JAMIE COWARD 26
At 26, Jamie Coward is seven years further down the line of his road racing career than Joey Thompson. Those extra years of dedication are beginning to bear fruit with a run of impressive speeds and results at this year’s Southern. Personal best times in the 600cc and superbike classes brought three podium finishes in the big bike races and fourth place finishes in both Supersport events and the Solo championship race. The Hebden Bridge racer puts his breakthrough down to having a stronger team around him for 2017. He said: “They have given me a good package with the BMW S1000RR and mechanics so that I don’t have to do all my own work like before. That takes a lot of pressure away.” Teams like Radcliffe’s, which run a butchery business based in Castletown, are devoted to road racing, driven by a passion for the sport. Unlike series like the BSB championship, where money is everything and huge amounts are required to remain in contention, the roads scene can offer a more direct return on the financial commitment. Coward added: “I can now concentrate on my fitness preparation now that someone else is working on the bikes. “I feel fitter, eat better and so when it came to doing seven laps out there today I was fine and felt like I could have done another seven laps.” Like Thompson, Coward is a Scarborough regular and his ninth place finish in the 2017 Superstock TT was his best big bike result on the Mountain course to date. The Yorkshireman has been around long enough to appreciate he now has the platform he needs to break into what he referred to as “unknown territory” at the Southern. He explained: “I need to get going with the guys at the front to get pulled along.”