SCOTTISH FLYER EASTON SIGNS FOR MAR-TRAIN RACING Former British Supersport champion Stuart Easton has joined Mar-Train Racing to campaign their R6 Yamaha in next season’s British championship. The Scottish rider will also return to the International North West 200 next May on a full stable of Yamaha machinery with the Northern Ireland based team. The 29-year-old flew into Belfast on Friday morning to meet team owners Tim and Sonya Martin and signed on the dotted line, in a deal that took less than 48 hours from start to finish. Easton’s pedigree in the British championship paddock speaks for itself, winning the Supersport title in 2002. He took the runners up spot the following season and has also recorded podiums and victories in the British Superbike class, and at the International North West 200 not forgetting his hat-trick of wins at the Macau Grand Prix. Easton said: “I knew that Tim and Sonya ran an impressive team and that the R6 Yamaha was the bike to be on in British Supersport. Even though they are a young team, I was impressed with their results this year, so I gave Tim a call and the deal was done pretty quickly. They have a good package and having ridden for a lot of teams I know how this game works, but I got very good first impressions when I went over to Northern Ireland to meet them on Friday [today]. I’m more than happy to be back in Supersport and even though we will be racing at the North West 200 which is an important race for Tim and his team my main focus will be one hundred percent on the British Supersport Championship. I’m now looking forward to getting a wee run out on the bike as soon as possible.” Team Principal Tim Martin added: “I’ve talked to a lot of other riders since the end of the season but when Stuart rang me on Wednesday night I was immediately impressed. He landed early this morning and by 12.30pm the deal was done simple as that. I’m really pleased to have him in our team and he is undoubtedly the best of all the options we could have signed for next year. He is a proven Supersport winner and champion and can also ride a Superbike, so to also have him for the NW200 is the cherry on the cake. We will now start to build an R1 Yamaha Superbike for Stuart to ride at the North West 200 alongside our R6, and with the support of Yamaha, we know we can be very competitive. He’s a down to earth lad with manners and his feet firmly planted on the ground, which is just what we were looking for.”