Louth motorcycle ace Peter Hickman to stay with BMW team

The Louth-based rider, who won three races at this year’s Isle of Man TT and secured sixth place in the British Superbike Championship, will remain with the Gloucestershire-based team for the 2020 campaign.

“I’m really happy to be staying with Smiths Racing for a fourth consecutive year,” he said.

“The team has grown massively over these last three seasons and we have grown together.”

The Lincolnshire ace has consistently been the fastest BMW rider on the roads and short-circuits in 2019, despite having to hit the ground running with no pre-season testing this campaign.

As well as his TT success this year, Hickman dominated proceedings at the Ulster GP winning his two races on the Thursday and going on to win the five races on Saturday.

The results gave the Lincolnshire rider a place in the history books with a seven-win haul plus a new lap record for the 7.4-mile Dundrod course.

“This year we have done a lot of development with the new BMW S1000RR and I believe we have done a great job,” Hickman added.

“Now we really need to work out what we need to do so that we can start winning British Superbike races on a regular basis.

“This winter we can work on these things and it will be great to have the opportunity to test ready for next year and hit the ground running, unlike this year.”

Hickman’s 2019 season isn’t done just yet, however.

He will aim to continue his dominance on the road racing scene later this month when he jets off to the Orient for the internationally-renowned Macau Grand Prix.

Hickman will be bidding for a fourth win in five years at the famous Guia street circuit, with the meet taking place on November 16 and 17.