Louth race ace Hickman tests for Dunlop at Le Mans circuit
Following the successful debut of his PHR Performance Triumph team at the opening round of the World Sport Bike championship, Louth racer Peter Hickman travelled to Le Mans at the weekend to take part in testing for Dunlop ahead of the Le Mans 24 hour Endurance race later this month.
As if running a successful business in Louth, (PHR Performance by Peter Hickman Racing) competing in the British Superbike championship, North West 200, Isle of Man TT races and other road racing series plus running his own team in the World Sport Bike championship, Hickman is also a test rider for tyre manufacturer Dunlop.
He explained: “The test went really well. I have been testing for Dunlop tyres for around eight years now.
"I do a lot for them with their development for all sorts of tyres from race specifications for Superbike all the way through to TT and Northwest 200 tyres.
"The test here at Le Mans is the pre-test for the 24 hour race on a few weeks time.
"We tested tyres for the 24 hour race and I also got the chance to test some NorthWest and TT tyres with improvements over what we’ve been using previously so everything is looking good.
"I’m now driving back to the UK, driving directly to Donington ready for the BSB test on Friday and Saturday.”
Hickman was joined at the BSB test by former World Superbike and Endurance champion Sylvain Guintoli who was standing in for Hickman’s 8TEN Racing teammate Davey Todd who is working hard on his fitness following the serious leg injuries sustained at the Daytona 200 last month.
Guintoli currently represents BMW in the Endurance World Championship and said: “I am really excited to come to the BSB test and try the BMW BSB package and I hope I can help the 8TEN Racing team with some more feedback.
"It is always good to get some opinions from different riders and having experienced the BMW package in World Superbike and World Endurance, hopefully I can give them some interesting feedback that might help them for the season.”
After the test Hickman said: “This was our first shakedown test and the first test of the year for the 8TEN team.
"Both the 8TEN team and BMW had some honest feedback from Guintoli and this has given us something to work on in the future.
"He is an ex-World Superbike and World Endurance champion and also a well respected test rider, so the fact that my times were within 0.3s of his over the last two days is positive news for me.”
There is a further BSB test on 21st/22nd April at Oulton Park ahead of the opening round of the 2026 British Superbike championship which will take place over the May Day Bank Holiday weekend at the Cheshire circuit.