2017 sees North Yorkshire motorcycle racer, Mike ‘Spike’ Edwards, in his 35th year of competition and already this year, he has kicked it off in style at the third round of the Bahrain Superbike Championship last weekend.

The Harrogate veteran’s longevity is a career achievement in itself, whereby he has raced a motorbike every single season since starting in 1982, and celebrated it in style by taking a win and second place meaning he scored enough points to restore his placing to second overall in the championship after the disappointment of a mechanical fault at the previous event.

Mike’s main opposition is from the Qatari riders, Mashel Al Naimi, who’s leading the championship, and Fahad Al Sowaidi who’s snapping at Mike’s heels in third place just three points back. The championship is an international ‘fly and ride’ one make race series with everyone riding Ducati 899s and Mike’s finding it a bit tricky to get the hang of the bike as he doesn’t get chance to work with set up or practice between the events.

Having just celebrated his 55th birthday, Edwards shows no sign of slowing down and is very happy to have been on the podium for every race he’s finished in the Middle Eastern series. To get back to Bahrain for the remaining rounds, Mike is hoping to attract some financial support from a local company in order that he can get back to the Gulf to finish the championship in style. For further information drop him an email at mail@mike-edwards.net.

The Milwaukee Aprilia World Superbike Championship team have completed their European pre-season testing at the Portimao circuit in Portugal and Jerez in Spain with riders Eugene Laverty and Lorenzo Savadori aboard the new generation Aprilia RSV4-RF for Shaun Muir’s Guisborough-based squad.

Having switched from BMW last year, the 2015 British Superbike champions enjoyed a busy test plan to work through, focusing on bike set up and verifying new parts for the Italian machine. After finishing second and fourth at Jerez, the team headed to Portugal looking to enhance their understanding of the Aprilia and make the most of their pre-season track time. Irishman Laverty, improving greatly throughout the test period, finished second whilst Italian Savadori ended up third fastest.

The team returned to their Cleveland base to complete their preparations for the pre-race test at Phillip Island in Australia, followed by round one of the 2017 World Superbike Championship at the New South Wales track later this month.