Tyrone trio targeting bright start at Silverstone

THREE Tyrone teenagers are counting down the days until they get their Pirelli National Junior Superstock Championship campaigns underway at Sillverstone this weekend.

Killyman’s Cameron Dawson, the reigning British Junior Supersport champion, has top 10 aspirations on his MSS Performance Kawasaki, Omagh’s Jamie Lyons has drafted in four-time British champion Keith Farmer as a mentor for 2022 and Aughnacloy’s Andrew Hughes is hoping to build upon his debut in the class last year.

Dawson claimed the Junior Supersport British Junior Supersport crown in style last season with a dominant campaign on his 400cc MSS Performance Kawasaki.

This term, he remains with MSS but is stepping up onto 600cc machinery, which he acknowledges, is taking some getting used to.

“The 600 is totally different to the 400, it’s so different,” he explained. “Obviously it’s heavier, it’s bigger, has more power, there’s nothing that’s really 100 per cent similar, it’s a completely different situation.

“But we’re getting there, we’re slowly progressing. After every session there is set-up changes and all that kind of stuff.”

After undertaking some testing in Spain, Dawson took on most of the rest of the class at the official British Superbike Championship test at Snetterton where he finished 10th on the time sheets.

“I went into Snetterton, which was my first BSB test and I think I went in with my expectations maybe a little bit too high after last year’s success but 10th overall, we weren’t a million miles off,” he added.

“First place was two seconds ahead of second, so he was away with it, but I have only done 10 laps and there was only three and a half seconds in it, which isn’t much.

“And we did our best lap on a tyre that had already done a session.”

The new season gets underway at Silverstone this weekend and a confident Dawson hopes to stay in and around the top 10 from that point on. However, should that not happen, he’s only too happy to knuckle down in order to achieve that aim.

“I’m going in with a good bit of confidence knowing I’m capable of doing it, that the bike’s capable of doing it and all the rest of it, so if I don’t bring home the results it’s down to me, nothing else,” he said.

“I still have the confidence from last year’s success and I do want to be at least top 10 every time and if we’re not top 10 then we’ll need to up our game and do more testing because this season’s testing hasn’t gone the way we hoped.”

Seventeen-year-old Lyons, meanwhile, caught the eye last year, his fourth in the British Talent Cup, where, despite being the tallest and heaviest rider on the grid, he finished in the top 10 at every round, won one and finished second on two other occasions to claim fourth place overall.

This year he’s jumping from the tiny Moto3 machine onto a 600cc Yamaha and Farmer has been drafted in to help Jamie reach his potential in the class.

The pair worked together at the opening round of the Ulster Superbike Championship at Bishopscourt where, despite competing on an underpowered ‘stock’ machine against Supersport bikes, Jamie managed to claim two podium finishes and he feels that bodes well for their relationship going forward.

“I’m looking forward to it and I’m looking forward to learning more, particularly with Keith [Farmer],” said Omagh Academy pupil Jamie.

“I worked with him at Bishopscourt and it was the first time being at the track with him and his advice and me trying to put it into practice worked really well, so I’m looking forward to plenty of that in England.

“There’s not many people who are four-time British champions, so just is wealth of experience and knowledge will be invaluable.”

And Keith is looking forward to working with young Lyons too, saying: “I’m going to try and help him as much as I can. It’s not a full-time thing because I can’t get to every round but it will be a general help to steer him in the right direction.

“He’s a good kid with his feet on the ground and a bit of talent about him, so if I can help give him in a good direction to go, hopefully it will make a bit of a difference.”

Having excelled in the British Talent Cup last season, Lyons isn’t lacking confidence ahead of the 2022 campaign, but he’s got a level head on his young shoulders and without an extensive amount of seat time on his more powerful bike, he’s taking things as they come initially.

“I don’t know how I’m doing compared to everyone else in the class, but the first two or three rounds in the top 20 is the target and if it’s better than that it’s better than that and if it’s not, I have very limited track time on the bike so it’ll be somewhere to work from,” he explained.

“I’ll go over and give it my all and if I’m at my full pace and I’m winning that’s very, very good and if I’m at my full pace and I’m 15th then that’s a good place to work from.

“I’m not putting figure on it because it’s a new class, a new everything and we’ll still be trying to set the bike up, trying to get comfortable, it won’t be 100 per cent from the start so we’ll just see how we do.”

Of the three Tyrone riders competing in the British Junior Superstock Championship in 2022, Smyth is hoping that with a year under his belt in the ultra competitive series, he will ‘hit the ground running’ at Silverstone.

The Aughnacloy teenager believes that all the work put in on his MPW-liveried Kawasaki last season should hold him in good stead ahead of this weekend’s opening round.

“I’m looking to hit the ground running and see how we get on,” he said. “Every year is going to be a challenge and every year is going to be hard but we’re definitely going to give it our best shot this year.

“I’m really looking forward to it and I can definitely say this year that I have put 100 per cent into everything that I’ve done.

“It took us a few rounds last year for me and Dad [Kenny] to really understand the bike and that would have taken us all year had it not been for Mark Hanna, who is helping us again this year too.

“He has a lot of knowledge about bike set-up but also about life in the paddock and tricks and tips to help us.”

While the Smyths have plenty of data to ensure their bike is set up perfectly for each round, that’s not the case for the opener at Silverstone, but Andrew isn’t overly concerned as he knows from past experience that the series is going to be a tough task regardless.

“Silverstone is going to be the most challenging round because we have no data but I’m not using that as an excuse because I’m more motivated than ever,” he added.

“I think this year will be even more difficult because there is no class in the British Championship that’s easy and it’s definitely going to be as competitive as ever.

“There are some really talented riders in it again and I’m just looking forward to seeing how we get on.”

Last season, Smyth edged closer and closer to a points scoring finish and this term he hopes to achieve that aim regularly.

“This year I’m looking to get more consistency and consistency in the points and those sorts of positions but there’s no pressure on me, no-one is putting pressure on me apart from what I’m putting on,” he added.

“You just want to do the best you can and I’m really looking forward to it because I’ve never been this driven for pre-season, I have put absolutely 100 per cent into everything on and off track.”