Tommy Hill out of WSB

Tommy Hill is out of the World Superbike championship after parting company with his Altea Honda squad. In a mutual decision with the team.

Hill decided to quit the Italian squad sighting a lack of progress and development, which has meant disappointing results since the start of the season.

Speaking exclusively to MCN he said:

“I’ve tried to keep positive and at each race re-set myself and try to start again. I’ve stayed professional and not put the blame on anyone, but there have been so many issues in the team.

“It’s very frustrating for me, I want to run at the front and I put a lot of pressure on myself to do that.”

A key issue is the lack of development on the bike and the teams reluctance to introduce changes that Hill suggested. He has also been the victim of having absolutely no testing since the start of the season.

“I’ve tried everything I could in terms of giving the team feedback with the geometry of the bike and the set-up, but we never had the type of debriefs after each race that you need to progress.

“From the start of the year I‘ve been sending the teams emails after each race giving them detailed feedback and suggestions but I didn’t get any response.

“All year other riders on track or people watching have commented how the bike is working and how the traction control kicks in when it shouldn’t , but I’ve tried to stay positive.

“I know that my results are black and white when you see them on TV, but there have been reasons behind them. At times I really wanted to explain why they were happening but I wanted to stay 100% professional.

“After America I was really disappointed. I sat down with my family and decided it was the only way forward.”

During the last two years Hill has had a torrid time with injuries, but has previously been a front runner in BSB and shown true pace in WSS.

“Sometimes you have to take one step back to go two steps forward and that’s what I’m doing.

“I’m not going to rush into anything because I  don’t want to make a bad decision. I’m going to stay fit and focussed with the aim of getting a good BSB or WSS ride in the future. I want to get back to the front because I’m not in racing to make up grid numbers.

“I just hope that people remember what I’ve done in the past and the type of rider I am. If you look at BSB, my pole time from Thruxton in 2007 was half a second faster that Camier’s this year and I was doing times fast enough for top fours and fives when I was riding the Yamaha on Pirelli’s.”