British Superbikes: Tena for Men Honda look toward Thruxton

Tena for Men Honda is one of the new-look outfits in the British Superbike paddock for 2008 but running two familiar riders.

MCN caught up with both Superbike hopeful Tristan Palmer and his Superbike Cup team-mate Michael Howarth before any racing action has kicked off for this campaign.

And the first question to last year’s Superbike Cup champion Tristan Palmer had to be about the rather obscure key sponsor for the team this year.

“Tena for Men is a good sponsor to have,” said Palmer.

“They’re new to this sort of thing but it’s an extremely professional team and the sponsor is putting in a lot of effort and drumming up a lot of publicity.

“Everyone’s heard of Tena for Men, and I’m looking forward to having them as a sponsor this season.

“My aim this year is to mix it with the factory lads – I won the privateer cup last season so with this new setup I should be looking at top ten finishes.

“I was slightly disappointed to me down in 20th in qualifying at Brands, but I’ve never been the best qualifier and we’ve not had loads of testing.

“We did head out to Spain to test but it was a normal trackday so we got held up a lot and it meant we couldn’t push as hard as we’d have liked.

“But at Brands Hatch we got quicker and quicker each session, and I’ll look to continue that at Thruxton.”

Sharing a garage with Palmer will be Michael Howarth whose 2007 season was cut dramatically short when he broke his leg early in the season, putting him on the sidelines for the rest of the year.

He said: “I was really happy with my progress at Brands.

“I’ve got Dean Thomas helping me this season, and his input at Brands helped me go a second faster each session out on the bike.

“It was good to be on the pace or there abouts because I’ve been off a bike for such a long period of time.

“It’s also my first time using all these new electronics such as anti-wheelie – it’s great on track but crap for popping wheelies!

“I’ve set myself a target of being in the top 15 by Oulton Park and realistically I should be looking to beat all the privateers.

“With a bit more work with Dean I should be there and there’s no pressure from Tena for Men – they’re ace.”