BSB: Tim Neave will race for MCAMS in 2023

Tim Neave has signed to race for the MCAMS Yamaha team in 2023 and will race alongside Jason O’Halloran. The Lincolnshire rider will make the jump to the superbike class from the Pirelli National Superstock championship.

In 2022 Neave rode for the MCAMS supported Edward 1902 team, where Neave would have a difficult season. He finished seventh in the championship, taking a double race win at the first round at Silverstone.

His season would be in doubt after a crash at the Knockhill test, which led to Neave missing two rounds. At the time he had a 19-point championship lead, which quickly got taken away from him, as Davey Todd went on to win the title.

Neave will replace Scottish rider, Tarran Mackenzie, as he prepares to join the Bennetts British Superbike championship for 2023. It was announced that after five years with the team, Mackenzie would part ways.

He will be joining his twin brother Tom Neave, on the grid for next season’s Bennetts British Superbike championship. The 2021 Superstock 1000 champion moved to the superbike class in 2022 and will continue for the factory Honda team in 2023.

Neave said: “To get the call up to ride for McAMS Yamaha is a dream come true. When I signed to ride for the team last year, in the back of my mind I was thinking if I could do a really good job on the Superstock bike and a seat became available, it would be the dream but I didn’t think it would actually happen!

“Raceways are one of, if not the best teams in the paddock – they’ve certainly won more races than anyone else in recent years so I can’t think of a better team to step up into BSB with. I loved riding the R1 Superstock bike, it really suited me as a rider and from what Jason has told me, the Superbike has similar characteristics so I’m looking forward to getting out on it for the first time. BSB is one of the toughest classes in racing, but I’ll give it my everything to make sure this opportunity isn’t wasted on me.” 

Team Owner Steve Rodgers commented: “When Tim joined the team to race the Superstock bike in 2022 we were all really impressed by him. Not only was he super quick straightaway, but his attitude and the way he went about things meant that he fit in to the team immediately. There’s no doubt had the Knockhill accident, which wasn’t his fault, not occurred, he’d have continued to fight for the Superstock title.

“When he was fit, he was super-fast on the R1 and the Superstock bike has a lot of similarities to the Superbike, including the fact that we couldn’t run any traction control on the stocker, so the jump isn’t as big as it is with some other manufacturers. There’s still a lot to learn, but we are confident he’ll pick it up and look forward to seeing what he can achieve.”

Image from britishsuperbike.com