TT Superstock supremacy

Netley Marsh

ORGANISERS HAVE ANNOUNCED DATES for the Netley Marsh Eurojumble event near Southampton. The massive event kicks off on Friday 1 September, runs over two days, and is set to be packed with biking bargains, memorabilia, rare parts, and bikes. Discount tickets, and more information, at the Eurojumble website: www.netleymarsheurojumble.com

MAXXIS

BICKERS HAS ANNOUNCED THAT IT NOW HAS Maxxis M6011 classic tyres in stock, with a range of fitments for cruisers, retro and classic machines. The M6011 uses an all-new compound which claims to provide excellent traction and durability in both dry and wet conditions. It has a starting trade price of £59.99 and comes in six front and six rear sizes: MT90-16, 120/80-17, 120/90-18, 100/90-19, 110/9019, 80/90-21 (front) and 150/90-15, 150/80-15, 170/80-15, 130/90-16, MT90-16, 140/90-16 (rear). www.bickers-online.co.uk

OXFORD PRODUCTS

OXFORD PRODUCTS MADE IT TO THE FINAL three in the 2023 Oxfordshire Business Awards last month. The firm was shortlisted in the prestigious NatWest Large Business Award and made the podium alongside John Lewis of Hungerford, with M&M Waste Solutions taking the gong. Oxford Products staff joined 500 distinguished guests for the black-tie event, which Trigger Happy TV comedian Dom Joly hosted, at The John Henry Brookes Building in Oxford.

Silverstone Auctions

THE MCN SHOW AT Peterborough saw a massive £600,000 in sales for Silverstone Auctions, which moved on 74% of the bikes it had under the hammer. The highlight was a slightly niche machine: a mint 7700-mile Kawasaki GPZ1000 RX with one owner since 1988. It went for double its estimate and sold for £6682 – a decent result for an under-appreciated bike.

Beloved by both trade and industry as a defining showcase for the hottest steeds that can be ridden out of dealerships in essentially OE specification (plus safetyoriented suspension mods), the RL360 Superstock TT never fails to please. And this year saw the challenge doubled in content to span a pair of scintillating threelap races.

There were only ever going to be a trio of headline contenders

– BMW’s M1000 RR, the latest Honda Fireblade CBR1000RR and Kawasaki’s ZX-10 RR Ninja. Betting odds had the money on BMW Motorrad UK, with its factory-backed FHO Racing squad of outright TT lap record holder Peter Hickman and two-times British Superbike Championship winner Josh Brookes.

But the appearance of a resurgent Michael Dunlop, Fireblade-mounted thanks to his long-term Hawk Racing relationship, got the bookies twitching. Dunlop had already beaten Hickman in the RST Superbike TT event. And nobody was going to rule out elite dealer team Milenco by Padgett’s Motorcycles – the eponymous Clive Padgett of which had put exceptionally well-prepared Fireblades under rising star Davey Todd and local veteran hero Conor Cummins. Dean Harrison on his DAO Racing Ninja couldn’t be ignored as a threat either.

However, when push came to shove, BMW UK marketing and PR manager Scott Grimsdall had nothing much to worry about. Hickman comprehensively cleared off in both Superstock races, also underlining BMW hegemony by extending the outright TT lap record in his third and final circulation to an incredible 136.358mph – faster than he’d ever managed on a full-kitted Superbike to date.

Brookes, who hadn’t raced on the Isle of Man for five years while contractually confined to BSB duties, turned in an impressive performance too. Choosing to stick with a Superstock-spec BMW machine for refreshment of his course knowledge throughout practice, qualifying and the large-capacity races, he finished a creditable seventh in the RST Superbike six-lapper and then fifth in the Milwaukee Senior TT, also run over six laps. In the exclusively Superstock events employing just half that distance, he suffered an almost immediate DNF in the first race, owing to an electrical malfunction, and then took a firm fifth place in the second.

The only significant grief during Scott Grimsdall’s campaign for career-enhancing corporate glory was from the TT attendance of BMW Motorrad supremo Dr Markus Schramm, who flew over from Munich to share in his brand’s success. Schramm became Peter Hickman’s “pillion in a million” – treated to a fast openroads Mountain Course lap – until the spoilsport Manx constabulary intervened. Hicky allegedly took the rap and paid the speeding fine!

Mewa Distribution liquidated

FORMER PEUGEOT SCOOTER IMPORTER AND distributor Mewa Distribution (UK) has been forced into liquidation by its creditors. The company was selected initially to take over the role of UK distributor in 2020 by Peugeot Motorcycles international sales manager Thierry Sanseigne, after Peugeot’s previous long-term UK partner Three Cross Motorcycles went bust.

Ex-Three Cross staffers Paul Hill and Peter Scott were recruited to fill the roles of national sales manager and aftersales and warranty manager. Mewa Distribution’s general manager Julio Shah ran the operation, which undertook to maintain unaltered trading terms for dealers, with inventory finance supplied through DF Capital.

However, the relationship between Mewa and

Peugeot began to unravel. In February 2022, Julio Shah was briefly elevated to become a director of Mewa, alongside his general manager duties. But he resigned just a few weeks later. And then, a newly formed company, Scooter Sense (UK), headed up by Richard Kelly and Steve Reynolds, took over as the official Peugeot scooter distributor in July 2022.

Mewa Distribution collapsed in March 2023 when insolvency practitioners Chris Newell and Nicholas Simmonds of Watford-based Quantuma Advisory were brought in to liquidate the business.

According to their filings at Companies House, Mewa’s preferential creditors are owed a total of £558,719, comprising a £474,739 VAT debt plus £83,980 in unpaid PAYE taxation and NI contributions – with no prospect of funds available for settlement.