Team History - History of GSE Racing
A Difficult Decision - GSE Pulls Out For 2004In 2004, the first chapter of GSE Racings' comparatively short racing history came to an end. In the seven years of running a team, they had proved themselves as one of the UK's premier racing teams winning back-to-back British Superbike titles in 1999 and 2000 and providing more than a worthy challenger in the international arena of World Superbikes. In doing so, GSE Racing had built up fans and supporters all over the globe, inside and outside the paddock, drawing praise and adulation from all within Superbikes. This success had often been achieved on a far from level playing field, without the backing of a full manufacturing partner. A combination of competitive bikes, hugely talented riders (with 2 future World Champions) and a true passion for racing throughout the team meant that GSE were consistently able to close the gaps on the more established teams and achieve success. It was with a huge amount of disappointment that GSE Team Principal, Darrell Healey, took the strategic decision to end the team's involvement in racing for 2004. At the time, Darrell himself hinted at a GSE return: "GSE Racing is currently assessing its future position", he said. "There are a number of exciting opportunities open to us and I hope that we will be in a position to make a further announcement about this in the near future. We may be quitting the World Superbike racing scene but the future could still be a bright one within motorsport and the motorcycle industry at large. GSE Racing has been the number one British team over the past five years and the high level of expertise contained within the team should provide us with a stable platform for the future". And these views were reinforced by Team Manager, Colin Wright: "we still want to compete at the highest level with the best possible support and I think ultimately that will happen in the near future". The 2004 season therefore started without any GSE rider on the grid as the team carefully planned their next step. For Team Manager, Colin Wright, it was a tricky period: "The year off was, without doubt, one of the hardest in my whole career- not being able to race and have to watch from the sidelines was very frustrating for me!! I think everyone at GSE is known for their passion to racing and it was hard for those of us to sit the season out". Darrell agreed: "The 2004 season was a difficult one for GSE. Having been involved in racing for so long both on a personal and professional level, it was tremendously hard to make the strategic decision not to race. However, we always had ambitions to race at the highest possible level and our next step had to be to secure a manufacturing partner". |
