Winrow Yamaha bound
By TMX Archives on 28th Jan 15
British Quad Champion Paul Winrow will switch to Yamaha this year in a new team alongside George Callaway and Ryan Griffin
Veteran Winrow, who is scaling back his riding commitments, will also act as a mentor to the other riders.
The RPG Racing Yamaha team has been put together by 23-year-old Griffin, who is a Yamaha-franchised dealer and runs his own race tuning and preparation business.
Callaway will spearhead the team's British Championship assault, with Winrow riding in a few selected rounds.
All three riders will contest the NORA-MX championships, with Callaway in the Experts, Griffin the Clubman and Winrow as yet undecided if he will contest the Experts or Masters.
In addition, they plan to do some of the new MCF British XC Championship rounds, being run by DQR, and selected one-off events such Bastogne and Pont de Vaux.
The team has official backing from Yamaha UK and will field 2014 and 2015 YFZ450Rs and will make its official debut at the opening British championship round at Hawkstone Park on February 8.
Griffin, who lives in Redditch close to Winrow, claims having the 14-time British champion on board is a massive boost for the team.
"As well as riding he will be a mentor and help with bike set-up. He's got such a vast amount of knowledge and experience he can bring to the team.
"We think George can be a real contender with some proper focus and support.
"He was going really well last year until he broke his collarbone and we are really excited about his potential.”
Winrow, 41, also admits to being excited by the challenge of his new role now he has decided to "stop chasing championships” and ride more for fun. He will be at Hawkstone, but has deliberately not entered the event to ensure he is ruled out of the title battle, allowing him to focus on his new role.
FOR MORE QUAD STORIES SEE TMX NEWS JANUARY 29, 2015 (ISSUE 1956)
