Neave steps in for injured Rouse at Silverstone

Tom Neave will fill in for the injured Chrissy Rouse at the Movuno.com Halsall Racing Suzuki squad for the Silverstone round.

After Rouse sustained a broken left hand and right wrist at Cadwell Park last time out, Neave has been called up having impressed while stepping in for the injured Dan Linfoot at Honda Racing for the past two rounds in the Bennetts British Superbike championship.

Neave, who competes in the Pirelli National Superstock 1000 series on a Suzuki, is confident of a smooth transition but accepts the large scale of the task ahead of him at Silverstone.

“I was actually in the garage prepping my bike for Silverstone when Colin called and invited me for a meeting,” Neave said. “I’m over the moon to have been given another opportunity to race in the Bennetts British Superbike Championship.

“I’m really looking forward to working with Colin and the team, and I can’t wait to get back out. Naturally, it’s going to be another big learning curve. I’ve had two rounds riding the Honda, and now I’ve got to start again with a different bike. My own machine is a Suzuki, so that could be a bit of an advantage.

“It’s been such an amazing year, going from missing the start of the season with a bad shoulder injury to getting the chance to join the BSB grid, and then to get this second opportunity is fantastic.

“I got a 12th and a 15th at Cadwell Park two weeks ago, so I’d like to aim for similar results at Silverstone. I plan to spend Friday learning about the bike and getting settled in, and then hopefully we can push forward and move towards the points as the weekend goes on.”

The Silverstone BSB round will be contested on the National circuit followed late safety concerns on the resurfaced Grand Prix circuit which saw a full cancellation of the British MotoGP round at the track last weekend.

Team boss Colin Wright is thrilled to secure Neave as stand-in having seen him as the ideal candidate after completing a similar role for Honda.

“Tom’s a great guy, we had a long meeting this week and as far as I’m concerned he ticks all of the boxes so far,” he said. “With Chrissy recovering, we wanted to find a promising youngster to fill his seat until he is fit enough to come back, and after seeing Tom in action at Cadwell, I felt he was the ideal candidate.

“He’s already demonstrated that he can run in the points and if he can do a similar job with us, then that would be brilliant. He’s under no pressure, but he’s very fired up and determined to prove he has a future in superbike racing, so I’m looking forward to working with him this weekend.”