Isle of Man TT lap record-holder Peter Hickman has confirmed he will be present on the 2021 British Superbike Championship grid and will compete in major road racing events, but curiously has declined to reveal whom he will compete with.
A relative veteran on the short course circuit, the 33-year old has in recent years also emerged as one of the world’s most foremost road competitors, winning five races at the TT since his debut in 2014, while he currently holds the lap record around the Mountain Course at 135.452mph, which he achieved with the Smiths Racing BMW team.
Now Hickman has formally confirmed he has sourced a new contract for 2021 that will keep him on the BSB grid and on the start line for international road racing events… but the air of mystery around the announcements suggests it may not be under Smiths Racing’s stewardship.
“2020 definitely hasn’t gone the way we had hoped! It has been a really tough year for us, but we’ve had three incredible seasons recently where we’ve been very lucky so I guess we were due some bad luck, so you’ve got to take the rough with the smooth and 2020 was probably the best time to have it!
“It’s a shame we haven’t been able to showcase our full potential this year but we’re all heading to Brands ready to end the season on a bit of a high. Having a contract in place for next season already is brilliant and means I can head into the off-season focusing solely on next year!”
While this doesn’t necessarily mean Hickman hasn’t re-signed for Smiths Racing, it does raise the question as to why he’s swerved mentioning either it or an alternative destination.
Moreover, the imagery in the announcement - which came on his personal site - showing his Smiths Racing lethers present but 'washed out' would also add to this theory.
Should he be on his way out of Smiths Racing, it would mark an end of an era for both parties since - together with his road racing success that also includes success in the Ulster GP, Manx GP and Macau GP - he has reached the BSB Title Showdown on three occasions and has achieved four victories.
Suffice to say, you can colour us intrigued...
