Adam McLean joins J McC Roofing for 2023 road races on Supersport and Supertwin machinery

The Tobermore man will ride a Yamaha YZF-R6 and a Ryan Farquhar-built Kawasaki Supertwin for Jason McCaw’s outfit.

McLean will compete at selected road races and Ulster short circuit rounds and says the North West 200 will be his top priority next year.

“I’ve got two good bikes for both classes that are capable of delivering good results and the plan is to do some select road races and short circuit meetings,” McLean said.

“I had considered a Superbike for next year as well but I’m going to concentrate on the smaller classes for now.

“To be honest I haven’t really excelled on a big bike the way I had hoped, compared to the progress I have made in the smaller classes.

“So this year I think it’s better to focus on the Supersport and Supertwin and try and get a few good results at the likes of the North West 200, which will be the big meeting of the year for me,” he added.

“We’re strong on the Supertwin and the 600, so that’s going to be the priority for me.”

McLean rode a KMR Kawasaki at the Scarborough Gold Cup meeting in September, where he clinched a hat-trick in the Supertwin class, and is confident of making his presence felt on the machine at next year’s North West 200.

“As far as the North West 200 goes, I think a KMR-built Supertwin is the bike I need to be on,” he said.

“I’ve got two good bikes for both classes that are capable of delivering good results.

“Whenever you bring three bikes into the mix then you can spread yourself a bit thin, so I’m going to give 100 per-cent to the two smaller classes next season and see what it brings.

“I haven’t had the best of luck at the North West but it has to change sometime – we could really do with a couple of podiums,” added McLean.

“It’s early days in terms of our programme of races for 2023 but we’ve a deal in place and we’ll work on a plan for next year over the coming weeks before Christmas.

“But I can say that we’ll be doing selected road races and Ulster Superbike rounds.”

McLean endured a turbulent season this year.

The 26-year-old missed the Tandragee 100 after suffering a concussion in a crash at the Cookstown 100 in April and withdrew from the Isle of Man TT in a mutual decision with the McAdoo Kawasaki Racing team.

They later went their separate ways and the Ulster Grand Prix Supertwin race winner only made his roads return at Armoy at the end of July, where he rode his own 600 Yamaha and finished on the rostrum twice in the Supersport class.

Prior to the split with McAdoo Racing, he was left frustrated at the NW200, with a fourth place in the first Supersport event the only race he finished.

As well as his Supertwin treble at Oliver’s Mount in September, he also won the feature Gold Cup race.

McLean became only the fourth Ulster rider to add his name to the trophy alongside Ryan Farquhar, Michael Dunlop and Lee Johnston.