British Supersport 2009: Who to look out for

The 2009 British Supersport paddock is starting to take shape. But who should you be looking out for next season?

The 2008 Champion, Glen Richards, has been rewarded with a spot in the factory HM Plant Honda line-up for next year and third place finisher Ian Lowry has also stepped up to the litre class.

So who will be challenging for the title? Who will be the underdogs? And where are the surprises going to come from?

In this week’s MCN we’ve given you a provisional line-up of who has signed to go where in BSB and BSS.

And here are a few names to look out for in the Supersport class:

MAP RACEWAYS YAMAHA
Billy McConnell
A mediocre season in BSB meant the offers were few and far between for McConnell by the end of the season. Hudson Kennaugh’s tantrum at Brands freed up a spot at MAP Raceways for 2009 and McConnell is a proven Supersport race winner. He has Ronan Quarmby and Allan-Jon Venter as team-mates in ’09.

SETON RACING
Hudson Kennaugh
The South African finished runner-up in the 2008 BSS championship behind Glen Richards with three race wins. He joins tuning specialists Seton Racing who will name a second rider in the coming weeks.

TRIUMPH
Paul Young
Youngy continues his relationship with Triumph and will stick in the Supersport championship for 2009. His development work for Triumph has proved invaluable in the past three seasons. Last year’s BSS Champions are still looking for a title sponsor though, but still aim to run a two-man BSS team with a Junior Superstock entry, too.

HM PLANT HONDA
Steve Plater
With a debut victory on the Isle of Man in the Supersport class and two victories in the British Supersport series, Plater’s career shows no signs of slowing down, even at the tender age of 38. A possible title contender is BSS next year.

GEARLINK KAWASAKI
Chris Martin
With sixth place overall in the championship standings Chris Martin completed a successful season with the factory-backed Kawasaki squad in 2008. His third and two fourths being the highlight, he has resigned for the factory-backed Kawasaki Supersport team for another year of BSS action.

ROB MAC RACING YAMAHA
Dan Linfoot
Linfoot is a proven two stroke man, graduating through the British 125cc series and going onto two years in 250 Grand Prix. He ran in the World Superstock 600 Championship last year as team-mate to Gino Rea at StoneBaker Yamaha taking a couple of wins. Rob Mac signed him up to ride at Macau and will stick with him for 2009.

To get the full run down of riders get your hands on the December 3 issue of MCN.