Team Classic Suzuki Hands Over Bandit Race Bike for 2019 Race

Team Classic Suzuki (TCS) handed over its newly-built Bandit GSF600 race bike to James McHardy, who is scheduled to race the bike at next year's Bandit Challenge race series. TCS announced earlier in the year that they were building the bike for whoever won the 2018 race series, and the honor went to McHardy.

McHardy, who runs with the Formula Prostocks club, will campaign the TCS-prepared bike in 2019, and will look to replicate this year's success. He will also be eyeing his third title in a row, after winning the 2017 series in his debut year.

The TCS machine was built in partnership with Suzuki's Vintage Parts Program and adheres to the Bandit Challenge's stringent regulations that limit entries strictly to Mk1 or Mk2 GSF600s and keep modification minimal to lower the teams' operational costs and provide close, tight, and exciting racing.

"I'm really looking forward to riding the Team Classic Suzuki Bandit," McHardy said after receiving the bike. "It looks so well prepared and put together as I knew it would be, and it's going to be great to run it next season for the team."

"I'll be trying hard to win it for a third time. And a big thank you to Team Classic Suzuki for supporting the series and the opportunity to ride their machine," he added.

"We can't wait to see James in action on the bike," said Tim Davies, Aftersales Marketing Coordinator for Suzuki GB PLC. "We really enjoyed raiding our Vintage Parts Program to build it this year--it was fully rebuilt and freshly prepared by Nathan Colombi--and it looks fantastic, and it was brilliant to be able to formally hand it over at Motorcycle Live."