TEENAGER Liam Delves is preparing for a new season of racing and has a shiny new Honda motorcycle ready to go in the opening round of the 2016 Motostar Moto3 Standard championship at Silverstone this weekend.
The 15-year-old made his debut for Banks Racing in the GP125 class last year where he completed the season in a fine fourth place, missing out on third by just six points.
Delve, who attends Smiths Wood Sports College, achieved his first podium in round five at Knockhill where he finished both races in third position and although he never actually won a race in 2015 he took a second place at Thruxton and four more third place finishes at Oulton Park, Assen and two at Silverstone.
This year there is a new category in the Motostar championship and Delves is set to use a Honda NSF250R in this class. The team took delivery of the new machine a few weeks ago and it is now all sprayed in Banks Racing colours.
Delves was quick to get on board to put the new bike through its paces and is delighted with its performance.
He said: “It is awesome, I cannot believe how fast and smooth it is and I am desperate to get it out on track under race conditions and see how I fare against my opponents.
“I have to thank my sponsors for their continued support this year and welcome some new ones to the team.
“Thanks also go to Paul from Moto Engineering and Pete Banks for giving me the opportunity to ride this fantastic motorcycle and I will do my best to bring some top results back to the team.”
Delves will get his championship challenge underway on Friday when he takes part in a free practice session which will be followed by first qualifying.
The final qualifying sessions takes place on Saturday morning and positions in that will set the grid for the first ten-lap race later that evening. The second ten-lap race will take place on Sunday morning.
