Hawk Racing was established in 1999 by Team Principal Stuart Hicken, who over the years has passed on his experience and skills to make the team what it is today.

Since its creation, Hawk Racing has been one of the most competitive and professional teams in the paddock in both track and road races.

Hawk Racing is a family run team, with Stuart’s son Steve now leading the way, however Stuart is always present to pass on his expertise and logic. Together, they have a keen eye for young, up and coming riders that they can develop into potential championship winners, striving for podiums and success.

Today, the team competes in the British Superbike Championship and major international road races including the Northwest 200 and the Isle of Man TT.

Rhys Irwin

Rhys first started riding a bike at the age of 3 on a Yamaha PW50 but became professional in 2008 where he competed in Motocross championships achieving multiple wins and successes through to the end of 2014. He moved on to road racing in 2016, and competed in the British Superteens Championship where he was runner up by 1 point, achieving 8 race wins and 20 podiums during this season. He also competed in the Irish 125 series where he was declared the champion with a 100% win record, achieving 19 race wins from 19 starts with 2 lap records. These results led him to be the runner up for the Irish Young Racer of the Year award.

2017 saw Rhys move to the British RRV 450 Aprilia challenge, collecting 6 race wins and gaining 2 lap records at Mondello Park in the Lightweight Supersport Category. At the end of this season, he once again became the runner up in the Irish Young Racer of the Year awards category. The next chapter for Rhys was a ride in the British Motostar Championship, for the 2018 season where he finished 6th in the championship, with his best achievement being a start of last place (32nd)at Brands Hatch to finish 3rd and on the podium! 2019 saw a move to race in the British Talent Cup where the achievements in this class whilst competing at world events, just kept coming. He had front row starts at the Donington World Superbikes, SilverstoneMotoGP and Czech Republic Grand Prix of Brno MotoGP rounds, finishing in a podium position at the latter. He finished 5th in the British Talent Cup series whilst back home, he became the youngest ever Supersport 600 race winner in the Irish Championship.

Rhys turned his attentions to the Pirelli British Superstock 600 championship in 2020, where he was crowned the top rookie in the championship, obtaining 3 race wins, 4 podiums and 3 pole positions. His final achievement of this season was winning the Young Irish Motorcyclist of the Year award, a great recognition of all his racing efforts over the years. 2021 was the season where Rhys ventured into the British Supersport series where he has remained until his championship win in 2025. In his rookie year, he finished 9th in the Championship with 3 front row starts, 1 pole position, 2 podiums, achieving the fastest ever supersportlap at Silverstone. He continued this success in 2022 being the only next generation supersport bike to finish on the podium in British Supersport, along with multiple front row starts. Continuing in the supersport class, 2023 saw Rhys achieve countless race wins and podiums that lead to an opportunity to wildcard in the World Supersport race at Donington Park where he finished in the points. In addition to this, he made his Daytona 200 debut where sadly, he was forced to retire due to a mechanical failure but thoroughly enjoyed the experience and racing. 2024 proved to be a challenging start, however he teamed up with the Gearlink Kawasaki team at round 4 where he finish 9th in the championship despite only competing in part of the season.

But 2025 became the ultimate year of racing achievement for Rhys where he won the Quattro Group British Supersport series and was crowned champion after coming out on top in a season-long battle with three former champions. He also won the Short Circuit Rider of the Year award at the Irish Motorbike Awards which took place in January 2026, and his reward for all this hard work and effort, a ride in the British Superbike Championship with Hawk Racing!

Eugene McManus

Eugene began his road racing career in 2015, competing in two championships where he took 1st place in the Ulster 125cc and 2nd in the Irish 125cc. From there, he embarked on the British Motostar Moto3 series for the next 3 seasons, finishing 13th, 5th and 8th in the championship. During his 2018 season, he also entered the GP2 category taking a victory and a podium in the process. In 2019, Eugene stepped up into the British Supersport class however, his season did not go to plan after being involved in a season-ending accident onboard the Yamaha at Brands Hatch in the fourth round, resulting in him being unable to compete. Eugene moved over into the National Superstock 600 class in 2020 after regaining his fitness, and remained in this championship during the 2021 season where it was renamed the National Junior Superstock championship. It was this season where he started picking up the silverware with 5 podium finishes, resulting in a 5th place championship standing at the end of the season. Not wanting to let that supersport desire disappear, Eugene competed in 2 rounds of the World Supersport championship, an experience he repeated in 2022 and 2023.

That 2022 season bought Eugene back into the British Supersport championship where he continued to be a regular contender in the British Supersport series for several seasons finishing 8th in the 2022 championship, followed by 9th in 2023, then his best result yet of 4th in the championship for 2024.

Collecting a number of podium finishes and placing 6th overall in 2025 proved to be enough consistency and development for the Hawk Racing team to offer Eugene a British Superbike ride for the 2026 season.