Team FHO have decided to pull both Peter Hickman and Josh Brookes from the remainder of this years NW200 road races due to an issue with running carbon wheels on the team's BMW Machines.
The technical regulations of the Motorcycle Union of Ireland (Ulster Centre), under which the fonaCAB and Nicholl Oils North West 200 is run, state that carbon wheels are not permitted for use at any MCUI road race event.
Those regulations, which are implemented by the MCUI Stewards of the Meeting, were approved by the sport’s governing body in January 2023 and published on the North West 200’s website at that stage.
The FHO Racing BMW team were then informed by the MCUI’s Stewards after qualifying on Thursday afternoon that their riders, Peter Hickman and Josh Brookes, would be excluded from the Briggs Equipment Superstock race as their machines were fitted with carbon wheels.
The NW200 organisers were informed of the Steward’s decision, which was final and binding upon the event, at 21.30pm on Thursday night during the final Steward’s meeting.
No such action had been discussed with the NW200 organisers prior to this time despite the machines having been scrutineered on both Tuesday and Thursday morning.
The NW200 staff stated "We deeply regret the FHO Racing BMW team’s decision to withdraw from the event tonight as a result of this action, a sentiment we know will be shared by all NW200 race fans."
PR - FHO Racing
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