Young Northern Irishman Paul Jordan signs with Italian VAS Engine Racing Team to ride a Paton S1R at the Isle of Man TT.
Last year, during his only third TT, he scored a fourth place in the Lightweight Race: at this year’s Tourist Trophy he
will add a very competitive bike to his riding talent, switching to the Paton VAS Racing Team. The same one Stefano Bonetti won the North West 200 with last year.
Team owner Vittorio Salerio is relatively new to road races, having a four-wheels background, but it took him no time to put a competitive team together with competitive bikes: he owns two ex-factory (SC-Project) S1R Patons.
In 2019 he had Stefano Bonetti and Francesco Curinga onboard for the North West 200, and then Curinga and rising star Andrea Majola at the Manx Grand Prix, scoring amazing results in both events.
Paton is definitely the bike to beat in the Supertwin class: official SC-Project Paton won the Lightweight TT in 2017 with Michael Rutter and in 2018 and 2019 with Michael Dunlop. More and more teams and riders are willing to buy the “Italian green bike” for the roads.
Team owner Salerio with his Patons at the Manx GP 2019
Between Paton privateer Teams there is VAS Racing, which is strictly connected with the factory squad, though. Team owner Vittorio Salerio signed also French rider Pierre Yves Bian for the 2020 season (Bian won the Newcomers Race A at last year’s Manx GP), alongside Jordan.
Paul Jordan is no doubt one of the riders to beat in the National Road Races, but not only: in 2019 he won his first International Road Race, the Ulster GP, in the Lightweight class. A couple of months earlier he grabbed a fourth place at the TT in the same category, finishing ahead of more experienced riders like Michael Rutter and Stefano Bonetti, the latter on the factory Paton. Jordan has signed for John Burrows for the National Road Races this year and is soon due to announce his big deal for the Internationals.
He was eager to add a Supertwin ride, though, at least for the Isle of Man TT: he was strongly looking for a Paton and VAS Racing Team suited his dreams.
The talented Northern Irish rider is 100% “hungry” and focused and this captured the attention of VAS Team.
Paul Jordan at the Cookstown 100 (foto: Chris Usal)
“Last year we had some strong results and a North West 200 win on our debut. Our aim for 2020 is to repeat this string of very good results” , Team owner Vittorio Salerio told us. “This year we will make our debut at the most important road race in the world, the Isle of Man TT. We will have two S1R Patons for the Lightweight class with Pierre Yves Bian and Paul Jordan onboard. I’m proud to be working with such a talented rider as Paul and I’m happy I can give him an opportunity with a very competitive bike. I think he will be a perfect teammate for a newcomer like Pierre. I also want to thank Martimotos Team for the help during the season“.
“To say that I am over the moon is an understatement” Jordan says. “I’m happy to be landing myself with such a competitive bike for the Isle of Man TT and I can’t wait to get my first run on it. I’m so excited I’ll be riding a bike that has proven to win at the TT and also I’ll be over to the island this year after having built experience from last year. This time I can come to the Isle of Man a bit more relaxed and really try and get myself on the podium, where last year I felt I had the pace to be. The first lap killed me, though, as I was struggling and it got me to the second lap to get going and ended up in fourth place. I want to thank VAS Racing Team for giving me this opportunity and I’m looking forward to seeing everyone on the island”.
