Woodhall Spa star Steve Plater has been retained by top racing team HM Plant Honda and will switch classes to contest the 2010 Metzeler Superstock championship on board an HM Plant Honda Fireblade. It has been a while since the Lincolnshire ace contested the production based series – as long ago as 1998 – when he won the British Powerbike championship when riding for Sanyo Honda and although the series has had a change of name the class is still based on the use of standard production road bikes with a few permitted modifications and very limited tuning. The Honda Fireblade that Plater will be racing is not vastly different to the machine purchased from the showroom except perhaps for some race rubber, a different rear shock and a performance exhaust. Last season Plater realised a career ambition by taking the British Supersport title and is relishing the chance to ride in a different class next season. “There are some good riders in the class and some exceptionally good bikes out there so the championship will be extremely competitive next year,” explained Plater. “It is vitally important to manufacture a bike that is readily available in the showroom and very important both to Honda and myself that I go out there and try to win the championship.” Steve will begin his championship challenge at Brands Hatch over the Easter weekend of April 3 5. It is expected that Plater, the 2009 Senior TT winner, will once again contest the Isle of Man TT races and also the North West 200 for HM Plant Honda where he will line up alongside TT legend John McGuinness for a second season with HM Plant Honda.