THE Santander TAG Yamaha team has taken the decision to withdraw from the 2020 British Superbike Season after being unable to solve a handling issue with the bike.
The issue is linked to a ‘persistent chatter’ issue among multiple technical problems that surfaced during the first two rounds of the championship.
Despite hard work by the team to get to the bottom of the handling trait, and even after sourcing assistance from suspension maestros Öhlins, the problem could still not be solved, and the team has decided to focus on rectifying the bike in preparation for the 2021 season.
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The statement released by the team reads:
“The team can confirm that after a challenging start to the shortened 2020 campaign that they will not be running both Dan Linfoot and Jack Kennedy for the remainder of the season due to continual chatter issues, allowing the team to focus on building a highly competitive package for the 2021 series.”
The team will now have the added bonus of time on their side, as they can solely focus on fixing the issue and getting the bikes, ridden by Jack Kennedy and Dan Linfoot, ready for the 2021 season.
The team has already secured Linfoot’s services for 2021, although he is free to pursue other rides in the 2020 season if he wishes. Kennedy has been offered a place with the team for next year, although at the time of writing he is leaving his options open.
![Dan Linfoot - Santander Salt TAG Yamaha [credit: Bonnie Lane]](https://cdn.visordown.com/styles/large/s3/Screenshot%202019-10-09%20at%2016.54.27.png?itok=-NU2O8dM "Dan Linfoot - Santander Salt TAG Yamaha [credit: Bonnie Lane]")
Speaking about the 2021 season, team manager Gary Winfield said:
“We’re really pleased to sign Dan once again for 2021 and to agree it so early on I feel is a real statement of intent from us. Throughout the issues over the last 18 months, Dan has remained incredibly professional and continued to do his job with the utmost integrity.
“It will mark his third season with us, and we’re delighted he made his decision as fast as he did. We and Dan know that what has happened over the previous six rounds of this season hasn’t been good enough, it was a mutual decision to for us to focus on next season, which we are now doing, and we wish Dan and Jack the very best of luck for the rest of 2020 season.”
The team will still compete in National Superstock 1000 and also the 600 class.
