World Supersport: Tommy Hill to test Yamaha at Magny Cours

British Superbike rider Tommy Hill will be testing the World Supersport SSP Yamaha at Magny Cours, France next week. 

It’s the same bike he raced to fifth place in the Brands Hatch round recently and he said: “It’s a good team – there’s a similar kind of enthusiasm to the Virgin team and I learned so much from that one race with them.”

Tommy Hill was back on the Virgin Media R1 at Croft last weekend but said it was a world of difference from racing the R6. 

“It’s so physical on a superbike,” he said.

“At Brands I felt like I could have done 20 more laps in the race. On the superbike I came in hanging after each session.

“It’s so much more work. There’s a lot more going on. On the supersport bike there’s not a lot going on but then suddenly I was beyond the limit and was down. That’s why I crashed three times.

“I need more testing time on the R6. To jump into World Supersport and race a bike like I did at Brands – well they are so on it. All the lap times are so unbelievably close so you just have to push it that little bit harder to pick up the fractions.

“Don’t know where the limits are on a supersport bike. Let the brakes off and you lose the front.”

Just because he’s testing the R6 doesn’t mean Tommy Hill is planning to go to World Supersport next year.

He said: “I’ve definitely got unfinished business. It would be good to ride in WSS. But I know that if I go there then I’ve got to be putting on a good show, fighting for rostrum places every week.

“If not, I’ll end up in supersport for ever. I don’t want that. Ultimately I want to go and win then ride in WSB.

“But whatever happens, the first person I’ll speak to about 2008 will be Rob (Yamaha team boss Rob McIlnea). I am available and will talk to everyone but I want to be winning races in 2008.”