Lee Hardy Racing, better known as RAF Regular & Reserves Kawasaki, has confirmed it will retain youngster Ryan Vickers for the 2020 British Superbike Championship season.
The 21-year old was one of the more eye-catching BSB rookies to debut in 2019 after the RAF Regular & Reserves team – runners-up a year earlier with Jake Dixon – put its faith in promoting burgeoning talent by signing 2018 Superstock 600 Champion Vickers.
Though the sizeable step to the top-flight occasionally caught Vickers out, prompting the team to step back in favour of private testing mid-season when he suffered two back-to-back injuries, the Norfolk rider showed increasingly impressive flashes of pace towards the end of the year.
Picking up seven top ten finishes by the close of the season, though Vickers was expected to continue his association with RAF Regular & Reserves Kawasaki in 2020, the team has only now confirmed it.
“I am really excited about my second season in BSB and to stay with the RAF Regular & Reserve Kawasaki team is great because we can pick up where we left off last year and keep moving forward.
“Last year was only my first season in Superbikes and some areas were easier than I thought and some were harder, but this year we can start with some experience and that will help me as I have a better idea on what to expect. It was always going to be a big move from Superstock 600 to BSB but we had some good results and now I am looking forward to pushing to achieve more.
“Last year we showed we could be fast and we had top 10 finishes when we were in the right window and so this year I want to be doing that more consistently. If we are fine-tuning and getting in as many laps as we can do get the information we need, then the results should naturally improve and consistency is what builds a season.
“I am definitely excited for the first test to get back on the bike again and see where we are at as the team have been working hard over the winter.”
