race wins and double one two’s on our way to first and second in the championship standings. We were very much looking forward to continuing this success on into 2010 as we entered our second year in partnership with Yamaha, but unfortunately it looks like this will now not be.”I would like to take this opportunity to thank the whole team for their unrivalled dedication and hard work, our previous sponsors for their support, and of course the British Superbike fans.”
