latest on Gazza McCoy- joins Foggy Petronas

[Smitty]

McCoy and Martin team up with Foggy Petronas for 2005


Carl Fogarty has signed Australian pair Garry McCoy and Steve Martin for his Foggy Petronas Racing team's 2005 Superbike World Championship campaign.

The two riders will have their first taste of action on the Petronas FP1 at a three-day test in Valencia, Spain, next week.

Carl said: "I am very pleased to have been able to replace our riders from last year, who finished 9th and 11th in the championship, with two guys who finished 6th and 7th. We were very impressed by the standard of riders that were interested in joining us next year, which provided a few headaches. But, out of all of them, I felt Garry and Steve were the hungriest for success - and with points still to prove.

"Garry is a very exciting rider, with a proven pedigree, who I think will adapt well to our bike. He has a radical style and he has won GPs on a high revving two-stroke machine. The FP1's power characteristics are probably closer to that type of machine than the Ducati he rode last year.

"Steve is probably the most under-rated rider on the world scene. He wants to be noticed and now it's up to him to make people sit up and take notice. He is a gutsy competitor, with good set-up abilities, who suffered with reliability problems last year so he was the name that nobody mentioned - but they will now!"

McCoy, 32, completed his first season in World Superbikes last year, finishing sixth in the championship and winning his home race at Phillip Island. Brought up in speedway, McCoy is known for his exhilarating riding style, sliding the back wheel into corners. During his career in Grand Prix racing he won three 500cc GPs in 2000, when he finished fifth in the championship. Before switching to superbikes he achieved a total of 17 GP podiums, including five victories.

Garry said: "I am really looking forward to it. It is still only early days for the FP1 but, from the results the team has been achieving lately, it's clear it has potential. I never set myself targets, I just go out to win. But I am really hoping to do better than last year as I now know a lot of the tracks that I didn't know in my first season, which made it really tough. I am also really pleased to have Steve as a team-mate and the chance to share information in trying to get the bike up there challenging for podiums."


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