Copyright 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Young gun Nicky Moore will ride as a fill-in on a Pirelli-shod ViTrans – TKR Honda CBR600RR in two rounds of the British Supersport series.

Photo by Rick Menapace

According to Pirelli’s International Racing Manager Eddie Roberts, ViTrans – TKR Honda’s Paul Young crashed and broke his arm during the Brands Hatch round of the British Supersport series recently, and team owner Robbie Burns put the word out that he was looking for a young rider with Honda CBR600RR and Pirelli experience.

Roberts, who had just personally witnessed Moore finish 12th overall and top Honda in his first-ever AMA Supersport race, at California Speedway April 4, recommended the 17-year-old Riverbank, California resident to Burns, and the two-race deal was finished this week.

Moore is currently obtaining his passport, is expected to arrive in England Tuesday, April 20 and will begin testing the next day at either Cadwell Park or Mallory Park. Moore will then race for ViTrans – TKR Honda at the Snetterton (April 25) and Oulten Park (May 3) rounds of the series.

Moore has ridden a variety of machines in his short road racing career, from Yamaha YSR50s to 125cc Grand Prix bikes to Aprilia RS250s and more recently 600cc production-based machines, winning regional races on all. He is also an accomplished dirt track racer with AMA Amateur National and Lodi Cycle Bowl Championships on his resume.

Moore has been profiled in the Roadracing World “Young Guns” feature for the last two years.

“I don’t know what to think. It’s like a dream,” said Moore, when contacted by Roadracingworld.com late Friday. “I haven’t had time to sit down and think about it. We’ve just been so busy trying to get the passport – we had to go up to San Francisco to get it in one day. Then I had to get a physical, get my license straight between the AMA and England.”

Asked if he thought his performance at California Speedway would earn him a ride this quickly, Moore said, “I thought I did pretty good at Fontana. I felt like there was some room for improvement. But I never thought anything like this would come out of it, not this fast! I was just getting ready for Sears (AMA event at Infineon Raceway), hoping to maybe get with an AMA satellite team next year, but I thought even that would be a long shot.

“It’s gonna be fun, you know, but it’s gonna be crazy!”

Moore said that California Race Services’ Tom and Jerry Jirkovsky, the west coast Pirelli race tire distributors, played a large role in making the connection with Roberts, who was in contact with the ViTrans – TKR Honda team.