Simon Andrews will make his much anticipated return to the top flight as he joins the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship ahead of the forthcoming season with the RAF Reserves Honda team who prepare to make their debut in the Superbike class.

Andrews has been a podium contender in his previous MCE BSB campaigns, scoring his first podium finish at Cadwell Park in 2009 and last lined up on the grid in 2011 before moving into the official Honda World Endurance team. Andrews has recently been fighting back from injury, but is now feeling in a strong position to target his best season to date in the Championship.

RAF Reserves Honda are the latest team to make the progression into the Superbike class having competed in the Pirelli National Superstock 1000 Championship in previous seasons. The team with the support of Honda and the RAF Reserves are now focused on the battle ahead in MCE BSB with the Honda Fireblade.

The team will also field the new Honda SP Fireblade in the Superstock 1000 class with Manxman Conor Cummins as the team also hunt success in this championship in addition to the North West 200 and the Isle of Man TT road races.

Andrews said:

"I am feeling good about the season ahead and I think that my experience in the World Endurance Championship will benefit me, as we have seen that consistency pays off particularly with the Showdown format. The Honda Fireblade makes a good package in BSB and Alex (Lowes) showed that last season and so this is the perfect situation for me to make a comeback in the Championship and for the team to make the step up - it is an exciting time! I am definitely setting out for at least a couple of trophies this year; the body is feeling pretty good now and I feel like I am in the best place I have been for the past few years. I am coming back to MCE BSB with a strong head and a strong attitude and I am looking forward to it."

Cummins said:

"I feel brilliant and after a couple of years away from racing in the Superstock Championship I want to come back and give a good account of myself. In 2010 I was running up the front and getting results, so there is no reason why we can't be up there again and challenging for the results. It is a competitive field and lots of us want to do the business but I am definitely coming back to really fight for results."

Team owner Lee Hardy concluded:

"We are all delighted to announce our plans for the forthcoming season with the RAF Reserves Honda team moving up to the Superbike class. We are new to this class after racing in Superstock but Simon obviously has a huge amount of experience and we believe that the Honda will be a contender for results. It has always been my ambition to move our team into MCE BSB and with the help of sponsor Andrew Martin of Mother Hubbards Swaffham it is now achievable, I have seen other teams make the transition successfully such as Martin Halsall and that is inspiring. It is the right time for us to make the move up and we are realistic that it is a very competitive championship but at the same time we aim to be consistent and keep pushing for the top ten in our debut campaign."

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