ADAM McLean is set to give the UK’s only known 2021 Honda CBR600RR its British racing debut next weekend as he joins up with Team ILR.
The road racing ace is gearing up to storm the Pirelli National Junior Superstock series at Snetterton with Ian Lougher’s squad as he give the all-new Supersport machine its first competitive run out on British shores.
McLean, who finished 14th in the series last year, returns from injury after a qualifying crash at Brands Hatch gifted him a broken arm.
His Junior Superstock comeback follows last month’s Armoy Road Races, where the Northern Irishman finished second behind roads legend Michael Dunlop in the opening Supersport race, with podium finishes in both the second Supersport and Supertwin races.
Lougher first spoke to McLean earlier this season about a possible ride before acquiring not one, but two of the latest Hondas directly from Japan. As well as being the only ones of their kind in the UK, the Welshman’s new CBR600RRs are the only ones in Europe.
Bad weather put paid to the first planned test at Bishopscourt a few weeks ago but the team and Adam managed about 20 laps at the circuit shortly afterwards, ahead of another test at Kirkistown at the weekend.
“Ian approached me earlier on in the year and we had a chat about it, so the plan is to do as many of the remaining rounds as possible,” McLean admitted. “It’s an exciting project to be involved with and hopefully with Ian’s experience, he can bring the best out of me on track.
“It’s a new bike so it took us a while to find a direction with it, first impressions are very good, so we’ll see next weekend how we get on and go from there.
“Snetterton will be a bit of a learning curve for us as well because we don’t have much data for myself on the bike, so it will be about getting to know the bike more and finding a direction to go in for the rest of the year.
I’m looking forward to the challenge.”
While Lougher revealed it’s been a bit tricky given the rarity of the new Honda, but he’s excited to see how his new recruit gets on next weekend.
“We’re really looking forward to Snetterton now, just to see how the the latest CBR600RR will perform is exciting and with a rider with Adam’s talent onboard hopefully we can be competitive enough,” he said.
“It’s not been easy getting ready to race this machine, as nobody in Europe has one we have relied a lot on our good contacts in Japan for setup information, parts, and support, which have been a god send.
“It’s only Adam’s second visit to Snetterton and the other BSB riders will be riding well at this late stage of the season, so we’ll see how we go and enjoy the ride.”
