Christian Iddon will move to the Tyco BMW team for the 2016 British Superbike season, joining Michael Laverty in the Moneymore-based TAS Racing outfit.

The Stockport racer finished tenth in the 2015 standings despite starting on the back foot after breaking his leg in a crash at the second round at Brands Hatch. Consistently improving as the season went on, Iddon became a clear top six contender towards the end of the year.

The former supermoto champion joins Michael Laverty in the Tyco-backed team, who had an up and down season in 2015, ending in a stunning victory after a breakthrough in the final round at Brands Hatch.

“2015 was difficult for me. I feel we could have done so much more with the package we had but it seemed everything was against us,” said Iddon. “But that’s done now, and if anything it has only made me even more keen to do well in 2016 and having signed with the Tyco BMW team I think we’re on to a good thing.

“Both riders got into the showdown last year, so the team’s pedigree is clearly quite high. Michael’s pace towards the end of last season was incredible, so I’m looking forward to getting my first ride out on the bike next year. I don’t know what to expect, but I’m hoping to put some strong performances in early on and go from there.”

“We had a strong end to last season and I have really gelled with the BMW so I am happy to stay with the team and have some continuity because over recent years I have never stayed for two seasons with the same team and regretted it,” Laverty added. “It's exciting to build on last season and we have a good development plan over the winter; we went out at the end of last season with a winning motorcycle and that signals our intentions for 2016.

“I also wanted to stay with BMW as there are lots of movers and shakers in the Championship next year and those teams and riders will have to do the groundwork - that is what we did last season. I am looking forward to being able to fine tune now after our development year. There is still a lot more potential to come from the Tyco BMW; we have a really fast engine and we can still do more work to polish off the power delivery, improve the chassis settings and that creates more harmony.

“We can only improve with small percentages and marginal gains but they all make a big difference. I definitely want to be in a position to stand on the podium from round one; we want to come straight out of the box and start where we finished last year. I hope to be stronger earlier on in the season next year and then we can have a game plan for the Showdown. I really think we have the tools to fight for the Championship.”