Cooper stays with Buildbase BMW

Richard Cooper has re-signed for Buildbase BMW for the 2016 MCE British Superbike championship.

Richard Cooper has re-signed for Buildbase BMW for the 2016 MCE British Superbike championship.

The Nottingham-based rider switched to the Buildbase BMW squad midway through last season after splitting with Anvil TAG Kawasaki.

After a successful campaign Cooper was cruelly denied a shot the BSB Riders' Cup after suffering a nasty crash during qualifying at the final round at Brands Hatch, ruling him out of the last three races of the year.

Cooper is delighted to secure a full campaign with Buildbase BMW in 2016 and is looking to build on his promising form from the end of last year.

"It's great to be staying on with the Buildbase BMW team," Cooper said. "I'm looking forward to completing a full season with them as I only joined half way through last year. We made great progress in the time we had together in 2015 and I'm confident we can take this into the upcoming season. As soon as I came back to the team I felt at home immediately so sticking with them for 2016 seemed natural."

Buildbase BMW team manager Steve Hicken says after Cooper proved he could fight for BSB podiums last year the deal became straightforward. Cooper claimed two rostrum results with Anvil TAG Kawasaki at round six Brands Hatch last year while being a consistent top ten finisher.

"I'm really pleased to have secured Coops to continue with the team next year," Hicken said. "He showed a lot of promise in 2016, he's shown he's capable of podiums if not more so we'll be looking to get behind him and taking it to the next level this year."

The Buildbase BMW squad will also return to the Pirelli National Superstock 1000 series this year with 22-year-old Taylor Mackenzie as the teams aims to repeat its success with Cooper when he secured the championship title in 2011.

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