Callum Spriggs to Cube Racing Kawasaki
2015 Australasian Supersport Champion Callum Spriggs has made the switch to a Cube Racing prepared Kawasaki ZX6 for the 2016 season, forming part of the team headed up by Ben Henry with Spriggs set to compete alongside Robbie Menzies. The move also aligns Callum with fellow Queenslander Mike Jones and will provide the opportunity to be part of the newly created Ducati team under the guidance of Troy Bayliss.
After a long time association with Yamaha, Callum admits he has achieved a multitude of successes in his career so far, headlined by his 2015 season results. Acknowledging the support of the team he had around him, the Queenslander is looking forward to the next challenge in his professional motorcycle racing career.
“I can’t thank the entire Yamaha team enough, especially Ian Irving and John Redding from Yamaha Racing Development (YRD) for their support throughout my career to date in road racing. We achieved some fantastic results, obviously headlined by the win in both the AFX-SBK and Australasian Supersport Championships last year.”
“Everyone at Yamaha, in particular Frank Pons and my mechanic, Matt Graham were always very supportive of me to help me achieve my best and that was fantastic. I’m really look forward to the new challenge onboard the Kawasaki as I look to adapt my riding style and get settled in at my new team,” Spriggs said.
At the conclusion of the 2015 season, Callum went about reviewing his options for this year and affirms that the obvious step would have been Superbikes, however keeping in mind planned surgery following a crash in Asia early last year, the logical option remained to be to stay in Supersport and the chance to join Cube Racing dramatically helped that decision making.
“Following the success of last year, I did have a few different options of what to race in 2016, while the obvious may have been to progress to Superbike, the opportunity to join with Cube Racing become the clear front runner for many reasons. After my crash in Asia in 2015, I have mid-year surgery planned which will require dedicated recuperation for some months, so remaining in Supersport will allow me to regroup and get my momentum back before attacking the premier class in following seasons,” Spriggs added.
Making the switch to Cube Racing and Kawasaki for the 2016 season has brought with it a multitude of benefits for Spriggs, a strong base of technical and engineering support exists within the team in addition to working alongside a team mate to help improve the machinery at each event. Further, Callum will have the chance to learn from 2015 Australian Superbike Champion, Mike Jones and three-time World Superbike Champion, Troy Bayliss.
“The opportunity to form part of the Cube Racing Team was one that I couldn’t knock back. It provides so many benefits to myself and my riding. Competing in the Supersport category with my team mate, Robbie Menzies, will mean we are able to work together on data and bike development together to ensure we can deliver the best results possible,” Spriggs concluded.
Callum’s first event of the year will be as part of the Australian Supersport support category at the World Superbike Championship opening round at Phillip Island, Victoria from February 26-28 with his full racing calendar for 2016 to be released in coming weeks.
