Aberdeenshire Superbike star Callum Bey has unfinished business in this year's British National Superstock 600 championships as his comeback gathers speed
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
A NEED for speed and some unfinished business has prompted Cairnie superbike star Callum Bey to make a sporting comeback and return to the British racing circuit.
After quitting the sport he loves as a teenager, following Scottish and British 125 title success, Bey recently found himself watching some of his old rivals competing on the Knockhill circuit.
Seeing the high speed action from the sidelines made him realise he had to return to the saddle and enjoy the thrills once again.
So he entered last year's Scottish Championships for the first time on a bigger and faster 600cc, a standard machine he bought and made up himself - and finished third.
The buzz was well-and-truly back and Bey, now 23, has moved on to a spruced up machine to take part in this year's British National Superstock 600 - part of the British Superbike Championships.
"It was great to be back and reminding myself 'this is my sport'. It was the best decision I made to go back to racing," he said.
"From going to that meeting at Knockhill and watching, I always said if I was going back, I was going back to do the business.
"I felt I had some unfinished business to sort out with the British Championships.
"I would still love to make a career in racing and that is my total focus at the moment. I am living, breathing, eating and sleeping it at the moment.
"It’s kind of a now-or-never situation, if I don't do it now I never will. I don’t want to be so many years down the line thinking ‘should I, would I, could I’.
"I am pulling out all the stops. If I am going to do it, I'm going to do it right and I’m not there to muck about.
"If possible, I’m going to win races. I feel with the right equipment underneath me that I can perform as I need to.
I still feel I can be a front runner even at the British Championship and that is what I am going to try and do.
"I’m not going there to run the pack - I am there to win, bottom line."
Bey recalls as a boy being trackside at some of the country's major circuits, watching his dad John compete in the Scottish Championships.
When his father retired from the sport, he devoted his time to allowing Callum to chase his own dreams.
The youngster soon discovered that bike racing was in the blood and by 2007 he was competing in mini moto events and winning Scottish and UK titles.
When he turned 12, Bey was old enough to ride on 125cc bikes and compete in the Superteams Challenge, a one-make series seen as a stepping stone for youngsters towards the British Championships - and possible MotoGP fame in the future.
"I was second in my first year in the championship and I won the newcomer championship," he said. "I went to the British Championship after that on 125s, that was with a team called KRP and it was more of a learning year.
"It was a fair step-up and the pace was very, very fierce."
After three years of competing at this level, he was three rounds before the end of the 2013 season when he came to a decision to quit motorsport.
"My head wasn't really in it. There was a lot going on at the time and I wasn’t performing what I was expecting of myself and what folk expected of me so we called it a day at that point," he recalled.
"I was totally disassociated with bikes and bike racing for years, until the end of 2019 when I went to the Knockhill British Superbikes as a spectator with a couple of friends."
It was a day that changed his life as the urge to get back on a bike consumed him.
"I was standing at the side and I saw all my old sparring partners who had progressed onto bigger and better things.
"It made me a little bit angry to start with but I also decided I wasn't going to stand at the side watching any more, I’m away to get a bike again."
One of the young bikers he used to race against on the junior scene is top British star Jake Dixon, a former British Superbike champ who now competes at the very highest level in his sport on the MotoGP World Championships.
Having hones his talents on the 125s, Bey had to make the transition to the high-powered 600s on his return to racing.
"Racing is so expensive when you do it yourself, and the bike I bought was by no means competitive. It was a very standard bike.
"It was a good bike to come back and learn on and learn how to ride fast and get the most out of what I had."
Now Bey has purchased a top-of-the-range 2022 Yamaha R6 and is geared up for the challenge that lies ahead, with the season beginning in April.
"I’m absolutely buzzing for the season, I can't wait to get started," he said.
The British National Superstock 600 visits every major circuit in the UK and is screen live on Eurosport, with highlights on the Quest digital channel.
"It is exactly where I have wanted to be since I was thinking about going back to racing. It’s where I’ve had my sights set.
"There's a lot of work to be done behind the scenes with building new bikes and getting everything organised because I am a one-man band at the moment, with a little help from friends.
"But I’m up for it. If you want something you’ve got to go all out to get it.
"There will be no one in the paddock in my class who will want it more than I do at the moment."
Bey has managed to secure some sponsorship for the year ahead and on his Facebook page he started his own #80Clan, aiming to gain 80 backers paying £80 each in return for sponsorship space on his equipment and the chance to watch top British biking action this season.
"What they will get for that is the sticker of the name on my bike for the full season along with my race transporter.
"Also, there’s 11 rounds to the season, each round I will do a raffle for the Clan 80 guys and and whichever name I pull out for each round, I will supply two guest passes for that meeting for the British Superbikes.
"I can’t give back a lot but people do like watching the racing and I give back what I can."
