How the world's fastest road racer is helping Britain's motorcycling future

Wherever you look these days, industries that are the backbone of Britain are being hammered by the seemingly relentless COVID-19 pandemic and the ineptitude of Brexit: fishermen have been hit particularly hard since 1 January, while the country's thriving touring music scene looks next to lose out, among a slew of others as the long-forecasted reality sets in.

That's especially tragic when you consider how the music industry was shaped was in no small part down to great British bands making it big across the globe and inspiring generations of musicians to go on to pursue the same stratospheric levels of stardom as the likes of The Beatles, Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath did in the 1960s and 1970s.

But Britain turning its back on institutions which made it world famous isn't exactly a new thing (and here's where we bring it back to motorsport). Britain ruled the world in motorcycle grand prix racing from the 1950s through to the 1970s: the very first MotoGP world champion was a Brit on a British bike - Les Graham on an AJS. Then the steady decline came as the 1980s dawned, the advent of more affordable production-based series offered a strong alternative to the exorbitant costs needed to make it big in grand prix racing.

Between 1981 and the 2016 Czech Grand Prix, not one British rider managed a MotoGP victory. Only one rider since 1977 - Danny Kent in 2015 in the Moto3 class - won a grand prix world championship. And as we head into the 2021 season, there might not be a Briton on the premier class grid, depending on whether Aprilia decides to give Bradley Smith the nod over fellow test rider Lorenzo Savadori.

Of course, Britain has been the all-conquering force in World Superbikes since its inception courtesy of the likes of Carl Fogarty, Neil Hodgson, James Toseland and modern-day Superbike great Jonathan Rea (below), who won his sixth world title last year. But Rea's closer to the end of his career than the start, as is Welshman Chaz Davies, and Northern Ireland's Eugene Laverty, while Leon Camier has hung up his leathers to helm Honda's WSBK effort as team boss. And there's not really a hoard of rapid young Brits waiting in the wings to take over from them right away, despite Britain's thriving British Superbike Championship scene.

That is in stark contrast to what's going on in Europe, particularly in Spain and Italy, where strong talent schemes at grassroots level through the various ranks have created a ladder to grand prix racing currently clogged with promising future MotoGP and WSBK stars. Even the Americans have transformed their fortunes recently through the AMA Superbike Championship's successful revival as MotoAmerica six years ago, helmed by triple 500cc world champion Wayne Rainey.

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MotoGP and WSBK promoter Dorna Sports has tried to rectify this, setting up the British Talent Cup. But in its three seasons it's yet to really point anyone in the right direction in the same way its Asia Talent Cup and Red Bull Rookies Cup have. This hasn't gone unnoticed by the world's fastest road racer and BSB frontrunner Peter Hickman.

"I think we need nurture talent in the UK, because Europe definitely do it - Italy and Spain in particular are extremely good at pushing their kids and we don't here," the five-time TT winner tells Autosport.

Not only is Hickman's Ohvale Cup providing a stepping-stone into motorcycle racing for the next generation, it's also exposing them to potential long-term sponsorship opportunities - a critical thing for anyone trying to work their way up the ranks

Recognising a problem, Hickman combined his hectic BSB schedule in the COVID-affected 2020 season by becoming the UK's official importer of the Italian-made Ohvale mini bikes and set up a series - the Ohvale Cup in the British Mini Bike Championship - to help build a strong foundation for an entry into a career in bike racing for 8-12-year-olds.

Hickman was introduced to the Ohvale during a trip to ex-MotoGP racer Colin Edwards' Texas Tornado Bootcamp in America and "couldn't believe how good it was". This led to him getting in touch with the company and things snowballed from there, with Hickman beginning his official association in late 2019. The original plan was to stage a 10-round season for the Ohvale 110 GP-0 class - but this had to be cut back to six due to the pandemic.

"I had the aim of getting 15 riders on the 110cc grid, so 110cc GP-0 motorcycle, four-speed gearbox, riders between 8 and 12 - though we had a couple of seven-year-olds with known ability and were turning eight in that year, so that was fine," Hickman adds. "I had the aim to have 15 riders on the grid by the end of the year, that was the plan. We actually had 14 riders on the grid in round one - we had 15 entered, but one of them unfortunately broke his collarbone the week before. But we actually averaged 18 riders for the six rounds we had in the end."

A total of 26 riders entered races across the championship (won by 11-year-old Harley McCabe), a testament to the affordability of racing Ohvales. The nature of the rules in the class also offers long-term cost-efficiency for parents hoping to get their kids' career off the ground, as well as ensuring most importantly talent, rather than wallet size, remains the key factor for a rider to begin progressing.

"From a kid, even in minimoto when I started, there wasn't any pit bikes or anything like that, but there was minimoto racing," Hickman explains. "There was some bikes that were definitely faster than others, and even when I went into Superteens there were a lot of bikes that weren't as equal shall we say as other peoples. Well, Ohvale engines come sealed, they're always the same, the rules are very, very stock, so there's nothing you can really do to them. You buy a motorcycle, there's a few little bits you need to buy extra to go racing, but that's it.

"I can say to a mum or dad, 'look, roughly you're going to spend in your first year if you're buying everything new and buying all the bits and your entry fees and your tyres, fuel, the whole thing, you're going to do it on about eight, maybe 10 grand'. And to me, yes, it's a lot of money and it's still kids racing and all the rest of it, but in the grand scheme of things it's not. And that's including the bike and the bits and all your stuff that's at least half of that. So, moving into your second year you're going to spend pretty much half, so it's not an expensive way into the sport and that's 100% what we need right now."

Not only is Hickman's Ohvale Cup providing a stepping-stone into motorcycle racing for the next generation, it's also exposing them to potential long-term sponsorship opportunities - a critical thing for anyone trying to work their way up the ranks. Hickman secured backing from OMG Racing team boss Alan Gardner, while Motul got onboard, and Reactive Parts even stumped up some prize money for the kids taking part.

"He's [Gardner] been really keen on the whole youth talent," Hickman says. "He sponsored me as Ohvale UK, he also sponsored the British minibikes championship with the Rich Energy sponsorship. So, he's been really influential on how the championship was ran as well and how successful it's been. So, massive kudos to Alan at OMG Racing because he's seeing the future. I asked him what he wanted back out of it and he said, 'I want a Superbike rider in 10 years' time'. That is the perfect answer.

"These kids at seven, eight years old are getting free oil, free brake cleaner, free chain clean, free brake pads and that just doesn't happen. You don't get that support normally. It's all these little things that are added extras that I guess I'm kind of instigating and pushing the brands and companies to do it. But I can see the benefit for them [the companies] as much as I can for the kids and families starting out. So, massive kudos to all those sponsors again and OMG Racing was the biggest sponsor. But all these brands are helping youth sport and that's the most important [thing]."

The high level of sponsorship involved already allowed Hickman to stage free test days for riders, which is no small feat when you consider the cost of hiring out kart tracks can be thousands of pounds. It's another nod to how dedicated Hickman is to this cause, as is the Ohvale Cup's expansion in 2021 to adding a 160cc class for 10-14-year-olds. This has come at the perfect time, with the FIM and Dorna announcing last week that all Ohvale 160cc classes for 10-14-year-olds worldwide can apply to become part of its 'Road to MotoGP' talent scheme through its new MiniGP series in 2021.

"We're going to run two classes instead of one," he says of the Ohavle Cup's 2021 plans. "We're going to have the 110cc class and we're going to introduce the 160cc class, which is basically the same motorcycle but with a different engine. That means the bikes become cost-effective because you can use the same bike and just change the engine, a few brackets and away you go."

"We're going to have the 110cc class and introduce the 160cc class, which is basically the same motorcycle but with a different engine. That means the bikes become cost-effective because you can use the same bike and just change the engine, a few brackets and away you go" Peter Hickman

And pleasingly, Hickman's efforts don't look like they'll be wrecked by Brexit: "It's about to be a pain in the ass I think," he said when Autosport asks how the UK's exit from the European Union will affect his importing of Ohvale's from Italy. "So far no, because I got everything I could in before 31 December! But I think it won't be horrendous, but there's a lot more paperwork, there's a bit of a cost involved which I'm either going to have to lose myself or pass on to the customer, but I'll try and not pass that on to the customer to be fair and try and lose it myself in what I'm doing. It's made it more awkward, but it shouldn't make it more expensive."

Racers turning their attentions to the future isn't an uncommon occurrence, but it's no less pleasing to see. Having come from difficult early days in BSB to the poster boy for the TT, kicking up partnerships with the likes of Gas Monkey Garage in the US and heavy metal legends Iron Maiden (which resulted in Hickman appearing on tour t-shirts in 2017 and 2018) to further boost his profile, Hickman is the ideal figurehead to help steer and inspire a new generation of young British racers. And now suddenly, top talents from the Ohvale Cup in the UK will be thrust in front of grand prix king makers thanks to Dorna and the FIM.

"It's all coming together nicely really and hopefully this is the start of something properly for UK motorcycling," he concludes.

Pictures courtesy of Ohvale UK