Simon Reid strikes Quattro Plant deal for National Superstock 600 Championship

It is a timely boost for Reid, who lost two of his key sponsors this year due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

As a result, the Banbridge man was facing an uncertain year ahead in the Pirelli National Superstock 600 Championship, getting to work behind the scenes in an effort to secure additional financial backing to enable him to undertake a full campaign.

The 25-year-old, who is the son of five-time Isle of Man TT winner and double Formula Two world champion Brian, finished ninth in the condensed championship in 2020 after a run of bad luck.

His best results included fifth-place finishes at Donington Park National and Oulton Park, but Reid feels he has much more to come and with Quattro Plant on board, he is now focused on challenging for the title on his Yamaha R6.

Speaking ahead of Wednesday's eagerly awaited BSB test day at Silverstone, Reid said: “It’s fantastic to be supported by Quattro Plant this year and it’s a really big deal for me. I met Adam Richardson [Quattro Group chairman] last year and we kind of clicked from the beginning.

“I lost two of my main sponsors this year, so I was scrambling around trying to sort things out from the financial side.

“It was getting pretty close to the wire and I just decided that I’d ring Adam up. We got talking and thankfully he was willing to come on board and help me progress,” Reid added.

“Quattro are all about giving up-and-coming young riders a chance and Adam had some ideas about helping to take me forward, so I’m so grateful to welcome their support this year.

“I’ll still be running my own team with my crew chief Charlie from Kickstart Motorcycles and it has just given me an extra kick of motivation going into the test, knowing that I have that support behind me.”

Reid believes he has yet to achieve the results he feels he is capable of, but he is targeting the top step of the rostrum this year when the championship gets under way at Oulton Park at the end of May.

“It’s exciting times and I know I can go and do well, but first I needed the other stuff sorted out so I could just concentrate on what I have to do this year,” he said.

“The uncertainty was frustrating but everything is in place now and I’m looking forward to the test at Silverstone.

“I’ve got a brilliant infrastructure there with a great bike, a great crew chief and a fantastic bunch of guys around me, so now I just need to deliver the results I feel I’m capable of.

“Last year, I consistently had the pace to be on the podium but things just didn’t seem to click for me, but with two seasons in the British championship under my belt I feel now is the time that I can step up and be a serious contender.

“You need luck in this sport and some things didn’t seem to go for me last year at times. I was close to a win a Silverstone but on the last lap I had a mechanical failure and I ended up going down and taking another rider with me.

“It just continued from there with some mechanical problems in the next round and a crash at Oulton, when I knocked myself out. It was a short season with only one race at most events, so there wasn’t many opportunities to try and pull back the points,” said Reid, who is also relishing the chance to race on the undercard of the World Superbike Championship at Donington Park in July.

“We’ve got a race this year at the World Superbike round at Donington so that will just be a fantastic experience to be a part of that paddock for the first time,” he said.

“I’m just really excited to get going now and put the frustrations of last year behind me.”

The Quattro Group has enjoyed a long-standing association within the British Superbike Championship, working closely with the Bournemouth Kawasaki team, who lifted the title in 2018 with Leon Haslam.

This year, the company will continue to provide title sponsorship of the British Supersport and GP2 Championships.

Adam Richardson, chairman of the Quattro Group, said the company’s support for Reid was in keeping with its vision of guiding the careers of promising young riders striving to climb the racing ladder.

“Quattro Plant has supported British Superbikes for almost a decade and in 2021 are a series sponsor for the year and event sponsor for three of the major weekends,” he said.

“Our routes and heart is with young riders that look like they have the abilities to come up the ranks. As an Irish-English company, it seemed right to help Simon Reid, who’s following in his father Brian Reid’s footsteps and we think he will benefit from our support.

“We hope to have him out on a GP2 bike with the help of MSV, the event organisers, by the end of the year.”

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