Hydrex boss: BSB does it for us

Andrew Simcox is the Managing Director of Hydrex.

The company specialises in the rental and sale of mobile plant equipment with the rail, industrial and construction industries – some of the worst affected areas of business in the current economic gloom.

But Hydrex remains as the title sponsor of Shaun Muir’s Guisborough-based race team for a fifth successive BSB season with an even bigger commitment than before. We asked Simcox what’s in it for his company:

MCN: Why does backing Shaun Muir’s team work for your company?
Simcox: We’ve been involved since 2005 and motorsport works for us. I lot of our customers are involved with machinery and they have an interest in bikes.

MCN: So are you a bike fan?
Simcox: Personally I’m into car racing. We started sponsorship with a rally car and are alos involved in rallycross. We dipped a toe in British F3 with Nigel Mansell’s lads but it’s a rich man’s sport and the spectator counts are small.

They might only get 5000 at Silverstone. The support for BSB is fantastic and there’s a huge passion for the racing, no matter where you go in the country. The racing is so much closer and more exciting (than cars) and the thing I really like is how friendly everyone is in the paddock. Everyone is prepared to give you time.

MCN: What difference has backing Muir’s team made to Hydrex?
Simcox: Five years ago no one had heard of the company (outside of our own industry).  But for us it’s all about taking our customers to the races to meet the team, to be part of the team.

These days every penny does count when you invest in something like this but even I have been totally surprised by the way our name has become part of the series.

MCN: Has the current economic crisis affected your deal with the team?
Simcox: We’re trimmed out budgets like everyone else but we decided we would continue with the bikes.

MCN: How have things changed in the past five years since Hydrex has been with this team?
Simcox: We’ve seen an evolution of the team in that period and Shaun has to be very proud of what he has achieved with the new workshops and this years team line-up. We’ve seen the team grow year on year.

In the early days the budgets were small but the team has always been very professional. We were not front-runners then but we always knew the team could do better . We started top ten, not top five. Then last year James (Ellison) got on the podium and rode well in the Donington WSB round. 

We started the year top six to eight and ended up third to fourth. But that was with a brand new bike. This year we’re starting with a proven and improved bike and we’re very excited about that because we know we can be competitive.