BSB: Clarke leaves Morello Kawasaki, permanent replacement to be announced

Australian Sam Clarke has parted company with reigning National Superstock 1000 champions Morello Racing Kawasaki after five rounds of the season. Clarke joined the team at the start of the season after a short, but promising spell in the National Superstock 1000 class in 2017, riding for CF Motorsport Yamaha. The decision comes two rounds after Josh Elliott left the team – although both riders’ reasons are completely unrelated.

Clarke’s best finishes of the season came at Brands Hatch Indy, with a pair of 7th places and apart from race two at Donington Park and race two at Knockhill – which he missed due to a warm up crash – the young Aussie had finished every race in the points.

“Following my recent injuries sustained at Knockhill I’ve decided to head back home to Australia. I am on the mend but need some well deserved rest and relaxation for the foreseeable future. This definitely isn’t the end of my career,” began the Australian, who currently lies 12th in the championship. 

“I’m going to be heading home to Australia and whether that means racing over there in the Australian Superbike championship or coming back to BSB next season, I am not sure. Myself and Steve Buckenham are still friends and he respects my decision; that is important and I wish him and Morello all the very best for the future.”

Team owner Steve Buckenham remained pragmatic about the situation and is looking forward to moving on with the rest of the season as defending champions.

“The National Superstock 1000 class is one of the hardest this year and you don’t have to be too far off the pace to feel like you are struggling. At the end of the day, people will say ‘crashing is part of racing’ but that doesn’t give any consolation to a talented young rider who is far away from home,” began Buckenham, who has seen his Morello Kawasaki team take two of the last three National Superstock 1000 titles.

“The main thing is that we are all still friends, there has been no animosity in the split whatsoever and we wish Sam a great future. Our focus is now on the remainder of the season and finding someone that will be partnering Luke Jones – who is getting more and more comfortable on the bike. There will be a replacement for Brands Hatch and then, a decision will be made on a long-term replacement shortly after.”

Clarke becomes the ninth rider to change teams in some capacity in the National Superstock 1000 class alone, as the trend of rider/team splits occurring at an unusually high pace in 2018.