Motodex Spearmint Rhino step up to BSB

The Motodex Spearmint Rhino team has announced it will be stepping up to the MCE British Superbike Championship for the final two rounds of the season ahead of a planned full-time switch in 2014.

The Bavaria-based team has been competing in the National Superstock 1000 Championship with Stefan Capella riding a BMW S1000RR this year, but recently signalled its intentions to move onto a bigger stage by signing a lucrative sponsorship deal with gentleman's club Spearmint Rhino.

As such, the Motodex team will enter the final two rounds of the year at Silverstone and Brands Hatch with Capella on the bike with a view to launching a full campaign next season.

"I'm massively excited at the opportunity to enter the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship for the last two rounds of the year," Capella said. "It's obviously a huge step having only done the latter part of the year in Superstock, and only really making appearance once or twice in the years previous.

"I know it going to be tough, but my team are fantastic and with Tony's enthusiasm and love for racing I'd be ecstatic where ever we went. I'm going to Silverstone not expecting any big results and no pressure is ever on me, but we will be trying our best and I'm really looking forward to it."

Though the team has suffered a difficult few months after team manager Tony Dexter's home and base was devastated by floods in his native Germany, he is delighted to be joining BSB.

"It was very much the direction I was looking to take the team next year, so when we were given the opportunity to move to the Superbike class for the remainder of the season it didn't take a lot of thinking about. With the support from sponsors like Alpha Racing we are now working hard to get the bike ready for action at Silverstone.

"We are a new team and we want to use these last two rounds to identify any shortfalls we may have running at this top level so we can work to get in the best possible position for 2014 when we plan to run Stef and another rider on our BMW S1000RR. We have Martin Szlagowski, Jeremy McWilliams' former crew chief working with us from now and it's a very exciting time for everyone.

"I'd like to take this opportunity to thank everyone involved with Motodex Spearmint Rhino BMW for their hard work and patience over the last four months."

Motodex Spearmint Rhino BMW is the third team to make a move into BSB in recent weeks, with Quelch BSD Motorsport stepping up from the Superstock series and Tsingtao WK Bikes joining from the Supersport class.