British rider Kyle Smith has been announced as the rider to take on Michael van der Mark’s title-winning Pata Honda CBR600RR in the 2015 World Supersport championship.

Smith, 23, was born near Huddersfield in the UK but moved to Spain with his family aged six. He lives in Calpe, 120km south of Valencia, in the region where he began his racing career.

After some years and regional championships in junior motocross, Smith had his first road race in Majorca in 2004, but it wasn’t for another three years that he began to race consistently, ending up in Spain’s CEV 125GP series.

After forays in Formula Extreme and Moto2, he competed in three European Superstock 600 races on a Racedays Honda CBR600RR in 2013, taking victory at Jerez in Spain before stepping up to the Superstock 1000 series last season.

 With two podiums from the eight races, Smith’s performance earned him eighth place overall and the attention of the Pata Honda World Supersport team management.

 Smith’s first test will be with the Pata Honda team at Phillip Island in Australia, just ahead of this season’s first World Supersport championship round on 22 February, and the young Yorkshireman is relishing the challenge ahead

Kyle Smith

This is a fantastic opportunity for me – I’ve got the bike, I’ve got the team behind me, I’ve got support from Honda, so I think this is going to be a year for me to prove who I am. I like CBR machines and although there is a bunch of new tracks for me to learn this year, I’ve not had too many difficulties learning new circuits in the past. It starts at Phillip Island which everyone seems to like and I’ve watched loads of videos of races there, so I can’t wait. Set-up is the big thing, of course, but, with the experience of the Pata Honda team behind me, I couldn’t be in a better position. I always put pressure on myself and I always race to win. That’s what I aim to be doing this season.

Ronald ten Kate  – team manager

Supersport for us has always been like a breeding ground where we try to bring on young riders that we believe in. Kyle matches that requirement and he showed some quite exceptional performances on the Honda CBR in Superstock 1000 last year. He’s shown that he’s a proper racer and, on a proven bike in an experienced team, we really think he can do well. We’re hoping to get him at least on the podium, but I think sometimes he’ll be able to do even better than that.

It was a tough weekend of racing for the Agro-On WIL Racedays Honda team at Magny-Cours in France in the final round of both the FIM Superstock 1000 Cup and the FIM Superstock 600 European Championship.

The team leaves the 4.411km circuit with little to show for the considerable efforts that were put in, with both riders Kyle Smith and Josh Day being unable to finish the Superstock 1000 race.

For Smith it was a particularly frustrating end to the season after he qualified his Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade in fourth place after two dry days on Friday and Saturday. However, raceday was wet and the Superstock 1000 warm-up was cancelled after only one lap. In the race, Smith’s helmet misted up badly and he was forced to retire on safety grounds.

Kyle Smith, FIM Superstock 1000 Cup – Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade SP

We worked hard on the bike all weekend like we usually do and we were able to find a decent set-up for the dry. I qualified fourth, pretty close to the pole time so I was happy, even when we woke up to rain on Sunday morning. Normally I like the wet but warm-up was cancelled and then I got a fogged up visor on the first lap in the race. I tried to clear it but I had zero visibility and it just got too dangerous.

Agro-On Wil Racedays Honda rider Kyle Smith took his Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade SP to a stunning second place in Sunday’s sixth round Superstock 1000 FIM Cup at Jerez in Spain.

After a red flag in the first scheduled 15 lap race, the restart was reduced to a 10-lap sprint with British rider Smith raring to go after qualifying in fifth place yesterday. He battled spectacularly with eventual race winner Leandro Mercado, finishing just 1.6s down on the series leader.

Smith’s Racedays Honda team-mate Josh Day from the USA put in a solid performance to take sixth place at the flag to put both riders in top ten championship positions with the final round at Magny-Cours on 5 Octber.

Kyle Smith – Superstock 1000, P2

It’s been quite difficult all weekend working on the set-up and we ended up trying something drastically different for the race. But I got a decent start in the second part of the race, which was quite short after the red flag and, although we all had some problems with grip, we got a great result and I’m really happy.

In the Superstock 1000 class, Kyle Smith from the UK was a consistent top six runner on his Honda CBR1000RR SP machine in all practice sessions, eventually qualifying in third place for Sunday’s 14-lap race, just 0.1s from pole position.
Smith was confident in the drizzling conditions that determined a wet race and got a perfect start, leading the opening laps before being forced to reduce his pace to conserve his rear tyre as the circuit began to dry. The 22-year-old from Yorkshire eventually crossed the line in fourth place as Day, 24, not usually a fan of wet conditions, fought his own way through to fifth position at the flag.

Kyle Smith – STK1000, 4th

It was a good race and I like the wet but we had some traction and corner entry problems as the track dried off. Some of the other riders have sophisticated electronics to help with this but my team did a great job with the CBR this weekend. We went softer for the wet but that might have been a bit too soft for when the track dried. If it had stayed wet, I think we might have been able to fight for the win, but I don’t know how easy it would’ve been. I had to drop the pace off a little when it dried which was a bit frustrating because I could smell the champagne! That’s how it goes sometimes and the next track is Jerez which is my favourite!

The Racedays Honda Superstock team leaves Misano World Circuit ‘Marco Simoncelli’ in Italy with mixed results from this weekend’s two races but with optimism about progress to be made in the next round.

In the Superstock 1000 FIM Cup, riders Kyle Smith and Josh Day experienced differing weekends with only Smith able to score points in today’s race at the 4.226km Misano circuit which was red-flagged after 10 of the scheduled 15 laps.

British rider Smith, 22, finished in tenth place on a count-back but was confident that he could have taken his Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade SP to a higher position had the race run its full distance.

Kyle Smith – 10th place, Superstock 1000 FIM Cup, Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade SP

It was a difficult race to start because it felt like the new tyre was pushing the front. As it went on I felt stronger and stronger, but they red-flagged it early after only ten laps and there were a couple of guys in front that I felt I could’ve caught. That was a bummer but we made some big improvements on the engine braking this weekend. The lap times were closer to the front and we matched the race pace of the leaders, but the result wasn’t there. We’ll take this data to the next race at Portimao where we have a test.

Hopes were high for the team’s two Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade SP-mounted riders, Day and Kyle Smith, who qualified in seventh and eighth places respectively. American Day (main picture) rode well to take fifth place after 14 laps of Imola’s 4.936km Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, but Smith crashed out of contention, remounting to finish in 16th place at the flag.
Kyle Smith – Superstock 1000 FIM Cup, 16th
“We struggled with set-up a bit but finally got a decent setting for qualifying. In the race I had some problems which were pushing me into corners and eventually it pushed a bit too far. It’s a problem that we’ve had in testing, but not during a race before. I hope we can fix it for the next race and be up there again.”

 

 

Bad luck this weekend after a promising start to the race, holding a comfortable 2nd position until a tumble which damaged rear brake system, a re mount and 1 lap later a brake seizure which threw him off 4 laps from the end !  big shame for Kyle and the team after trouble in qualifying to a much improved race setting showing an 8 second cushion in the race until the technical failure, however, things looking good for the next round, At Imola.

Agro-On WIL Racedays Honda rider Kyle Smith clinched the third step on the podium over the weekend in the European Superstock 1000 championship at Aragon. It was the opening round of the series at the Spanish circuit and Brit, Smith started his campaign in the class in a dominant fashion. He started the race in seventh and made his way through the pack to end on the rostrum, behind eventual winner Leandro Mercado. But Smith is pleased he managed to match the pace of the leading bikes. “It was a bit a lonely race because I wasn’t catching the guy in front and no-one was catching me. But I managed to match the pace of the leaders and turn in some consistent laps. It’s turned out really good after we worked on the bike all weekend, concentrating on the front end mainly,” said Smith. “There’s some more to do because I like the front end to be loaded a bit but it seems to be working. We made a big change for warm-up but probably went too far but, we’ve only had a couple of days with the CBR. The others out there have had a couple of seasons already.

(story courtesy of) www.bikesportnews.com

Kyle will race the brand new Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade ‘SP’ in the FIM Superstock 1000 Cup with Gerry Bryce and the ‘Racedays’ Honda squad.

WildWolf back on board and are supporting Kyle with this move.

Gerry Bryce, Team Owner: “We’re very pleased to announce such a strong line-up for 2014. Kyle has a great natural talent and I’m sure he will be able to get the very best from the new Honda Fireblade SP.

Kyle Smith: “I’m looking forward to next season and a new challenge. I most enjoy riding the bigger bikes and the feel from the Pirelli tyres really suits my style. The Honda’s probably still the best handling 1000cc bike so next year’s SP should be even better. Let’s see what next season brings, but my goal is to race WSBK in 2015 and I’ll be giving it my all to get there.”

Great Win for Kyle at the final round of the European 600 SuperStock in Jerez Spain,

Conditions were expected to be wet which would have suited the underpowered Honda but surprisingly it stayed a dry race which meant a gutsy ride from the tough Yorkshireman with 6 Kawasaki’s and Yamaha’s pecking at him he held the position from start to finish winning by .3 sec.

Top ride, nice to have a weekend with no problems.!

Honda Team ‘Agro-On Racedays’ delighted.