Swan Yamaha reveal factory R1s

Swan Yamaha riders Tommy Hill and Michael Laverty will be racing 2010 factory R1s in this year’s MCE British Superbike championship.

The team built the bikes in the WSB factory team’s workshop in Italy and then shipped them back to their Guisborough-based workshop where MCN photographed them last week.

The deal has been made possible because the stock of 2010 WSB bikes and parts have largely been rendered redundant because the pace of development of the 2011 WSB bikes have dramatically moved so far from last year’s bikes.

Team owner Shaun Muir told MCN: “Andrew (Smith – Yamaha UK MD) said from our very first conversations last summer, that this would be a long-term relationship and it would take time to build.

“But he also said, that we had to respect we were getting something special. Once I got close up and personal with the bikes, I could see what makes a factory bike tick. It was a real buzz for me to see what we were getting.”

Tommy Hill never doubted he’d be getting the full WSB-spec bikes. He said: “There’s always a lot of talk in this sport. I heard what everyone was saying about us not getting factory bikes, but I never doubted what we would get. That’s why I signed.”