The Early Years
 
S.P. Racing was formed in 1994 by 2 brothers, Phillip Bedford and Stuart Bedford, and after the first season on a very limited budget and gaining undoubtedly valuable track experience the brothers decided to acquire a more competitive bike than the ageing 250cc they had started on. After much consideration a ZXR 400cc Kawasaki was chosen and race prepared for the 1995 season. It turned out to be a big learning year for the team as at the first meeting of the season Phil crashed out after losing grip on an oil spill at 85mph and the bike somersaulted down the track bending everything on it. Luckily, Phil sustained only bruising, one broken toe and a big dent in his confidence.
 

4 months later the bike was rebuilt and a decision for Phil to enroll at East Yorkshire College to study motorcycle engineering and gain knowledge of mechanics and machine set up for the team. In 1996 the team decided that Stu would be the sole rider for the season concentrating on the national 400cc championship while Phil concentrated on the mechanical side of things. With the engine having been fettled and built by Phil at college it was up to Stu to get the results………

He finished a brilliant 3rd in the national “Shell Green Jacket Championship” and recorded the fastest lap in a Pegasus Championship meeting and a 3rd place trophy.
 

In 1997 the team acquired a second ZXR 400 and saw the return of Phil to the saddle. The main aim for the team was to have both bikes and riders out in the same race. With that achieved by a third of the way through the season they recorded some great joint results. Phil back up to speed and Stu recording his first win at Mallory Park and taking 4th in the Retford MCC championship. The team set their sights high for 1998 aiming to take the national ACU Championship by storm. But disaster struck on the first outing with a major component failure destroying one of the bikes engines and niggling bad luck putting an end to the teams hopes. It was decided to regroup for 1999.
 

With further tuning and development of the engines both bikes were again out and had the cobwebs blown off. Firstly at Donington Park in March 1999 where the team scored some encouraging results and the momentum started from there. Both riders smashed their personal best lap times at every track they have visited and recorded the most consistent and highest results the team had had to date. Stu, with a roll of 5 consecutive wins, was joint leader of the Derby Phoenix 400cc championship by mid season and Phil was also moving up the leader-board and after 2 consecutive 3rd places bringing him  within 3 points of 3rd in the same Championship with six races to go.

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