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Road Racer of the Year 2016 - 3rd: Peter Hickman

3rd - Peter Hickman
Average poll score out of ten: 7.43
Team: GBmoto Kawasaki/Trooper Beer Kawasaki/Cookstown/BE Racing Kawasaki
NW200 wins: 0
Podiums: 2

Isle of Man TT wins: 0
Podiums: 0
Ulster Grand Prix wins: 0
Podiums: 1
Macau Grand Prix: 1st

Peter Hickman rode Kawasaki machinery on the roads for the first time in 2016 for the GBmoto team after previously excelling on the BMW S1000RR. Hickman may only have made his debut at the Isle of Man TT in 2014, but his outstanding performances on the roads raised expectations that he could be a potential winner in 2016.

His best result was a magnificent fourth in the Superbike race, although retirements from the Superstock and Senior races permeated a disappointing TT overall for the British Superbike contender. Hickman also had a DNF in the opening Supersport race but clinched a top ten result in race two, taking eighth on the Trooper Beer Kawasaki. The 29-year-old also made his debut in the Lightweight TT for Northern Ireland's Cookstown B.E. Racing team, but Hickman was forced to retire from the race.

However, he sealed two rostrums prior to the TT in May at the North West 200 in the Superbike and Supersport classes and finished a fine third in the second Supersport race at the Ulster Grand Prix. The English rider was also on course for a podium in the Superstock race at Dundrod after setting the early pace, but bad luck struck once more for Hickman, who was cruelly forced out with a puncture.

His luck finally changed for the better at the Macau Grand Prix in November, where Hickman joined Michael Rutter in the Bathams SMT BMW team, returning to the S1000RR that had served him so faithfully on the roads over the past two seasons.

A gripping race developed at the front involving Rutter, Martin Jessopp, newcomer Glenn Irwin and Hickman, who stormed to the front in the final part of the race and edged out Rutter for his second successive victory at the famous race in the Far East.

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About the vote:
Thousands of votes were cast for the 2016 Crash.net Road Racer of the Year poll, where viewers awarded a shortlist of this season's most impressive riders with a mark out of ten.

Zdroj: crash.net