News archive

26 October 2007

Added the race report for Round 13 from Brands Indy.

Well done Tom!

Would also like to say well done to Tom Bridewell for doing a cracking job building the Mini R1 for his brother Ollie, a great friend. It looks incredible and I know he had been working flat out to make sure it was ready for Brands.

Its time to get dirty!

I've recently just bought myself a Honda CR125 motocross bike for the winter and am looking to enter for a couple of races with Tom, Jason, Chip and Dan. I'm really looking forward to it! Have been thinking and I think with a bit practice I may be able to pull the first ever tripple back flip off! Ha ha! My first race will be next weekend 4th Nov at Tony moto in the AMX. I have'nt a clue how I will get on but am gonna give it a bloody good go!

Victor #28

9 October 2007

I apologise to all the people who visit my website for not doing any updates recently.

In August I went to China for 10 days to visit my brother Grant and his wife Shan Shan for a holiday and their wedding feast. The feast was an eye-opener, more like a proper wedding and I was best man!!!

But, then back home and down to the serious business of motorbike racing. Donington, great circuit, and me on STP's new MV Agusta which meant starting from scratch on setting the bike up for me and that always takes some time. I wasnt happy with my qualifying but our mechanics had done the best they could in the short time they had and we got on the grid. Race 1 and the bike went well but the handling still wasnt right so I finished a disappointing 24th.

The team worked really hard again before the Race 2 and with more adjustments, thanks to the mechanics I was able to finish in 17th place. A good improvement but still not the result we were looking for. At this point I must say I feel really sorry for my team mate Chris Burns riding the other MV who had 3 clutches go on him and 2 dnfs.

Well Brands Hatch coming up and I cant wait!!!!!

7 August 2007

Added a race report from the Castle Combe Superbike Grand National

27 July 2007 - Wildcard entry pits Victor Cox against the world at Brands Hatch

The opportunity to ride alongside some of the best in the world is one that Victor Cox and Team STP Racing is relishing following the news that they have secured a wildcard entry into the Brands Hatch round of the European Superstock Championship over the 3/4/5 August.

Jon Strike, Team Principal, Team STP Racing
"The timing of this race is perfect for us and we are very pleased that Victor has this opportunity to highlight his undoubted talents on the world stage. This season has been one of disappointment up until now with a combination of injuries and the development of the MV Agusta F4 312R. We are now at a position where the bike is competitive and Victor is recovered from his broken wrist so this is a great opportunity for him to showcase what he and the MV Agusta can do."

Victor Cox, Rider, Team STP Racing
"To have spent much of the season sidelined through injury has been very frustrating but, to be able to come back at Brands Hatch and race against some seriously good competition will be a fantastic occasion and one that I am relishing on several levels. I am so keen to do well to pay back the support I have received from Team STP Racing over the years and to be able to race on the world stage on a bike as iconic as the MV Agusta is a dream come true."

Warwick Nowland, Team Manager, Team STP Racing
"Victor deserves this opportunity as he has shown fantastic promise in recent years and the whole team is excited by the prospect of going to Brands Hatch and performing well in such exalted company. Given the performance we know is there with the MV Agusta F4 312R we are expecting a very positive result from this wildcard entry and I will be using all of my experience to ensure that Victor has what he needs to deliver that result."

"We have seen recently from the performances put in by Ayrton Badovini on the Biassono Racing Team MV Agusta F4 312R in European Superstocks that the bike is truly awesome and the performance is there. On our "home" track we should be in a position to convert that performance into a very positive result for Victor and Team STP Racing."

MV Agusta F4312R

Billed as the World's fasted production road bike the MV Agusta F4 312R is that perfect combination of power, passion and style that only the Italians can deliver. Matching over 180 hp to such an iconic design is something only an Italian company could do and with its return to top flight racing MV Agusta?s reputation as Europe's most successful, and well known racing marque, looks set to be enhanced in the coming seasons. As Victor Cox says, "The MV Agusta F4 312R is simply a stunning bike both to look at and to ride. It is the complete package, delivering superb handling along with awesome power delivery and drive out of the corners. Combine the bikes abilities with the fantastic passion and racing heritage that goes along with the MV Agusta name and Brands Hatch will be a weekend of racing to look forward to"

12 July 2007 - Congratulations!

I would like to congratulate my brother Grant who now is a dad and his wife Shanshan on there beautiful little girl Jasmine. Am very proud of you bro!

Victor

11 July 2007

Hey every one!

With the the 4 k wires out of my wrist now it all most time to get back in the saddle for racing.

Sorry for the lack of reports in updating the web site - but I have still been going to the race meetings and helping the team in any way I can, have got bloody good at making a cuppa!

3 weeks ago having wires pulled out of my wrist it was a very strange and uncomfortable feeling,the nurse was pulling so hard I was worried my bones were going to come out with the wires!! I was so glad to see them gone. It seemed I had that cast on for a life time and being right handed it made every day life very awkward and interesting especially when I needed the toilet! haha. Now after having some physio and doing my exercises my wrist is on the mend.

I had my first track day back on the bike last week at Castle Combe, I had a really good day and it put a smile back on my face getting back in the saddle. My wrist held up well, all those hours having physio and training had paid off! That was until I hit a cone at about a 100mph with my knee! "God that was painful" but Chris and Stewy found it very funny that I was now complaining about my knee.

The team thought it would be a good idea to go out first time on a road bike with it being alot softer than the race bike which was very nicely sponsored to the team by Pete Bradsure (Co-ordit racing). All in all the day went well thanks to the help from my friends stewy, chris,stewy's uncle Ray, Darren from Shag racing and to Rodney Gooch and his staff for the track time.

Am hoping to get out on the Mv Agusta next week for the first time since Oulton, I cant wait......

Jon Strike my team manager has planned a couple of track days for me and my first race back on the MV will be at Castle Combe on the 28th July.

See you all soon!8

The vicar #8

22 May 07

Added the report from Snetterton. Although not racing due to his injury, the Vicar was on hand to give advice on how to deal with a broken wrist. Unfortunately the recipient of his wisdom was new STP rider Warwick Nowland, who also broke his wrist in a crash on Friday.

16 May 07

As many of you will know, Victor crashed and broke his wrist early on during the race at Oulton Park. Read about here in his race review.

2 May 07

Added the race review for BSB Round 3 at Silverstone plus images from rounds 1 to 3 have been added to the gallery.

20 April 07

Added the race review for BSB Round 2 at Thruxton.

29 March 07

Snetterton

After a day working in Bristol it was time to hit road and begin my drive to Snetterton. I got to the race track at about 9 o'clock and by this time I was ready for bed. After a good nights sleep it was time to sign on and get ready for our first session at 9. We where the first on track and the weather conditions where grim. For the first session the team Steve and Kev had put some harder springs in bike cause we found when we tested at Mallory that the springs where to soft. So the first session was just to get a feel for it and to make any adjustments needed.

The second session the wind had picked up and it was wet making it very tricky track conditions. About half way through the session I crashed mid corner at the Bomb hole, luckily not doing much damage to the bike.

Thanks to the team they got the bike ready for the track day on Monday at Brands Hatch where we had some really nice weather and a good days testing. We made lots of adjustments to the bike through out the day and feel that I am adjusting to the Italian motorcycle. Am looking forward to Brands Hatch for the first race.

I would like to say well done to Lee (Clippers) Wilson for his first race at Silverstone on Sunday. Well done mate!

Also hopefully to Stewy my crew chief and Kelly his wife we will be celebrating at Brands there new born child!

Thanks to all the team.

Victor #8

17 March 2007

First ride of the MV Agusta in...Monza!

What a weekend...!

Arrived in Italy Saturday morning with Bob, and met Kev and Steve who had been busy building the bike ready for the tests on the Sunday at Monza.

The first time I saw the bike it was incredible, I couldn't wait to ride it.

Saturday afternoon we drove to the circuit to have a look around the track and to meet the MV team from the Europeans. At the end of the day when the test has finished I dragged John, Steve, Kev and Bob along to the famous banking section what the cars used to race, standing on the banking sections you can just feel the history. There was a bit of moaning and foot stamping from the elders because of the walk but once they had seen it I think they thought the walk was worth it. Ha ha!

Returning to the hotel and retiring for the evening was difficult and one of the longest nights I have experienced waiting to get back on the MV, every few minutes I would open my eyes and check the time to see if it was time to go back to the track. The morning finally came and when I saw Steve and Kev wheel out the MV from the back of the van it finally hit me that I was actually going to be racing an MV around Monza "WOW"!

The first session went well and the bike felt so fast with the straights being so long. After the first session of running the bike in and getting a feel for it we made lots of adjustments to the suspension to make the bike work better for me mostly be just changing the weight springs. By the end of the day I had gone faster on the MV then when I rode there on the Beowulf bike by over half a second. I learned so much about the MV over the weekend and all made possible by the Italians and the help of John, Steve, Kev and Bob and I would personally like to thank them for all there help and support.

Thanks Guys.

Vicar #8

12 March 2007 - STP Racing Press release

STP RACING TAKE DELIVERY OF THEIR NEW 2007 MV AGUSTA F4 312R TO RACE IN THE BSB SUPERSTOCK CHAMPIONSHIP

Team STP Racing are delighted to confirm that they have now taken delivery of their new Superstock MV Agusta F4 312R which Victor Cox will race in 2007 in the BSB Superstock Championship.

The delivery of the new MV Agusta followed a test ride at Valencia in January and an extensive familiarisation and set up session at Monza last week.

Team principal Jon Strike commented "The MV Agusta is a stunning bike with enormous potential to de well in the Superstock championship this year. Our technical partners are GI Motorsports based in Milan (Italy). They also prepared the bikes that Ayrton Badovini took to several wins in the European Championship in 2006 and they will be helping us this season."

An excited Victor Cox added "We haven't seen much from MV Agusta in the UK for as long as I can remember which is a shame because British riders and MV Agusta have a fantastic heritage. With this bike I think I can do well in Superstock this year and help to raise the profile of MV Agusta and STP Racing"

The first of the 13 rounds of the 2007 season starts at Brands Hatch over the East Weekend and if any owners are interested in coming along to support the return of MV Agusta in UK racing please contact Jon Strike at the number above.

1 March 2007

Testing in Almeria

What a weekend... it got off to a flying start with the team owner and a team sponsor missing the flight due to traffic on the motorway. With all their years of racing they both only managed to reach the finish line 5 minutes after the departure gate had closed. They then had to wait until the following day to catch the next flight to meet up with the rest of the team that managed to arrive in Almeria as planned.

When we got Almeria it seemed like we were driving around for hours trying to find our hotel. After finding our rooms Chris & I just wanted to crash but the first thing we noticed was there was a very annoying buzzing sound in the room we both looked at each other thinking the same thought that we had drawn the short straw with the room. We looked every where to find out where the noise was coming from, just as I was about to go down to reception to ask if we could change rooms Rod my team mate said "Are you sure that noise is not coming from your bag?" that's when I realised after cussing for the last half an hour that the noise was my bloody shaver!

Friday was the first day on track and I couldn't wait, the circuit looked awesome...I was itching to get on the bike but when I did my enthusiasm got the better of me and ended up having two mishaps which caused me to sit the rest of the day out.

Saturday the weather was gorgeous. A nice croissant with a bit of fruit to start the day then off to the track. Feeling a little beaten up from Friday but back on the bike. After a couple of sessions on the R1 Parky and Bob had been talking to some Portuguese who had 2 new MV Agusta's. Bob had said to them that we were running MV this year and with that they asked for me to have a go on there bike. They didn't need to ask twice! After a couple of steady laps on it then it was back on the R1. Made various adjustments throughout the day to the bike settings and by the end of the day had improved on my lap times and felt good back on the bike.

Sunday nice cold shower to wake me up with Rod driving to the circuit like we were already on the track. The day went well felt I improved overall and set my best time on very tired tyres with learning lots about the different suspension settings.

Enjoyed the weekend and felt I benefited from it. my personal thanks to John, Simon, Bob and all the rest of the team Kev, Chris, Steve and my team mates Rod, Mat and dean also Parky and Pete.

Victor

1 February 2007

Added the 2006 season review.

11 January 07

Added some images from the Valencia test to the image gallery.

9 January 07

MV AGUSTA NEWS REPORT - VALENCIA TEST

We are just back from Valencia after testing the MV Agusta F4 1000cc prepared by GIMotorsports.

The weekend started with us nearly missing our flight and having to run to catch the plane (not very professional). We arrived at Valencia midday on Saturday, checked into our hotel and went straight to the circuit to meet the GIMotorsport Team. They were there testing with Pirelli and as well as their Superstock bikes they were testing the newly prepared MV Superbike with Ayrton Badovini aboard.

We spent the afternoon chatting with the team and getting to know a little more about the bike and its set up ready for Vic's test on Sunday.

Two of the MV Factory technicians were there helping with the setup of the Superbike and test riding two brand new 07 machines one of which was unceremoniously dropped into the kitty litter by one of the GIMotorsport riders (oops).

The one Technician was the works development test rider and explained the improvements that had been made to the new model, which include reworked cylinder head and revised engine mapping.

Saturday evening we met up with Nino and his wife Sue from NGRoadracing who had made a stop off in Valencia to see Victor's test before going on to holiday with friends. It was great to see them and we all had a great evening.

Sunday we had breakfast and headed off to the circuit, arriving there about 9 o'clock, it was a lovely blue cloudless sky but very chilly and it was decided to wait for the sun to warm the track up a bit before Vic's first test session.

Vic had not ridden at Valencia since 2005 when he rode to 16th place in the European Superstocks aboard a Beowulf Suzuki K5,so we suggested that Vic used the first session to familiarise himself with the bike and track. But we weren't too disappointed when Vic started backing the MV in on his second lap and he finished his first session just off his 2005 qualifying time and a couple of seconds off the GIMotorsport rider's times. Impressive stuff.

His second session was at about 3 O'clock and by this time the track had warmed up nicely Vic was told to do a couple of easy laps to bed a new pair of pads in and then come in to check everything was ok. This was done and Vic was told by their team mechanic to give it some "gas" Vic didn't need to be told twice and before too long all the GIMotorsport Team were on the pit wall watching Vic and one of their own riders dicing for position with Vic the eventual victor, but not before a few exciting backing in maneuvers from Vic had us and the Team shaking our heads in disbelief.

Vic had managed to get his time down below his 2005 qualifying time and just a second off the GIMotorsport team's rider not too bad considering Vic had never been on the bike before and had not ridden on a track since the end off the season.

The GIMotorsport Team was very impressed with Vic's riding as we all were and we all felt that the test was very worthwhile.

February will see the team at one of Italy's top racing circuit's for another two day test along with the MV Agusta factory mechanics, Victor is keen to do as many miles as he can on the new machine and hopes this will be an advantage when the season starts.

A big thanks to GiGi and all the Team at GIMotorsports for making us so welcome.

Watch this space !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

6 January 07 - STP Racing confirms MV Agusta link

STP unveil news of an Italian connection...

Matt Whitman and Victor Cox will ride for rising team, STP Racing in 2007. Matt Whitman who was the runner up in the 2006 Virgin Mobile Cup will be riding a Yamaha R1 in the BSB Superstock Championship.

Popular rider, Victor "The Vicar" Cox will be testing a GIMotorsports prepared MV Agusta in Valencia on the 7th January. GIMotorSports took Ayrton Badovini to third place in the exciting European Superstock 1000 Championship in 2006. GIMotorSports are the italian team supported by the MV Agusta factory.

Jon Strike the team principal said "We need to keep our options open at the moment.We have been talking to GIMotorsports and MV since late 2005 but certain reliability problems caused us some concern about running them in the 2006 season .These problems however have now been sorted and certainly the MV Agusta was very competitive in Europe this season [2006] and had a number of race wins. Victor knows the team really well and has been to Milan with me a couple of times to discuss the possibility of bringing the bikes over to run in the BSB Superstock Championship. It would be really interesting to see and hear something a bit different from the usual Japanese machinery and I'm sure it will help spice up the Championship as well"

Once the test has taken place Strike will announce the plans for STP Racing for 2007 which is expected to confirm that Cox will be riding a 2007 MV Agusta F4 1000 for the season with Matt Whitman on 2007 Yamaha R1's.

2 December 06

Vic's been motocrossing to keep fit (at least that's what he says). He was also at the NEC checking out the latest bikes - and we've the picture to prove it!

1 September 06

Added the race report from Cadwell Park BSB

17 August 06

Added the race report from Croft BSB

14 August 06

Renowned Motorcycle artist "Gruff" - www.gruffs.com - has created a painting of the Vicar punching the air after his Brands win in the R6 cup. Prints of this limited edition print are available for sale through this website and at race meetings. Contact the Vicar at vicar@vicarracing.com for details.

11 July 06

Review of the Donington MotoGP weekend is now online

13 June 06

Victor had a superb weekend's racing at the Castle Coombe Grand National, taking a win and a second. Read the report here. Also added images to the gallery from Castle Coombe and Mondello, and the Mondello race report too.

12 May 06

Added images from Thruxton and Oulton Park to the image gallery. Images courtesy of Martin Preedy and Roger Barker.

3 May 06

Race reports for Donington Park, Thruxton and Oulton Park are now available.

7 April 06

Victor had an eventful and ultimately disappointing race in round 1 of the Metzeler National Superstock Championships at Brands Hatch on 26 March. Read his race report here.

Also added images of Victor from Brands Hatch to the gallery.

20 March 06

Team STP Racing were at Snetterton for the BSB Official Tests. Despite the cold, the weekend was a good one for Victor with a best time of 1:10.287, giving him 8th best time overall. We've uploaded some images, courtesy of Paul Korkus, to gallery 5.

15 March 06

Victor and Team STP Racing have microsites set up now on www.superstockracing.co.uk, a web site dedicated to promoting the national superstocks and cup championships.

7 March 06

Victor and Team STP Racing spent an interesting day at Donington Park. The weather chucked pretty much everything at us from cold and dry to driving snow. The day did give the team the chance to get a decent amount of work on wet settings and also get a load of miles done. But not the best day's testing.

4 March 06

Added Smart Riders to the Sponsors page, and an image of Victor in the race gear they have sponsored for 2006

25 February 2006

Added a gallery for 2006, with first up, two images taken at Brands Hatch testing 18/19 Feb.

23 January 2006

Added the second part of Victor's review of season 2005.

22 January 2006

Added a pic of Vic and Team STP Racing R1 at the Autosport show to image gallery 4.

8 January 2006

Victor and the Team STP Racing R1 will be on the Jemtech UK Ltd stand at the Autosport International exhibition at the NEC. Catch Victor on Thursday 12th and Friday 13th Jan.

13 December 2005

Added a new image showing what Victor has been up to in the off season.

30 November - 2005 British Superstock gallery

Added new 4 images of Victor on the Team STP Racing bike, courtesy of Paul Korkus.

25 November - 2005 British Superstock gallery

Added new image of Victor on the Team STP Racing bike, courtesy of Guy Cope images, and updated the links page with photographers details.

17 November - Season 2005 review

Added new page with Victor's thoughts on season 2005.

14 November - 2005 European Superstock gallery

Added new images to the 2005 European Superstock gallery and added a 2005 British Superstock gallery with images from Team STP Racing

9th November - image galleries

Added new images to the 2005 gallery