Peter Hickman confirmed for Isle of Man TT Races debut in 2014
Leading British Superbike Championship rider Peter Hickman has confirmed he will make his TT Mountain Course debut at the 2014 Isle of Man TT Races fuelled by Monster Energy.
The 26-year old will campaign a BMW S1000RR in the Dainese Superbike, Royal London 360º Superstock and PokerStars Senior TT Races for the Ice Valley by Motorsave team, owned and run by fellow competitor Paul Shoesmith.
Hickman started racing in 2000 and after cutting his teeth in the British Minimoto and Superteen Championships, has been an ever-present in the British Championship paddock since 2004 when he won the National Superstock Cup for Hawk Kawasaki despite missing the first race because he was too young to ride a 1000cc machine.
A move to the main British Superstock Championship followed, and he finished ninth overall in 2005 with a podium at the final round before making the step up to the British Superbike Championship in 2006 when he rejoined Stuart Hicken’s Hawk Kawasaki squad.
After two seasons in the country’s premier series, Hickman was back in British Superstocks in 2008 where, riding for Ultimate Racing, he took a total of three podiums to claim an excellent third overall behind Steve Brogan and Jon Kirkham. That resulted in a move back to BSB where he sealed second in the 2009 Privateer’s Cup with a staggering 20 podiums from 26 races.
Hickman has remained in BSB ever since, enjoying his best year to date in 2011 with ninth overall, an excellent effort on the Quay Garage/Tyco Honda in a season that saw him narrowly miss out on a place in the ‘Showdown’. A podium – second – was claimed at Thruxton along with no less than 16 top ten finishes whilst a number of front row positions were also taken in qualifying.
In 2012 he started out with MSS Bathams Kawasaki but, after taking a brilliant ninth in the second World Superbike race at Donington Park for Crescent Suzuki, he moved to Buildbase BMW for the second half of the season. Last year saw him part of the Lloyd’s British GBMoto Honda set-up where more top ten finishes were achieved on his way to a strong eleventh overall.
Born in Burton upon Trent but now living in Louth, Hickman has visited the TT in recent years, studying the course in preparation for his debut. That homework has continued in recent weeks with more visits to the Island and his addition to the entry list adds even more depth and quality to an already excellent line-up.
Road racing is very much in the Hickman genes with father Dave having won the 1977 Lightweight Manx Grand Prix and been a British Championship regular in the late 1970s. He has since become a highly respected mechanic and engineer in the BSB paddock and was also a key member of the Norton Rotary set-up, remaining with the team in its various guises from 1988-1994.
Commenting on his TT debut, Peter Hickman said: “The TT has been on my radar for a while now when the opportunity came up with Paul Shoesmith I jumped at it. I’ve already met up with the rider liaison officers Milky Quayle and Johnny Barton on the Isle of Man and their advice has been invaluable and I’ll be using the next few months to make sure that I get as much preparation in as possible before I make my debut.”