Tommy Hill

Tommy Hill is a British motorcycle road racer, born 9 February 1985 in Lingfield, Surrey, who races for Virgin Mobile Yamaha in the British Superbike (BSB) championship. Hill's early racing life included a near-fatal motocross accident in which he lost a kidney and his spleen [http://londonbikers.com/articles/6552faed-ed8a-4781-a37f-c6b6d866bbe2] . As a result, medical problems including a bout of food poisoning in 2006 have dogged his career.

He switched to droad racing in 2001, and first earned his BSB ride by winning the Virgin Mobile Yamaha R6 Cup in 2003, finishing every race in the process. In his first BSB season he became the youngest rider ever to start a race on the front row of the grid, and he was the only one of the team's four 2004 riders to be retained for 2005 - team boss Rob McElnea commenting that "He really did prove himself beyond everyone’s expectations this year". In 2005 he took 2 further front row starts, as well as his first BSB win at Cadwell Park [http://www.f1network.net/main/s180/st80806.htm] , finishing 12th overall in the series.

For the 2006 British Superbike season he was the only Yamaha rider to retain his ride, leading a young team with Billy McConnell and Kieran Clarke. Tommy was also entered for the Superbike World Championship race at Silverstone as a wild card. In changeable qualifying conditions he stunned the experienced regulars by taking pole position, and then finished both races in the lower reaches of the points.

In 2007, Tommy was joined in the Virgin Yamaha squad by James Haydon, who returned to the team for whom he raced in 2001 and 2004. From 12th on the grid in damp conditions he briefly lead the second race of round 4 at Oulton Park, but ultimately faded to 7th, the Yamaha failing to match other bikes on performance.

After a handful of World Supersport rides on an SSP Yamaha alongside his 2007 BSB commitments [http://www.crash.net/motorsport/wsbk/feature/12139-0/qa_tommy_hill_-_exclusive.html] , Hill switches to the series full time, with the Hannspree Altea Honda team [http://www.motorcyclenews.com/MCN/sport/sportresults/mcn/2007/november/nov12-18/nov1407worldsupersporttommyhillsignsforhonda/] . On his very first test he crashed, breaking his femur, ankle and hand, causing him to miss the first five rounds of the season. [http://www.motorcyclenews.com/MCN/sport/sportresults/videos/2008/february/feb0708hillinterviewatmcn/?&R=EPI-98464] [http://www.thisiscourier.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=142736&command=displayContent&sourceNode=252025&contentPK=19718850&folderPk=115993&pNodeId=252035] . A further crash in his comeback race at the Nürburgring rebroke his femur [http://www.bikesportnews.com/articles/article.html?id=TOMMY_HILL_RETURNS_HOME_AFTER_SURGERY_1] .

The Althea team kept faith in him for 2009, signing him to be their sole World Superbike rider, owning to his BSB experience [http://www.visordown.com/motorcyclenews/view/wsb_tommy_hill_signs_with_honda_for_2009_/5552.html]

References

* [http://www.motorbike-search-engine.co.uk/Rider%20Profiles/tommy_hill_05.html Rider profile]
* [http://www.sportnetwork.net/main/s180/st97514.htm World Superbike ride]