Herbertson reveals plans for New Year

ROAD racing ace Dominic Herbertson has pulled the covers off his 2019 plans as he joins Davies Motorsport for a full season of action.

In addition to a return to the Isle of Man TT, the Hexham rider will be back at the North West 200 and the Ulster Grand Prix in Northern Ireland in a bid to break into the front-running ranks.

Herbertson last joined the Davies squad for the Classic TT in August, where he bagged his first ever win on the famous Mountain Course by winning the 350cc Junior race.

While they’re best known for their classic bike exploits, the team will be moving into the modern realm with brand new Kawasaki machinery for their 2019 campaign.

And lumberjack-by-trade Herbertson believes the squad is his best chance at taking big strides ahead as he looks to build on his career-best 10th place Lightweight TT finish from last June.

“Coming from a privateer background like myself, you know what these smaller teams take and you know what they can give you, so you can really start moving up the ladder that way,” said Herbertson.

“The Classic TT gave me a big boost, and with the sheer amount of experience, 20-plus years, we should have a great season. Hopefully I’ve got some news coming about a Supertwin soon, too.

“I like tearing myself down, but I honestly believe this is a big step up for me and I can build on this. The team did say I need to lose weight, but I’m really, really looking forward to riding for them and I’m very excited.

“I would like to thank John and Colin Davies for giving me this great opportunity. The new Kawasaki looks to be a fantastic piece of equipment and I can’t wait to get on the race track to get to grips with it.”

Team owner John Davies admitted it was an easy decision to move up to modern bikes with four decades of racing behind him. And he hopes to give Herbertson the boost in confidence and machinery to take steps forward with his career.

“Having won at the Classic TT in 2018, we felt the time was right to use our 40 years of motorcycle racing experience and move up to the modern TT,” Davies said.

“Dominic has shown great potential on the road race scene previously and we would like to help him to fulfill that potential with the latest machinery and our technical help.”

The team is also set to contest the Thundersport GB GP1 championship on their 2019 Kawasaki ZX-10RR in a bid to give Herbertson as much track time as possible.

BY ADAM LEAGUE