SMOOTH STYLE WILL SUIT 3-CYLINDER BRITBIKE

+ Click to Enlarge 'THE TATTOOS DON'T MAKE ME RIDE FASTER, THEY MAKE ME SING BETTER': Rob Portman, like Kimi Raikkonen, John McEnroe and Barry Sheene, is also an accomplished musician. He'll be riding a Triumph Daytona 675 in the 2010 SA Supersport 600 championship.

November 25, 2009

Rob Portman, who rode a Kawasaki ZX-10R for distributor-backed Emtek Racing in the 2009 SA Superbike series, will return to the 600cc Supersport class in 2010 aboard a Triumph Daytona 675.

Portman was seventh in the 2009 Superbike championship despite a string of early-season crashes. He feels his smooth riding style, using high cornering speeds to produce fast lap times, is well suited to the smaller class.

"I've always been competitive on a 600," he said. "Although the three-cylinder 675 loses out a fraction to the four-cylinder Japanese bikes at the top end, Zwartkop and Kyalami have uphills where the extra torque will be a real advantage."

Team boss Ricky Morais isn't fazed by the prospect of starting the season with two new bikes to develop - his son Sheridan will be defending his SA Superbike title on a new Aprilia RSV4.

"Quote me on this," he laughed. "KMSA technical manager Gavin Lightfoot is going to be very busy in 2010.

"The Triumph is about 80 percent race-ready," he added. "Sheridan rode the factory bike in Italy and I've found lots of stuff on the Internet to help with the suspension set-up but we'll start with our own ideas, as we always do, and take it from there."