UNDER THE SKIN

Shakey’s BeWiser Panigale R aside – which is built in the Ducati factory in Bologna – the McAms R1s are some of the more factory-spec BSB bikes in the paddock with close links to the Pata WorldSBK team. Being the official Yamaha UK entrant, the McAms squad have access to other go-faster goodies that money can’t buy. Chris ‘Spanner’ Anderson is an incredibly experienced crew chief to James Ellison, but stuck around with Mlav on the day to talk tech and ting.

“The bikes come to us as road bikes, as stock R1s and not R1Ms. We then flatten it completely and start building them up as race bikes. We’ve got factory yokes, Öhlins RVP25 forks and a RSP40 shock, and the Suter swingarm – it’s all very special. It’s only us and the Pata World SBK team that run them. You can’t buy them, and it’s the same as the Akrapovic exhaust system. You can’t just go down to your local shop and buy one. We get it directly fromAkrapovic and they give us mileage for each component right down the last kilometre.”