Stars of the future
When Peter Hickham told us he was establishing a new academy-style racing championship for juniors, we couldn't wait to hear more. Supporting young racers at grassroots level was something we thought we could help support too. And who knows, the Ohvale UK Cup might just discover a future world champion...
A well-known character in the British Superbike (BSB) paddock and not to mention a five-times Isle of Man TT winner too, we can think of worst mentors to have than Peter ‘Hicky’ Hickman. His new academy line-up of Ohvale Cup riders, all who are aged between eight and 12 years old, is now 19-strong and are no doubt already reaping the benefits of the Lincolnshire racer’s experience.
Ohvale UK was formed by Hicky in 2019 after he first discovered the Ohvale GP-0 110cc minibikes at the Texas Tornado Boot Camp. Realising that there was a clear gap in UK grassroots racing, his thoughts quickly turned to setting up a “proper junior championship” to develop future talent, and by October 2019 in conjunction with the MiniGP Talent Cup, a new academy was born.
The Ohvale UK Cup is a ten-round series taking place at tracks all over the UK including Pembrey in Wales, Ellough Park in Norfolk and Lyddin Kent. Like similar-style race championships, race weekends incorporate a practice (Friday), qualifying (Saturday) and two races (Sunday).
All Ohvale motorcycles come with a sealed engine, which means every rider has the same opportunity and all classes all over the world run to the same rules. This means that riders competing in the UK are also eligible to race in the Italian, Spanish and French championships too.
To support the series, Evotech Performance has developed rear paddock stand bobbins for all Ohvale UK Cup competitors. As well as supporting the weight of the motorcycle during storage and maintenance, they also provide some crash protection for additional peace of mind. We’re also working on developing brake protectors and oil cooler guards for additional protection.
We’re looking forward to seeing how the series progresses!