Racing stoppages “catastrophic” but must sit tight and wait

RAF Regular & Reserve Kawasaki team owner Lee Hardy says ongoing cancellations and postponements to racing is having a “catastrophic” impact to both his squad and riders but supports the measures taken amid the fight against the spread of the coronavirus.

The Lee Hardy Racing-run squad joined the rest of the teams in backing the tough decision to cancel this year’s Isle of Man TT, while the North West 200 has been postponed to an unspecified date following government health advice aimed to combat the coronavirus.

With its road racing programme effectively wiped out for this year, having recently announced new signing Paul Jordan, team owner Hardy is adjusting the team’s preparations as its BSB effort have also been paused following the postponement of the opening round at Silverstone.

“In all my years of road racing I have never been part of a situation like this before, it is such a shame when you have built your race bikes and as a team you have planned and made all the preparations ready to go to these events,” Lee Hardy said in a team statement.

“Preparations pretty much start once the chequered flag drops on the Senior race so it’s such a shame when everyone has put so much hard work and dedication in.

“These events are more than a race meeting; the heritage that goes along with the TT and North West 200, which was cancelled today (Tuesday), is second to none and missing events like these are catastrophic when your rider has trained all winter to take part in the largest motorcycle events of his career.”

Hardy has already confirmed he intends to offer Jordan a race seat in the team for 2021, while also aiming to enter him into selected Pirelli National Superstock 1000 championship rounds this year once the short circuit season is allowed to start.

The BSB opener at Silverstone has been postponed from April 10-12 due to coronavirus measures set out by the UK government on medical services and public events. RAF Regular & Reserve Kawasaki are set to line up for the 2020 BSB season with the re-signed Ryan Vickers.

“It’s just a case of sitting tight now and waiting. We can only keep our fingers crossed that the BSB season goes ahead and gives us all the racing fix we need,” Hardy added.

“Thank you to all of the teams’ sponsors that have helped with the preparations for these events and thank you to all the teams’ partners that have put endless hours in to delivering some amazing bikes.”