Road Racing: FHO withdraw from the North West 200

The FHO BMW Motorrad team has withdrew from the 2023 fonaCAB and Nicholl Oils North West 200.

The FHO BMW Motorrad team has withdrawn from the North West 200 after an issue with the team’s carbon wheels. The team withdrew from the event after they were told by the organisers that they would not be allowed to race in the Superstock class.

This comes after the carbon wheels which the team were using were not allowed to be used in the event. However, the new BMW M 1000 RR comes with carbon wheels as standard on the motorcycle, which would mean that the standard wheels could not be used at the North West 200.

Teams are also not allowed to change the wheels from what originally came with the motorcycle. Both of the FHO Racing machines were passed by scrutineering on Tuesday and took part in both qualifying sessions.

The technical regulations state: “Wheels must remain as originally produced by the manufacturer at the time of sale into the dealer/distributor network for the homologated machine. 

“No Carbon fibre composite wheels are allowed, only aluminium alloy wheels are permitted to be used.”

The FHO Racing team also state that they raced with carbon-homologated wheels in previous years. The team said that they have raced with the wheels in both 2019 and 2022, in both Superstock races.

FHO Racing team’s statement:

“The FHO Racing BMW Motorrad team are withdrawing from the 2023 fonaCAB and Nicholl Oils North West 200 due to no confidence in the application of the Superstock technical regulations.

“The Superstock class technical regulations mandate the machines must fully comply with conditions regarding the wheels, where Superstock machines must remain with the originally homologated wheels from the manufacturer, which from BMW are carbon. It then goes on to prohibit carbon material, however aftermarket wheels are also not allowed and no mandated alternative specification is prescribed.

“The FHO Racing BMW M 1000 RR machines passed scrutineering on Tuesday (9 May) and were allowed to take part in all qualifying sessions before being informed they were not allowed to race moments before the Briggs Equipment Superstock race this evening.

“Having taking this issue out with the fonaCAB and Nicholl Oils North West 200 organisers, there is no confidence that the FHO Racing riders could take part in a race with the obvious dangers, and risks that road racing prevents and then the performance protested or disqualified on a technicality that is not adequately explained.

“The FHO Racing team have checked the 2023 technical regulations against those of 2022 and the regulations remain the same, where the team raced the carbon homologated wheels in both Superstock races, as well as the event in 2019.

“The effort commitment and logistics required to compete in the North West 200 are significant and this lack of confidence in the organisation renders the team’s participation in this year’s event impossible.

“The FHO Racing team would like to sincerely apologise to all its sponsors and fans, and the team are now looking forward to getting back out on the roads in a few week’s time at the Isle of Man TT Races.”

Image credit: FHO Racing BMW