British Champ In Cash Appeal

BRITISH Superbike champion Dave Heal s dream of adding the Superstox title to his glowing cv is under threat due to a lack of financial backing.

The Hailsham star, who won the British championship for privateer riders last season, has been forced to take on the best in his field using inferior equipment at a fraction of the cost of his main rivals.

Despite a successful 20-years in the sport, Dave, amazingly has never received a penny in sponsorship from companies in the south east, and this season s campaign could now come to a close if a backer is not found.

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The south east is prosperous and got plenty of money but if truth be known people would rather spend it on themselves than back their sportsmen, said Dave.

If you go up north, I don t know what it is, maybe they re more patriotic or something, but they will shell out the money. If you look at a lot of sports, even though it is supposed to be poorer, a lot of money going into sport comes from the north and the Midlands. It s these tight southerners you can t get money out of!

Dave is being forced to hold back in qualification for each round of the Superstox because of the financial difficulties surrounding his team. At present, the team are unable to shell out for softer practice tyres which can knock up to a second off his qualifying times.

All we need is a thousand pounds per meeting to pay for qualifying tyres and fuel. How can a reigning British champion not be able to drum up a grand a race? added Dave.

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Because we can t afford to have the bike repaired I m not able to run close to the edge which is what you need to do in order to win races.

The most important thing at Thruxton on Sunday was to finish and get a result.

Against all the odds the Hailsham star hauled his way into contention in round six at the Andover track, but, despite pushing the leading three for much of the race, Dave eventually finished fifth - being pipped for fourth on the line by Australian ace Glen Richard.

To be honest Glen should be beating me - he s on a million pound factory bike!

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But, as well as the financial problems, I was also still a bit beaten up from the Brands Hatch race when I came off heavily. I was probably only 90 per cent and very weak. I thought I could make a real push but I was very apprehensive about what happened at Brands and we really can t afford to damage the bike.

Dave is next in action on July 21 at Oulton Park in round seven of the 13 round championship.

* Do you want to back Sussex star Dave Heal? Anyone interested in becoming a sponsor can contact Rick at the Express on 01273 480601.

Published: 5.7.01 Sussex Newspapers Ltd

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