BSB: Riders Motorcycles call it a day on racing

Riders Motorcycles have decided to bring the curtain down on their racing activities after several decades of competition in various championships.

Starting out in the nineties, Phil Jessopp’s squad would go on to become British Superbike and North West 200 race winners as well as podium finishers at the Isle of Man TT and Macau Grand Prix.

Announcing the news, Martin Jessopp, who has ridden for his Dad’s squad in the Bennetts British Superbike Championship since 2008 and support classes prior to that, said: “Riders aren’t going to be racing any more, we’ve decided to sell up the racing part of the business as the work commitments in the dealerships are getting busier and busier.

“We’ve had a good few years at it! The old man started out in World Endurance back in the nineties and then I started racing again in 2000. We’ve been in BSB with riders like Stuart Easton, Sean Emmett and Michael Rutter and since then I’ve run pretty much every year.

“It’s not been an easy decision, it’s something we’ve been thinking about long and hard.”

Jessopp says that while the team will stop and sell all their assets, he is still planning to do some racing in 2019.

“On a personal level, I plan to do some racing. I’m not quite sure what yet, I’ve not spoken to any teams. I wanted to take some time off after Macau and after that I’ll think about some plans moving forwards. I haven’t got the time to commit to a full championship of BSB, but I haven’t ruled out stepping in at points. I still want to do certain races so that’s where we’re at.”