Triumph has announced it has signed Richard Cooper to race in the 2024 National Sportbike Championship aboard a Triumph Daytona 660.
Cooper will ride for Peter Hickman’s PHR Performance team in the new Sportbike series, whose season will begin at Oulton Park on 4-6 May.
Cooper, a two-time National Superstock Champion, raced a Triumph Street Triple 765 RS last year in the British Supersport Championship at Cadwell Park for PHR, and partnered Hickman himself at the Daytona 200 earlier this year, again on Street Triple 765 RS machinery. The Triumph Daytona 660 - which was launched earlier in 2024 - is yet to be raced in the UK, though, but Cooper has experience with the engine, which is also used in the Trident 660 and Tiger Sport 660, thanks to his role as a Triumph test rider.
On the announcement of Cooper joining the PHR Performance Triumph team for the upcoming National Sportbike Championship, the 41-year-old said: “For 2024 I’m really looking forward to competing in another new championship within the BSB paddock.
“The new Sportbike Championship looks like it’s going to be a class for the future with lots of manufacturers joining, which is great for racing.”
“I’m really pleased to be working with PHR Triumph again after I competed in the British Supersport championship last year for them at Cadwell Park. We’ve also just done the Daytona 200 where we have built a good working environment.
“I’m really looking forward to continuing to work together and also passing my knowledge on to what is a very young, enthusiastic bunch of lads. We’re all super excited to get things started on the May bank holiday weekend at Oulton Park.
“I was one of the first people to ride the new Daytona 660 and I knew straight away that it’s going to be a very competitive package in the class and one that we can fight for the championship with, which is our main goal for the year.”
Triumph Chief Product Officer, Steve Sargent, said: “We’re really happy to have Richard riding the new Daytona 660 Sportbike which has been race-prepared by PHR Performance. Richard brings his vast experience and proven talent to the team and he is also familiar with the 660cc triple engine from his role as a Triumph test rider.
“He and the PHR Performance team know what it takes to win and are hungry for success so we are excited to see what they can do in this brand-new Championship.”
Peter Hickman added: “We are super excited to be running 'Coopes' in the first Sportbike Championship on the new Triumph Daytona 660. PHR has been working hard over the winter to develop the race bike with Coopes and Triumph and it looks absolutely fantastic.
“This is a really exciting project for us and we are all looking forward to seeing how the bike performs out on the circuit. There’s an array of different riders signed up to race the Daytona 660 in the series and we hope to see more on track in the future.”
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