MSS Kawasaki will move into the Superstock championship at Snetterton after recruiting Steve Mercer. So far this year, Mercer has had some success in the Superbike Cup but finances dicated he had to turn away. However, after a conversation with Nick Morgan of MSS Kawasaki, Mercer line up in the Superstock class in mid-June.
Following club racing with MRO, Mercer first entered onto the British scene last year in Superstock 1000 before joining the Superbike grid in the Daily Cup Champsionship. However he has been forced to rethink his options due to finances.

Steve said: “I couldn't afford to run a Superbike, it cost too much. It was originally Bob Farnham's idea to go to superbikes so thought ‘yeah ok’, but the original sponsorship deal fell through so I just had to run race by race. I knew it wouldn't last long. I am still getting great help from Bob, but I couldn't sustain being in the championship, but it is really good.”

Following the difficult decision Mercer was due to enter the Henderson R1 cup this weekend at Donington after support from Rob Mac Racing, but tables turned yet again following discussions with Nick Morgan, Team Principal of MSS. Steve said: “I rang Rob Mac to see if he wanted any Yamaha bits and he suggested me going to the R1 Cup. I then rang Nick Morgan to see if he wanted some tyres, but we didn't even get onto that. We talked about racing and putting together a new team.

“I feel bad as Rob Mac's been great, he rang me up everyday and got me a bike sorted for this weekend, but I couldn't say no. I know Nick and knew we would get on well, it's the best opportunity ever there was no way I could say no to it. The team is being created and the bike developed for me from scratch, MSS are a well respected team just look at today within Superbikes, I have got full confidence in the team.”

Mercer has undoubtedly demonstrated his talent within the Superbike Cup so far this season by taking third place in the cup in his debut race at Thruxton. He then followed up with a first at Oulton Park in the second round. Constantly throughout practice Steve has regular been within the top three cup riders, but due to a few DNFs his progress has been hindered.

Steve said: “With the R1 we were using a 46 model shock which nobody is using so we went to a TTX Gas shock, but we didn't have it setup properly, it kept throwing me over handlebars. It was really down to not having knowledge, I didn't know about the setup.”

Joining a team will benefit Mercer immensely who has solely been managing his Superbike bid, but now he will be able to concentrate on the main issue, his racing. The demand of running a team, preparing the bike, getting to race meetings and racing.

He said: “My head wasn't really with it, I was preparing the bike all week after the crash with Ellison so there were a lot of late nights. Putting that many hours is not fun and it damaged my confidence, it's about having fun and I wasn't.”

Steve will also be changing bike manufacturer by jumping onto a Kawasaki. “I've always ridden a Yamaha, since 2004. It will be nice for the change and it looks good this year after following the MSS boys. I've always said about them to my mates, it seems a good thing to ride.”

Talking about his leap from club racing and the season ahead, he said: “I enjoyed club racing, it was a good laugh, less pressure and a good atmosphere, but this is where I want to be. My ambition is Superbikes, absolutely love it, it's a different level of riding and at the beginning of the year I always had a grin. This year I now have a year under my belt and know the circuits, last year I struggled at Thruxton, but this year it was one of my favourite. If I do well with MSS, who knows?”