TAS Racing (Temple Auto Salvage) is a motorcycle road racing team based in Moneymore, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. Owned by Hector Neill, with his son Philip Neill as the team manager, the team has been known under a series of names: TAS Suzuki (2000–2006); Relentless Suzuki (2007–2011) an energy drink product of Coca-Cola; Tyco Suzuki (2012–2014) a security services supplier. In late 2014, after a 15-year partnership with Suzuki, the team signed to become the road racing partner for BMW Motorrad.

Originally known as Hector Neill racing, they set up under a tent in the paddock and worked on a picnic table as the workbench. TAS Racing would not be officially formed until 17 years later.

British Championship In 2007, Michael Laverty and Ian Lowry rode for the Relentless Suzuki team in the British Supersport Championship. Laverty came out on top of a Relentless 1–2 in the championship, taking 6 wins to Lowry's 1.

For 2008 the team stepped up to the full British Superbike Championship for the first time, with Laverty the sole rider. He finished 9th in a consistent season, just failing to make the podium on several occasions. Lowry continued in Supersport, taking 2 wins and 3 further podiums on his way to third in the series.

Laverty departed for the AMA Superbike Championship in 2009, allowing Lowry to move onto the superbike alongside Atsushi Watanabe. Lowry had a strong year, finishing fifth overall and narrowly missing out on the team's maiden podium a few times. Watanabe struggled for much of the year, amassing only 14 points and never breaking into the top ten. The team did not enter a Supersport bike for this year, but instead fielded a Superstock GSXR1000 for roads rider Alastair Seeley, who won the championship in dominant fashion. Seeley won the first 9 rounds, and took 3rd in the tenth before stepping up to the BSB class for the final 2 rounds. Seeley will be joined by the returning Laverty in BSB for 2010.

In 2010, Laverty finished strongly, always finishing inside the top 10, including a maiden win for the team in a damp and difficult race 2 at Oulton Park. After Oulton Park, Laverty was fourth in the standings with 65 points after 3 rounds. Alastair Seeley has also been strong, only dropping out of the top 6 once, also getting a podium (3rd) and only narrowly missing out on another 3rd in Oulton Park. Alastair Seeley is currently fifth in the standings. Both are currently on to qualify for the 'Showdown'.

Road Racing

TAS Suzuki: 2000-2014

Adrian Archibald and Bruce Anstey rode for the team in 2007. After enjoying much success on the road racing scene as TAS Suzuki, the Relentless Suzuki team seemed to have started where they left off. At the North West 200, Bruce Anstey scored a hat-trick of race victories for Relentless, and at the TT he scored another win in the Superstock race.

For the 2008 season, the team signed Australian rider Cameron Donald to ride in the International road races and one of the British Championship classes.

Philip Neill was extremely pleased with his signing, saying, "Cameron is a phenomenally talented rider with a good level of technical ability. He also has a great personality and PR skills to match, so obviously we are delighted to have him on board for 2008. My dad and I have actually had our eye on him for quite some time. He was unlucky to miss out on some international races this year due to injury, but he has all but dominated the national scene in Ireland for the past two years. His second place at the 2006 TT in the Senior race was very impressive, especially as he also recorded a lap of 128mph in only his second appearance in the Isle of Man."

At the 2008 Isle of Man TT Donald led Anstey home in a Relentless 1-2 in the Superbike race. Donald then won the Superstock race and Anstey the Supersport in another successful campaign. They were unable to repeat these results in 2009, Donald breaking the lap record in practice but then being forced to miss the races after injuring his back and shoulder and Anstey claiming a solitary second place in the second Supersport race after being plagued by reliability issues.

The 2009 North West 200 Races were more successful, Anstey claiming second places in the supersport and superbike races, with Donald placing fourth in the latter, and Seeley winning the superstock race.

The Isle of Man TT 2010 was almost a complete wash out for the relentless team with only one podium coming from Bruce Anstey on the Friday Senior TT race. In 2011 TAS Racing signed Guy Martin to their road racing Team. Martin was joined in 2012 by Conor Cummins, who subsequently left the team after the 2013 season. Cummins was replaced by William Dunlop.

TAS BMW Motorrad In October 2014, the team confirmed a deal to move to BMW Motorrad supplied BMW S1000RR, retaining riders William Dunlop and Guy Martin. Dunlop never fully realised his potential with the team, and subsequently left at the end of 2015. Replacing Dunlop was Ian Hutchinson, who signed following the decision by Paul Bird Motorsport not to compete at the major road racing events in 2016. Martin was retained alongside Hutchinson, however he had intimated during the closed season that due to other commitments he would not be participating at the North West 200 or the Isle of Man TT. Martin's place at the 2016 North West 200 and 2016 Isle of Man TT was taken by Ryan Farquhar; however, Farquhar suffered significant injuries whilst competing during the opening Super Twin race at the North West meeting, ruling him out for the rest of the 2016 season. After his success, Ian Hutchinson was retained for 2017 as the sole rider for the Tyco roads campaign. He suffered a heavy crash during the 2017 Isle of Man TT and was subsequently out for the rest of the season. Dan Kneen was brought onboard for the Ulster Grand Prix in August 2017. With Hutchinson and TAS parting company, Kneen was retained for the 2018 season. Michael Dunlop was announced as the main rider for TAS Tyco BMW for 2018, whilst maintaining his own MD Racing team running his own Superstock and Supersport machines, back on BMW superbikes after a year with Suzuki. Dan Kneen sustained fatal injuries during practice for the 2018 Isle of Man TT. Dunlop dedicated his Superbike win to his late team mate after the first race of the week. In July, former TAS Racing rider William Dunlop, brother of Michael, died in a practice crash during the Skerries 100 races in Southern Ireland. Michael sat out the remainder of the season. Australia's Davo Johnson was brought in for the 2018 Ulster Grand Prix, to ride a BMW HP4 Race.

Riders

Year Riders Motorcycle 2002 David Jefferies, Ian Lougher Suzuki GSX-R1000 2003 Adrian Archibald Suzuki GSX-R1000 2004 Bruce Anstey, Adrian Archibald Suzuki GSX-R1000 2005 Bruce Anstey, Adrian Archibald Suzuki GSX-R1000 2006 Bruce Anstey, Adrian Archibald Suzuki GSX-R1000 2007 Bruce Anstey, Adrian Archibald Suzuki GSX-R1000 2008 Bruce Anstey, Cameron Donald Suzuki GSX-R1000 2009 Bruce Anstey, Cameron Donald Suzuki GSX-R1000 2010 Bruce Anstey, Cameron Donald Suzuki GSX-R1000 2011 Guy Martin, Suzuki GSX-R1000 2012 Guy Martin, Conor Cummins Suzuki GSX-R10002013 Guy Martin, Conor Cummins Suzuki GSX-R10002014 Guy Martin, William Dunlop Suzuki GSX-R10002015 Guy Martin, William Dunlopp BMW S1000RR2016 Guy Martin, Ian Hutchinson, Ryan Farquhar BMW S1000RR2017 Ian Hutchinson, Dan Kneen BMW S1000RR2018 Michael Dunlop, Dan Kneen, David Johnson BMW S1000RR2019 Michael DunlopBMW S1000RR2022 Ian HutchinsonBMW M1000RR2024 Davey ToddBMW M1000RR2025 Rory SkinnerDucati Panigale V4R2026 Rory Skinner, Danny KentYamaha YZF-R1

Statistics

Circuit Racing

British Superbike Championship Year Rider 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Pos Pts Ref R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R3 2009 Ian Lowry BHI13 BHI19 OUL7 OUL6 DON8 DON6 THR19 THR8 SNE5 SNE7 KNO6 KNORet MAL8 MAL20 BHGP12 BHGP12 BHGP9 CAD4 CADRet CRO5 CRO7 SIL8 SIL9 OUL8 OULRet OUL4 5th 170 Atsushi Watanabe BHI 17 BHI 21 OUL 14 OUL 12 DON 19 DON Ret THR 14 THR Ret SNE 18 SNE 16 KNO 14 KNO 15 MAL 14 MAL 19 BHGP 17 BHGP 15 BHGP 19 CAD 20 CAD 16 CRO 18 CRO 21 SIL 19 SIL Ret 27th 14 Alastair Seeley BHI BHI OUL OUL DON DON THR THR SNE SNE KNO KNO MAL MAL BHGP BHGP BHGP CAD CAD CRO CRO SILRet SIL10 OULRet OUL13 OULDNS 32nd 9 2010 Michael Laverty BHIRet BHI4 THR10 THR6 OUL5 OUL1 CAD2 CAD3 MAL3 MAL3 KNO4 KNOC SNE6 SNE5 SNE3 BHGP6 BHGP4 BHGPRet CAD4 CAD4 CRO2 CRO1 SIL3 SILRet OUL4 OUL8 OUL4 4th 604 Alastair Seeley BHI4 BHI3 THR12 THR9 OUL4 OUL6 CAD9 CAD7 MAL10 MAL11 KNO5 KNOC SNE5 SNE3 SNERet BHGP1 BHGPRet BHGPRet CAD8 CAD9 CRORet CRO15 SIL6 SIL4 OUL15 OUL5 OUL7 6th 550 2011 Josh Brookes BHIRet BHIDNS OUL6 OULRet CRO8 CRO4 THR9 THR6 KNO5 KNO13 SNE7 SNE2 OUL2 OULC BHGP1 BHGP6 BHGPRet CADDSQ CAD4 CAD2 DON6 DON5 SIL4 SIL1 BHGP2 BHGPRet BHGP6 5th 598

External links

relentless-suzuki.com Official website

References