Buildbase Suzuki

Hawk Racing was founded by Team Principal Stuart Hicken in 1996.  Since its inception Hawk Racing has grown from a one-rider 600 Supersport team to become Suzuki’s official entry in the Bennetts British Superbike Championship (BSB), based at Mallory Park circuit in Leicestershire.

Stuart Hicken enjoyed a long association with the sport since he started racing motorcycles in the late 1960s. During his successful 12-year racing career, Hicken gained as much pleasure from preparing his bikes as he did from riding. After retiring from racing, his mechanical and technical skills were in great demand – especially in Grand Prix, where he managed the White Power suspension support truck for almost a decade.

Stuart’s technical and managerial expertise, gained at motorcycle racing’s highest level, led him to manage and achieve success with a number of high-profile national and international BSB Championship teams, such as Medd Racing and Rêve Racing.

The team is now managed by Stuart's son Steve, who not only runs the team, but is also a hands on crew chief, working at the heart of the Buildbase Suzuki pit box.

The Hawk Racing team formed and entered the Britihs Championship in 1998. The team immediately racked up the results; winning the Cup championship in their debut season with Phil Giles before they scored their first podium with Glen Richards in 2003 and a maiden race win with Scott Smart in 2004.

Hicken's team were victorious in the National Superstock 1000 Championship in 2011 as Richard Cooper won the title.  The team showed strong progress at the start of the 2012 season with Linfoot scoring the team their first top ten finish since switching to BMW machinery.

The team scored BMW their first Bennetts BSB pole position at Donington Park in 2013 and came tantalisingly close to securing the title that season when Ryuichi Kiyonari went head-to-head with Shane Byrne for a fourth title before injury ruled him out of the final decider. 

The team switched to Suzuki with some strong finishes in 2015 and turned the new Suzuki into a race winner with Sylvain Guintoli at Assen in 2017.

The team claimed race wins and a position in the Showdown with Bradley Ray, and last year were race winners with Kyle Ryde, who ended the season in ninth place in the standings, with Gino Rea standing in for Keith Farmer, who was injured at the season opener.

The team’s 2021 line-up featured Moto3 World Champion Danny Kent, as he joined Moto2 podium finisher Gino Rea to campaign the GSX-R1000R Superbikes. Kent, who won his coveted title in 2015, celebrated his first podium finish at Thruxton whilst Rea spectacularly did the double at Donington Park.