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Ger Lawton this week caught up with Tramore's Brian McCormack as he prepares to compete in this year's British Superbikes Championship.

PICTURE THE SCENE. Sitting on a state of the art Honda Superblade motorbike in Brands Hatch waiting for the lights to go out. Waiting to make a mad dash for that first bend. Waiting to reach speeds of up to 170 MPH. Waiting to challenge yourself against the best riders around, ready to compete for podium places, for wins and all live on Sky Sports.

Ready to hit the big time.

Well then my friends meet the man that hopes 2008 will be the year when the wait for all these things will finally be over and he will realise his dreams.

For those of you who have been reading this sports section over the years you will probably know the name of Brian McCormack.

A native of Tramore who over recent years has been quickly climbing up the ranks of Irish and indeed international mtorcycling. In the past he has mainly focussed on the Irish championships and the odd sojourn in America but come the first weekend in April his career will take a whole different and hope-fully hugely successful turn for the best.

Brilliant 2007

2007 was a wonderful season for Brian as he competed for Tag Racing, who are based in Dublin. In all he won no less than 22 races and recorded two lap records on his way to victory in the Irish championship.

On top of that he represented Ireland at the Celtic Match Races in which riders from this country compete against riders from England, Wales and Scotland and Brian's two race wins were enough for Ireland to take the title in Wales.

During 2007 he also took part in two rounds of the British Superbikes and did really well, and this whetted his appetite to compete in the whole championship on a full-term basis as well as attempting to defend his Irish title whenever the two championships don't clash.

Naturally this sport isn't cheap and competing week in week out all over Britain is very expensive. That's where his sponsors come in and Brian is very lucky to have great sponsors.

His main sponsors are the Bolster Group and HB Motorcycles, Waterford Honda and without the help of these two companies and the men behind them in particular, Willie Bolster and Hilton Hincks there would be no hope of making this great step forward in his career.

"Willie and Hilton and Mark O'Brien have been brilliant to me for many years and as well as sponsorship they have been great motivators and helped in every way possible and I'm very grateful to them for that."

"I also have a number of other great sponsors like McCormaks Hardware in Tramore, Jim Haligan at J-Tec Sports, Castrol Oils and ARAI Helmets. I would also like to thank Brian McLuskey, Baret Chapman and Paul Jackman for all their help.

"Entering a team in the British Superbikes is a huge step forward for me. It's second only to the World Super-bikes and is hugely competitive but I'm really looking forward to it and getting the chance to prove myself against the best."

Big Chance

Brian is also looking forward to getting his hands on his brand new bike, a Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade.

"I rode a road version of the bike at Mondello last week and I was thrilled with it, I went within three seconds of the lap record. My bike is currently being totally stripped and prepared to championship standards and I really think that it will be a huge improvement on the old bike."

This is where his mechanics, Andy Grimshaw and brother, Alan come in, and they are currently hard at work. But before the British Superbikes gets underway at Brands Hatch on the first weekend in April, Brian is heading to Florida at the end of this month to compete in the AMA Suprerbikes at Daytona.

"This should be a fantastic experience because I'll be competing against some of the best riders in America and also I will be riding one of the bikes which was raced by Michael Jordan (Basket-ball Legend) last year and we believe that we will get to meet him too which would be fantastic. It will also be great practice for the British Superbikes and then when I get back it will be into full practice ahead of the big kick-off in early April."

"All in all it's just a fantastic opportunity for me to compete at the next level and while it is going to be difficult for a small self-financing team like ourselves to compete with the big teams, who have a budget of 6-7 million sterling a year, we intend in giving it our best shot and that is all we can do because this is where we want to be."

Backing To Succeed

Willie Bolster of the Bolster group is a long time friend and advisor to Brian and he is in no doubt that this is a young man that is only going one way and that is up. "Brian is a huge talent and we have no doubt that he is destined for the top of this sport and that is why we are only delighted to get involved with this sponsor-ship and in any way that we can help to achieve his goals," sentiments echoed by Hilton Hincks, himself an extremely acomplished rider who has ‘more than' likely hung up his leathers. "I did a bit last year but that's it I'm retired now, well probably anyway," we'll believe it when we don't see you back on a bike in competition Hilton. But while Brian is obviously delighted with Willie and Hilton's contribution and indeed that of all his sponsors, he is always in the market for new sponsors and anyone who would like to get involved can contact myself here at the Waterford News & Star and we will put you in touch with Brian.

Ever wished to get in at the start of something really big?

Here's your chance.....