Tinmouth makes history as first lady of BSB
Jenny Tinmouth will make history in 2011 by becoming the first woman ever to compete in the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship, after agreeing terms to ride for Splitlath Motorsport this year.
Having already established a reputation for herself as the world's fastest female motorcycle racer, Tinmouth is preparing to push the boundaries back even further over the coming months. The 31-year-old has been working her way up to BSB since 2003 when she raced in the British 125GP Championship, proving to be consistently impressive and becoming the quickest woman around the daunting Isle of Man TT circuit in 2009 when she lapped at an incredible average speed of 119.945mph.
In a further display of girl power in what is a predominantly male-dominated sport, Tinmouth finished a close third in the 2010 British Supersport Cup - taking the honour along the way of becoming the first female ever to win a BSS Cup race - and she subsequently triumphed in the final round of the Hottrax British Endurance Championship at Cadwell Park in November. It is just such results that have now enabled her to fulfil her dream of racing a Superbike and of taking on her male counterparts at the highest level in the country.
"I'm over-the-moon to be in BSB this year and I still can't believe it!" she enthused as she prepares to run the #100 in 2011. "My ambition has always been to race in BSB. I've been trying for some time, and I think all my hard work over the past seasons has finally paid off. I know it will be a massive learning curve, but hopefully now people will see that girls can race too and then hopefully more will see it is possible if you work hard enough at it.
"I was so keen to get on a Superbike that I was looking at options of running myself in the Evo class, so to get a ride with a team like Splitlath is fantastic! After a couple of years in Supersport and a few TT rides, this is a natural progression for me, and it's wonderful to get the chance to do it. I'm incredibly grateful to John [Dimbylow - team owner] for giving me this opportunity, and I'm looking forward to seeing what I can do on a Superbike."
Tinmouth will partner former South African Superbike Champion Hudson Kennaugh in Splitlath's two-pronged BSB assault - with the team having competed at Evo level in 2010 - and she has already begun testing in Spain with last year's Aprilia RSV4. Dimbylow is convinced he now has a strong line-up with which to step up to the main championship.
"Jenny is a very talented rider and we were very interested in speaking to her after seeing her performance in 2010," he revealed. "She is a proven race-winner and is 100 per cent committed to the season ahead. She is a fantastic rider and certainly has the potential to be a very strong competitor in in the British Superbike Championship.
"I think she's the perfect team-mate for Hudson, and her arrival comes at the start of a very exciting time for the team. We are building a talented and strong crew, and will be continuing our relationship with Aprilia after coming to an agreement to receive engines and assistance from Italy. We are looking forward to making our British Superbike debut with a bang in April."
