User:Trident13/TKR
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Ten Kate Racing is a Dutch motorcycle racing team, based in Nieuwleusen, Overijssel
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Gerrit Ten Kate's life has always been about motorcycles, so it's no surprise that the Dutch tuning expert runs a top World Superbike and World Supersport team. His life-long passion for two-wheeled machinery began on his father’s farm at the age of 12 and has led to five consecutive World Supersport titles over the last five years. “I started messing around with mopeds and scooters and found each one fascinating,” says the 49-year-old. “Everyone used bikes everyday. I remember one trip to the zoo with my father riding and my mother on the back. I sat between them in the middle!”
Following a motocross career, Ten Kate saw his hobby develop into a successful business. “When I was racing, I prepared everything myself and people began to take notice,” he explains. “Pretty soon I was selling 50 or 60 motocross bikes a year.”
Ten Kate eventually switched focus from his own motocross ambitions to those of his nephew Ronald ten Kate, whom he guided through regional series to fourth place in the Dutch national championship. Ronald is now manager of Ten Kate Racing.
Ten Kate: "I was shocked when he rang to say his bike was the fastest" In 1993, Ten Kate gave up his motocross activities to concentrate on developing his own motorcycle dealership in Nieuwleusen, near Zwolle in the north of Holland. It was around this time that he was introduced to road racing. “Local rider Harry van Beek came to the showroom,” he explains. “His bike was a real mess. I fixed everything up for him and he got a wild-card ride in the European Superstock round at Hockenheim. I was shocked when he rang from the circuit to say that his bike was the fastest!”
Growth over the years
Over each of the last 12 years, Gerrit ten Kate has incr ased his involvement in the sport and now takes a team of 28 - ncluding technicians, administrative staff and four riders - to contest he World Superbike and Supersport champ
While engine preparation remains a vital element of his activities, Ten Kate has developed a thorough understanding of all aspects of racing motorcycles. “With four engine builders, we are always looking to increase the performance of the motors,” he says, “But there is a lot more to it than that. I would much rather have five horsepower less in a good chassis than five horsepower more that cannot be used. For that reason we have brought data-logging and suspension specialists into the team over the past few years to help us develop the whole package.”
Going into this season, Gerrit ten Kate is as enthusiastic as ever. Honda’s CBR1000RR Fireblade proved its Superbike pedigree in the hands of Chris Vermeulen and James Toseland in recent years, and the CBR600RR that secured the team’s fifth World Supersport title last year goes into the season with yet more expectation heaped upon it.
“I have been with Honda for a long time now,” concludes the Ten Kate team boss. “And these are by far the best race-ready production machines that Honda has ever made.”[1]
