Beech embarking on exciting new venture

The Alveley star had big plans this year, trying to claim the Thundersport GP3 Superteens title while also racing the occasional round in the British Superbike series, in the British Junior Supersport class.

Backed by Bathams Racing, Harris had already enjoyed two full seasons in the junior supersport championship, coming away with impressive results on the national stage.

This year, he had planned to focus more on the club racing scene – and after putting an unfortunate crash behind him during the opening round he had laid down a marker claiming fourth, sixth and third-placed finishes.

However, sometimes a deal can be too good to be true and when a fellow rider offered Harris and his father, Richard, a first-class deal to buy his Yamaha R3, he used the money to buy a Yamaha R6 for himself.

And Harris will be racing in the 600cc classes for the rest of this season – including this weekend, back with Thundersport, at Oulton Park – and then into 2021, with a view to entering the National Superstock 600 series next year.

Richard said: "He's got two choices this weekend, to either enter the 600 Clubman or the 600 Elite classes.

"There's a practice session on Friday and that will be the first time he has been on the bike.

"I've had the bike in bits to make sure everything is fine with it, so he hasn't had any time on it yet.

"There's also two qualifying sessions and then it's straight into the races but there's no pressure on him whatsoever.

"The R3 has been a really good bike for him but he's 16 now and was getting to big for it – it's seems like the right time to make the move up."

The difference will be quite stark for Harris because while the R3 was around 140kgs and 49 breakhorsepower, the R6 is 165kgs and 120BHP.

"There's nothing in between, really, so it's the next step and although sometimes there is never a good time we all felt it was the right move," added Richard.

"I had a chat with Harris and said if he wanted to keep the R3 we could keep challenging for the Superteens title but with Covid and the lack sponsorship this year, a change seemed like the right move.

"Bathams is back on board and the bike will be painted in the black and gold.

"Depending on how the club racing goes, we might be looking at entering the National Superstock 600 series next year."

Meanwhile, for team manager Michael Rutter and the rest of Bathams Racing, round four of the National Superstock 1000 series ended in frustration over the weekend.

After new rider Dan Linfoot had picked up a ninth in the opening race at Oulton Park, mechanical problems forced him to retire from race two.

Rutter said: “It's hard not to be disappointed with a ninth place finish and a DNF from the weekend, but I've been around long enough to know that this is racing, and the reward doesn't always match the effort.

"The superstock 1000 class is so close and so competitive, that just being a couple of tenths of a second off the pace is the difference between the podium and where we are.

"All the time we are getting to know the S1000RR better, and all the time we are getting closer to where we want to be. We've just got to be patient and keep solving all the issues as they come at us."

The National Superstock 1000 series and the rest of the BSB championship moves to Donington Park, October 2-4.