Hydrex Honda boss Shaun Muir has rubbished claims he is in a war with Jentin Yamaha over Stuart Easton, saying that he now has the pick of the crop when it comes to a partner for new signing Karl Harris.

And Guy Martin, who remains with the team, will not be riding in British Supersport in 2009 but concentrating on a roads campaign with the option of doing a couple of BSB round towards the end of the year.

"I have the bikes and the infrastructure in place to run a two-man team in British Superbikes," said Muir, speaking to www.bikesportnews.com this morning. "I believe I have the pick of the crop when it comes to riders now and they will just have to be patient.

"Once I have got another sponsor on board, alongside Hydrex and Bike Animal, then I'll be in a position to do a deal for another rider. It comes down to whether riders want to hang on and be sure of finishing a season a team, or get halfway through and then be worrying about where the rest of the money is coming from.

"I'm not in a war with anyone."

Muir says he has had lots of conversations with Harris and has got the former British Supersport Champion focussed and fit for the coming season. "I've sorted him out with a new personal trainer and he is a different man to the one we saw at Brands.

"I just wanted to get Karl back under our wing and back riding bikes like he can. He is going to be fast right from the word go and from the opening two races I think he can win."

Martin, meanwhile, will be looking to get his first piece of Isle of Man silverware and is also entering more pure road meetings in 2009, including the Southern 100, Ulster Grand Prix and Scarborough Gold Cup.

"Guy really needs to get that Isle of Man monkey off his back so we are going to take him away from all the BSB razzmatazz and get him focussed on the roads," said Muir.

"Then, when he has got some silverware under his belt, we have both agreed that he will be able to do a couple of selected British Superbike rounds at tracks he gets on with."