Linden Magee on Honda for FX ASC – Jamie Stauffer planning to ride Sydney Motorsports Park season opener
By Trevor Hedge and Russell Colvin
Linden Magee has had his first taste of a Honda CBR 1000RR SP this week at Wakefield Park as he tested alongside regular Team Honda incubment Troy Herfoss.
Magee has only raced a BMW S 1000R and HP4 in his racing career, so 2015 will mark the very first time that the Queenslander will race a different brand of motorcycle.
“I found it was easy to adapt to the CBR1000RR SP and felt comfortable by the end of the day.” Commented Magee.
“It has a brilliant chassis and does everything you ask of it. I’m excited and look forward to getting to round one.”
Linden Magee will purchase the Honda Fireblade SP machine from Team Honda Racing and will campaign the FX-ASC 2015 season as a satellite rider with Paul Free managed squad.
We spoke to Paul Free about this latest development in Team Honda’s 2015 plans.
“Linden is purchasing a bike off us, which will be set up ready to go exactly like Jamie and Troy’s bike.
“He will essentially be a satellite rider, we will transport his bikes and maintain them while he will work out of his own pit garage at the circuit.
“We will help him out as much as we can and his machine will be prepared exactly the same as our race bike he rode this week, the same as the other two boys.
“Looking at how he went the other day I think he is going to go quite well on a Honda, he enjoyed riding it and went quite fast so it looks good.
“He just will need a little time to adapt, and as he said, ‘he has to learn how to ride a bike that does everything right’.
“He has ridden a BMW for a number of years, they all have their different traits, he has to change his style a little bit and build confidence in the Honda’s strengths and once he gets his head around that I think he will go really good.”
And how is Jamie Stauffer progressing with his recovery from that broken pelvis sustained at the World Superbike support events? And is he planning to be on the grid for the Swann Australasian FX Superbike Championship opener at Sydney Motorsport Park late this month?
“Right at this point, Jamie is focusing on being on the grid at Eastern Creek.
“He is booked in for a scan next week to see how the blood clot complication is dispersing. That is going to determine more than anything as to if he will race the season opener as he is currently on a blood thinner to help break up the clot, and he needs to be off that for obvioius reasons before he returns to racing. As long as the clot has cleared up and he can get off that medication then in his own mind he is right to go. He just needs to get the right checks done and the right advice and clearance and away he goes.”
And if Jamie can’t race will you put someone else on his Fireblade?
“There are plenty of volunteers that have been putting their hand up but to be honest, there is not many guys that I think are capable of doing the bike justice.
‘If Jamie is unable to ride, the obvious choice really at this stage would be to perhaps help Linden some more in his first event on the Honda but at this stage I am banking on Jamie being capable of riding.”
Will Team Honda Racing solely focus on the Swann Australasian FX Superbike Championship? Or will you also contest some rounds of the ASBK Championship?
“The ASC FX Championship is our focus and at this stage we are not planning on doing any of the ASBK rounds this season.”
The 2015 Swann Insurance Australasian Superbike Championship kicks into life at Sydney Motorsport Park on the last weekend of March.
This weekend however, Linden Magee turns his immediate attention to the final round of the New Zealand Superbike Championship which concludes at Taupo.
