Anvil Hire TAG Kawasaki return with three-man BSB squad

Anvil Hire TAG Kawasaki will return to the MCE BritishSuperbike championship in 2015 after their successful move up to the seriesform supersport in 2014. Richard Cooper, now a four-year veteran with the team, will lead the three-man team.

Returning from serious arm injuries sustained shortly after his maiden BSB podium at the mid-season Brands Hatch round, he’ll be joined by fast Swede Filip Backlund and Cooper’s 2014 deputy Shaun Winfield.

Cooper said: “I’m really excited about getting back on the Anvil Hire TAG Kawasaki again after missing out last year with the injury. I felt that when the crash happened my season was just getting going and I was starting to make an impression. I had been building up on the Superbike and had made the jump into scoring consistent top ten finishes and then the podium at Brands Hatch just topped that really.”

“Seeing the developments they have made with the bike since I last rode it makes it a really exciting prospect for me. I think if we can pick up where we left off then we should be in a good position. Every riderwants to be in the Showdown, but the past seasons have shown if you can be consistently finishing in the top six then there is no reason why we can’t be there. I am looking forward to getting back out and we have a good test schedule in place to hit the ground running.”

Backlund, who immediately made his mark on the BSB series with a top ten position at Assen shortly after stepping up from National Superstock 1000, joins with past experience of the Kawasaki ZX-10R, taking wins in the Stocks class on similar machinery.

Backlund said: “I am very happy to be joining Anvil Hire TAG Racing. They had a very impressive debut season and I am sure that they will be even stronger with that experience behind them. It feels great to be back on a Kawasaki as it’s a bike I have ridden for some years now and I know its general feeling and how to ride it. I’m just now waiting to get testing started and to be on a race bike again. We will be aiming to make the Showdown, but ultimately I go racing to win and to be on the podium – that is always my goal.”