THE countdown is officially on to the new season of the National Superstock Championship – and Lewis Rollo cannot wait.

The motorcyclist endured a challenging season last year, as he was hampered by a variety of issues on the RAF Regular and Reserve Kawasaki.

Now, he has made the move to Padgettsmotorcycles Honda, with hopes of again challenging for the championship, which he finished third in two years ago.

Rollo said: “I think it is easy to go out and win a race.

“It is easy to get podiums but to try to win a championship is a different level entirely. You have to be consistent every weekend, not just from a rider but a bike point of view.

“It comes down to everything – the bike being reliable, the bike being competitive at every track, the rider being competitive at every track, the mental attitude towards it, experience, and things like that.

“A lot goes into trying to win the championship.

“We came third in 2020 and we took it right down to the last round.

“Hopefully, this year, myself and Padgettsmotorcycles can work away, be competitive in every round, and hopefully challenge for the championship.”

Luke Mossey, Tom Neave and Chrissy Rouse have all moved on to the British Superbike Championship but those gaps have been quickly filled with talented riders.

Rollo named half a dozen racers who would fancy their chances of taking the chequered flag throughout the campaign.

Each rider has already had their first pre-season testing session, with racers heading for Silverstone this week before taking to the grid for the first race next weekend.

Rollo, 22, who lives south of Haddington, enjoyed the first preseason testing event at Snetterton, where racers will do battle in September.

He said: “It was unreal. All winter I am trying to find a new job, find a new team, and you are stressed out.

“I was in the gym every day, I was training and out on the motocross bike and mountain biking.

“You don’t know what to expect, what the bike is going to be like and you are nervous, but I turned up and the team made me feel at home.

“I went out on the bike and rode out of the pits and put my knee down and could not believe how comfortable I felt on the Honda and with the team.”

The championship will see riders compete at Silverstone, Knockhill, Thruxton, Cadwell Park and Snetterton, as well as two rounds at Oulton Park, Donington Park and Brands Hatch. Team boss Clive Padgett is no stranger to the pitlane.

He has run teams at MotoGP, World Superbikes and British Superbikes, and has won multiple TT events.

Rollo, who lives between Gifford and Haddington, was already impressed with the bike that had been put together to help him and team-mate Davey Todd do battle, hopefully, at the front of the grid.

That comes after a challenging year which saw Rollo show in glimpses what he was capable of.

The former Knox Academy pupil was confident that last season would hold him in good stead.

He said: “It is another year of racing and another year of experience.

“I always like to think things happen for a reason.

“I never had the best year championship-wise but we still managed to win at Donington, still managed to get podiums and still managed to get fastest laps in races.

“Myself and the team never gave up.

“A lot of teams and riders will give up and part ways halfway through the year but I am not like that.

“We stuck by each other.”

The chequered flag came down on last season at the end of October but Rollo has not been sitting with his feet up.

Alongside working for his brother’s business, he has been busy working alongside his personal trainer, physiotherapist and in the gym.

Each day is often a 15-hour day but the countdown is now officially on to the opening race of the new season.

Rollo said: “I like anything with wheels.

“I enjoy motocross, mountain biking, everything like that.

“I have got stuff to keep me busy over the winter and competed in the Ecosse Motocross race down near to Dunbar over the winter.

“That kept me busy and myself and my friends go away motocrossing but it is not quite the same as going down a straight at 180 miles per hour on a bike, sliding and everything else.

“It is just that next level of excitement and that is what I love.

“Sure, it is hard all winter being away from it but that just makes it even better when you get back out on the bike.”