MAKING THE STEP
In 2022 Liam Delves will jump from the superstock 600 class all the way to the Bennetts British Superbike championship, where he will partner Josh Owens in the Rapid CDH Racing team aboard a Kawasaki ZX-10R. From humble beginnings and racing for nothing other than fun, he now has the chance to make his mark in arguably the best - and toughest - domestic motorcycle series on the planet.
Liam Delves, ready for action in 2022. The latest recruit to the Rapid CDH Racing team.
You could be forgiven having not heard of Liam Delves before, or maybe just vaguely remembering seeing his name pop up on the tower graphic on Eurosport on a Sunday. But when you dig a little deeper and learn more about his background and his CV, it’s enough to make you raise your eyebrows and pull that facial expression that’s usually followed by a gentle nod of the head and something like, “Yeah, fair play.” Because the fact is the 21-year-old from Birmingham has talent.
Despite not being from a racer family, or even a motorcycling family, Liam was racing at just five-years-old. Not only that, he finished third in his first ever race, a mini moto race won by Brad Ray, himself with already five years of superbike experience under his belt.
Mastering style and technique was all part of the fun.
“There’s no real history of bikes in my family,” Liam recalls. “My grandad had a road bike but my dad had no interest in bikes, but I’m told as a kid, instead of a Spiderman or Batman or whatever, I always had a toy bike.
“By three I was on a little electric thing, and at four my dad got me a mini moto. Pretty much every Tuesday we’d go and do practice sessions at a local kart track. I went pretty well and someone suggested we enter a race but we weren’t thinking about anything like that, it was just a hobby. In the end, though, we went and entered one, still just for fun, but soon realised it was pretty serious with caravans and motorhomes; we just slept in the car. But I finished third in a race won by Brad Ray.
“We did mini motos again in 2008 and I won the British championship, and finished second in 2009.”
From mini motos Liam took the well trodden path to Metrakits to an Aprilia RS125, racing with his local NG Road Racing Club. However, with no big backer it took all of the family’s finances to go racing, and that meant a year out in 2011.
“In 2009 I also raced the Metrakit 50 and finished third overall, before doing mini motos again in 2010. We didn’t go racing in 2011 as my parents got married and we couldn’t afford to do both. And at this time it was still just for fun, really. But it cost a lot of money and there were other things happening, so I sat that year out.
“In 2012 I started a Metrakit 70 and that year finished second in the championship behind Rory Skinner, and in 2013 and 2014 won the NGRRC Formula 125 championship on a 125 Aprilia.”
Despite maintaining it was still just for fun at that stage, it was about to get serious for Liam and his family, however, after his results attracted the attention of British championship team Banks Racing, and in 2015 he swapped the road-going Aprilia for a GP125 Honda to have a crack on the national stage.
“2015 was a big year,” Liam reflects. “It was the first time I’d ridden for a proper team, I was racing in the British championship, and things were good. I finished fourth in my rookie year in the BSB paddock with a few podiums, and won the NGRRC series, too. And it was at that point we thought we could go somewhere with this.
“I stayed in the British championship and moved onto the Moto3 bikes in the Motostar championship until 2018, and that year I split with the team midway through the season. We looked at what we were doing and decided the time was right to move onto the bigger bikes, and a sponsor bought me an R6 practice bike, which I just did track days and a few NG rounds on to get used to the bigger bike with more weight and more power, with a view to stock 600 at BSB in 2019.”
Clearly still on people’s radar, however, Liam was soon offered a ride for the final three rounds of the 2018 season in the British Superstock 600 Championship, a chance for him to put himself back in the shop window and showcase his talents in the national series.
“Team IMR offered me a rider for the final three rounds, and all we had to do was pay for tyres and fuel, which was great, to be honest. I didn’t really have any expectations as it was a jump from the 125 to a 600, but I finished 12th in my first race and I was really happy with that. I was then in the top-10 at Oulton and sadly had a DNF at Brands at the final round.”
Despite the disappointment of failing to finish at Brands, the three wildcards appearances had done enough to land him a ride with VMR in 2019. Sadly for Liam, though, it was aboard the aging 600cc Kawasaki, putting him at a disadvantage.
“2019 was my first full year on the 600, but the Kawasaki at the time had no quickshifter so it was a bit of a challenge but I took my first win at Thruxton. I swapped to TAG in 2020, which was difficult over six rounds, I got taken out, too, but finished fourth in the championship. And last year I swapped teams again, had a bit of bad luck again. One of the problems with swapping teams was learning and getting comfortable with a new bike, only to be fast by the end of the year.”
Though he was about to move teams again for the 2022 season, this time he was making the massive leap from a 600 road bike in a track fairing to a full-fat superbike, after Rapid CDH Racing team manager Dean Hipwell got his ear at the final round of 2021.
“Dean messaged me and asked for a chat on the Saturday at Brands Hatch,” Liam remembers. “So we met and, in short, he asked if I’d consider riding the superbike in 2022. Me and my dad just looked at each other thinking ‘what is going on’. We said we’d have to talk and get back to him.
“That night in the paddock we crammed into our caravan with our sponsors that were there to talk about it. For me, there were some worries; I didn’t want to make the jump and look daft. And also the money; it’s not a cheap sport and we’d have to bring some money to help put the bike on track but I have some great personal sponsors that immediately said they’d up their contributions, which was fantastic.
“But ultimately we had to go for it: riding a superbike is the dream. My dad worked multiple jobs, my mum did, when I started working I put all my wages into going racing. I lived in a council flat in Birmingham for 18 years of my life and now I had this opportunity, we had to take it.”
For Liam, too, there was precedent, with Ryan Vickers having successfully made the jump from stock 600 to superbike, and a few weeks later the deal was done.
Now, though, Liam is faced with the daunting task of adapting to 200+ horsepower, and all the other things that come with racing a superbike.
“There’s going to be plenty to get my head around. Power, obviously, weight, but really I think things like data, that’s something we’ve never had on a stock bike. But the power’s obviously a massive thing. Strangely the only 1000 I’ve ridden was a David Jefferies Yamaha R1 in a parade. I’ve now got a ZX-10R practice bike and I’ll hopefully get some laps in before we go testing to get some experience under my belt.
“I’ve also upped my gym sessions, got a nutritionist onboard to help, though I’ve still got to fit this all in around work.”
Hipwell, after signing Liam for the 2022 season, stated, “By expanding the team and bringing Liam onboard we’re continuing our ethos of wanting to help young British talent. It’ll be a steep learning curve for him, coming straight into the premier class from stock 600 but we’ll help him with our experience and he’s approaching it with the right attitude. We’re putting no pressure on him, and the plan is to take it step-by-step,”
However, despite no pressure from the team, ask any racer if they’re setting goals for the season and they’ll all answer yes.
“You always set a target,” he admits. “You’re a racer, you’re competitive, you have targets and aims. I want to get a couple of points, that’d be the dream. But while I hope to adjust quite quickly to it I do need to keep a level head.
“I’ve been used to running at the front for the past few years but it won’t be the case next year, and if I don’t finish in the top 15 in the first half of the year that’s okay. I need to remember I’m racing some of the best superbike riders in the world. But I prefer to be the underdog.”