After a year away racing in Europe, youngster Sam Lowes is to return to UK racing for 2009 and has joined forces with Stuart Tromans of Astro Racing to contest the British Supersport Championship.
 
The 18-year-old Lincolnshire rider is to race a Honda CBR600RR Supersport bike and will be based in the Astro Racing garage throughout the season. He is to race in the highly competitive British Supersport championship and is to contest the British Supersport Cup, which runs within the main championship and is aimed at those riders with less experience.
 
The British Supersport championship is the main support class to the British Superbike championship and forms part of the live British Eurosport television coverage.

The Fuchs-Silkolene British Supersport Cup is decided over 10 rounds rather than 12 to allow riders to use their best 10 results or discount a bad round. But as part of the main championship there is the opportunity to pick up points and benefit from the prize fund in the main championship as well as the Cup.
 
Stuart Tromans, owner of Astro Racing is backing a number of riders this season and said: “Sam Lowes is a young rider with outstanding talent and along with my other two riders, Alex Gault and Chris Northover represents the best of the youth crop of today and I hope that the Astro involvement will be beneficial to his advancement within the sport.”
 
Lowes added: “I am really happy to have joined forces with Stuart and the whole team are really looking forward to the new season.”
 
The opening round of the British Supersport championship is set for Brands Hatch over the Easter weekend but prior to that Sam is to represent his country at Donington Park at the end of March where he has been selected to ride for England in the Supersport class of the inaugural MotoSix, Six Nations Road Race Championship on Saturday/Sunday, March 28/29.