By 
NOVEMBER
CAMERON DAWSON (MOTORCYCLE RACING)
Teenager Cameron is one of Northern Ireland’s brightest short circuit racing prospects, which he proved time and again in the British Junior Supersport Championship in 2020. The 16-year-old from Killyman achieved two podium finishes during the season past, at Silverstone and Oulton Park, to end his campaign a fantastic fourth overall. Although a little disappointed to finish outside the top three, he was effectively the top privateer rider in the series and his performances have helped him land a ride with top Kawasaki team, MSS Performance for 2021, when he will be one of the favourites for the title. He has also been signed by JMcC Roofing Racing to ride their 600cc machine in the Ulster Superbike Championship’s Supersport Cup class this year.
Voting Opens Tuesday 2nd March
2020 Ulster Herald Sports Personality Awards in association with MFC Sports, LIVE winners reveal Wednesday 10th March, 7pm
Cameron was featured in the Ulster Herald on Thursday, January 14, 2021
A winning end to last season has left Cameron looking for more success
BY CHRIS CALDWELL
IT would appear to be a case of when, not if, Cameron Dawson seals a first British short circuit title. And if the 2020 season is anything to go by, don’t be surprised if he achieves that particular aim in 2021.
The talented 16-year-old Killyman lad finished a superb fourth overall in the HEL Performance British Junior Supersport Championship in 2020. He earned two podium finishines in the process – a second at Silverstone and a third at Oulton Park – on his family run Dawson
Racing/KMR Kawasaki 400 Ninja, which he then rode to two wins at the final round of the Thundersport Series to bring a curtain down on a hugely successful season that has also brought him the Ulster Herald Sports Personality of the Month Award for November.
“2020 started off good and then we kind of had inconsistent points, but with the result we ended up with, fourth, we were the first privateer team and we only had properly backed bikes in front of us, so I was happy,” he said.
“There’s room for improvement and there’s room for learning so I’m excited to see what this new season will bring.”
Since then he has signed deals to race in the Ulster Superbike Championship’s Supersport Cup class for JMcC Roofing Racing, for whom he will compete on a 600cc Kawasaki with one eye on 2022 when he hopes to make the step up to the Pirelli National 600 Superstock Championship; and he has also joined forces with MSS Performance, to ride their machine in the British Junior Supersport Championship in 2021 when he firmly believes he is in with a title shot on what is basically a factory package.
“This is a learning year on the 600 and a championship [winning year] on the 400, hopefully!,” he explained. “It’s going to be another learning curve. Obviously I know my way around a 400 now, so getting my way around a 600 is going to be another task, but it’s one I’m looking forward to.”
“I’m really excited about the new season with MSS Performance,” he beamed. “It’s a massive opportunity for me to show my full potential. “It’s going to be another learning year, but I’m going to take my Junior Supersport experience into 2021 with the aim of clinching the championship – to reward everyone putting in all the hard work! “I’d like to thank my Dad [Ian] and all my sponsors for making this happen, as well as Nick and Naomi at MSS.”
Dawson believes the expertise that MSS Performance will provide can only benefit his aims for 2021. “Their bike is fully backed by Kawasaki and they know everything about the bike and know what to do,” he explained.
“The bike will be sitting there immaculate all the time, with mechanics around it so that should give me a bit of an advantage. “That’s where we lost out last year, not having that expertise at every round, but now we have that, we have people helping, so it will definitely be a good job.”
Cameron’s rise through the short circuit ranks hasn’t happened overnight, it’s taken the guts of 11 years! He took his first steps on two wheels at the tender age of five on a replica Ryan Farquhar mini moto machine and he hasn’t looked back since.
“Me and dad are friendly with Ryan [Farquhar] and we would have gone to the road races and then we got a replica bike of Ryan’s 11 years ago now,” he explained. “I was five whenever I started riding bikes, up and down the drive in the front garden and we took it on from there.”
After exhausting his ‘home’ circuit’, Cameron and dad Ian soon looked further afield and the Drumglass High School pupil enjoyed seven or eight years competing at various mini moto and pit bike events across Ireland and the UK. He sealed a host of podium finishes on the tiny machines and competed annually in Spain at the ‘World’ race against the best riders from Europe and further afield.
Cameron enjoyed that period of his racing career, but at the age of 12 he made the step up to the short circuits, racing a 125cc Aprillia.
After impressing on the little Italian machine, Cameron stepped up to racing in the Junior Cup classes in the USBK and at Mondello where he again caught the eye.
But it has been since making the move to competing in England that he has come on leaps and bounds, finishing second overall in the Thundersport Superteens class at the first attempt before finishing fourth overall in the British Junior Supersport series in his second season in the championship in 2020.
“Without going over to England [racing mini motos, pit bikes and now short circuits] I wouldn’t be here where I am at the minute,” he acknowledged.
“But I definitely moved on at the right time. From then, we have been getting better and better and we’ve taken a big step now with a good team behind us so we’ll see how this works out!”
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