A rejuvenated Cameron Dawson is looking ahead to the start of the British Supersport Championship in May after a disappointing debut year in the class in 2024.

Dawson penned a two-year deal with the Gearlink Kawasaki squad but was left without a ride this year following the team’s decision to quit the sport at the conclusion of last season.

However, the 20-year-old – who was crowned British Junior Supersport champion in 2021 – has signed with former British Superbike champion Leon Haslam’s ROKiT Rookies Kawasaki Team, which will be the manufacturer’s official representatives in the championship this year.

Dawson is regarded as one of the country’s brightest young prospects and finished second in the Junior Superstock series in 2023 before making the step up to the highly competitive Supersport class.

placeholder image — Cameron Dawson celebrates a podium in the 2023 National Junior Supersrtock Championship. (Photo by David Yeomans Photography)

The Co Tyrone rider was left frustrated last year but Dawson, who has spent time testing in Portugal during the winter, is now determined to show his true colours in his second full season in the championship.

“I said last year I wanted to get into the points and I did that, but I didn’t do it consistently,” Dawson said.

“This year, I’ve been brought into this team to try and help bring on the younger riders and bring some results.

“I’ve been with Kawasaki for what I believe is seven seasons now and I want to bring results for them and be the top Kawasaki out there on the next-gen 636.

“I want to achieve top-tens at every single round this year and my far-fetched goal is to be inside the top five.

“I believe I can do it and I’ve been putting the work in, so there’s no reason why I can’t bring those results.”

Dawson was taken by surprise after being informed by Gearlink Kawasaki owner Michael de Bidaph that he had opted not to continue running the team in 2025.

However, Dawson didn’t have to wait too long before a new opportunity came to light.

“I was told it was going to be a two-year deal but it kind of got off to a bad start and nothing seemed to be going my way,” Dawson said, looking back on his Gearlink Kawasaki stint.

“I started off with an injury after breaking my scaphoid, which wasn’t ideal, and I missed two rounds after that.

“But I just felt when I came back again that there was no get up and go and it almost felt as if maybe they had lost the love for it all.

“Then around September or maybe August time, I brought up 2025, more in the hope that maybe things would change, but Michael told me they’d decided to retire.

“I was sort of lost because I’d taken this opportunity for a two-year deal and now I was without a ride, and with little chance to try and prove myself or show any results in the final races because it all just seemed to be falling flat in the team,” added Dawson, who has spent time over the winter testing in Portugal and Spain.

“But Ross Burridge, the Kawasaki UK manager, sat down with me before the end of the season and told me the official Kawasaki banner was being passed over to Leon Haslam.

“I had a chat with Leon and we signed a contract, and I’m now in a position where I’m over the moon because straight away I got on with the team after meeting them about four weeks ago at Portimao for our first test.

“I get on with the guys really well and I really get on with Leon too.

“So it’s put me in a comfortable position and the bike I’m riding is the same bike that I rode with MSS Kawasaki in 2022 and 2023, so I know the bike and it’s not as if it will be totally new to me.

“It’s shaping up very nicely and there’s a big name behind the team, so hopefully this is a stepping stone for my next path in racing.”