Keith Farmer granted BSB chance with Tyco BMW for 2019

Clogher man Farmer, who won the Superstock 1000 title this year for the Moneymore-based TAS Racing outfit, joins Christian Iddon in the BSB line-up.

Farmer said: “After an excellent first year with TAS Racing claiming the Superstock 1000 title, I’m absolutely thrilled to be given the chance to move into Superbike. It shows that Philip truly believes in me and what better way to switch into BSB - with a new BMW that has been improved greatly.

“I’m so pumped to get testing and get things rolling now for 2019. A massive thank you to Philip and all at BMW and the team for believing in me and giving me this opportunity.”

Farmer is a four-time British champion, winning the Superstock 600 and Superstock 1000 titles back-to-back in 2011 and 2012. He then became the British Supersport champion for the first time in 2017 before adding another title in the Superstock 1000 class this year.

Team manager Philip Neill said he was delighted to confirm that Tyco would remain as the team’s title sponsor next year, when the Ulster outfit will again be BMW’s official Motorrad team.

“Firstly, I am extremely pleased to confirm Tyco as our title partner for 2019. We continue our association with them in the British championship, which is our fourth year as the Official BMW Motorrad team.

“On the rider front, we are pleased to confirm that Christian will remain with us for another season, and equally happy to announce that Keith will also stay in Tyco BMW livery, albeit he makes the step up to the Superbike division.

“For me the decision with Christian was simple. We have both invested a lot in each other and he clearly has the talent to succeed in BSB, so together with the new model RR, I firmly believe 2019 can be his year,” he added.

“With Keith the decision was also quite simple. We asked him to do a job for us in the Superstock class in 2018 and he delivered the championship, which was fantastic. We are under no illusions: the step up to Superbike is a significant one; however we believe Keith has the ability to deliver at any level, and although we should anticipate a settling in period, we do expect to see him running at the front during 2019.

“Thank you once again to our many loyal racing partners. We look forward to doing it all again with you in 2019.”