Burrows secures ex-TAS Suzuki
John Burrows has purchased an ex-TAS Racing Suzuki superbike for the international and national road races in 2012.
The Irish rider, from Dungannon in County Tyrone, is a regular frontrunner in the national meetings in Ireland and a top ten challenger at the Isle of Man TT.
"Basically the bike is the same specification as Guy Martin's, except that it doesn't have any of the fancy electronics," Burrows said.
"Bruce Anstey set the lap record on it at Dundrod and it's been sitting around, so I had the chance to buy it from TAS.
"The big bike is the main one for me and it's the bike I enjoy riding most; I'm kind of putting all my eggs in one basket with it this year and hopefully I can get a few decent results.
"I surprised myself last season to be honest because I was right in the battle with Michael and William Dunlop at Athea and finished third in the Grand Final.
"Then at Killalane I finished as the runner-up to Ryan Farquhar in the Open race by just 0.8 seconds and I think that was as hard a race as I've ever given Ryan, so it was nice to know I could still run at that pace because I thought those days were over if I'm honest," he added.
"I also finished third in the Grand Final at Killalane behind Michael and Ryan and lapped faster than Ryan did, so Killalane was a good meeting for me at the end of the season."
Burrows' focus may be on the Superbike class this year but he will continue to ride in the 650 Supertwins series as he bids to win the Irish title for the third year in succession.
He also has the offer of a Supersport machine but is mulling over the option before making a final commitment.
"At the TT I'll be riding in the electric race again for Lightning Motorcycles and I'm due to go over to the USA at the end of February or beginning or March to test the bike for Richard Hatfield," he said.
"The bike was badly under-developed last year but apparently it's had a lot of work done to it since and it will be nice to have the chance to go to America for three days of testing to see how much it's improved."
Burrows rarely misses a national road race and he intends to compete at most of the smaller meetings this year, although the Isle of Man TT is the event that takes top billing on his fixture list.
"The TT is always the big one for me and I can't wait to go back there again," he said.
"Last year wasn't a great year for me because the weather wasn't great during practice week and I had a few mechanical problems in the races.
"When I started out in road racing it was never about money, it was always to enjoy myself and that's still why I do it; if I get some prize money along the way then it's a bonus."
