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NWS GP1 Lung - First Report
The team was formed in 2003, and since the beginning of the 2004 season, Milltek Sport have developed and supplied race exhaust systems to the NWS GP1 LUNG Supermono Race Team, who are a small, but highly motivated team, dedicated to the sport of motorcycle racing.
The team is headed by the Smith brothers, Mick and Gary.
Mick Smith
Mick has raced in the Supermono class in the past, with considerable success. Starting out in 1987 on a road bike based Honda CB250RSA, he scored some good results in his first year, even though all the tracks were new to him. For 1988, a 305cc big bore kit was fitted, and Mick won several races albeit he was up against 500cc machines. The following year, Mick raced on a new 600cc Harris Rotax and finished 9th in the British Championship.
Mick’s most memorable race was at Brands Hatch in the wet where he started from the back row of the grid and stormed through the field to win the race! The championship had become very popular, attracting several very good riders and teams from as far afield as Japan. His last season was 1990 where he finished 6th in the championship before retiring as a rider due to family commitments.
Gary Smith
Not allowed to race, (his wife wouldn’t let him), Gary supported Mick’s racing by designing various special components including wheels, brake discs and dealt with the gearbox ratios and gearing for Mick’s race bikes.
Mick and Gary’s dream was to design and build a Supermono race bike, and now that they have achieved that, their next goal is to win a championship with it.
Race Bike Development
The choice of powerplant, was the Husaberg engine for a number of reasons. First it was a fairly large capacity of 650cc and the rules allow up to 800cc. It was also a very light engine, only 30kg, and had a close ratio six speed gearbox with an hydraulic clutch and larger gearbox sprockets could be fitted, which allowed the bike to be geared properly.
A bike was built that weighed in at 105kg, 10kg over the minimum weight limit and produced 70bhp.
It really handled well and it was fast, but was very unreliable, breaking main bearings almost every time it raced, and only finishing four races all season which was very depressing, and with no help from the Husaberg factory, even after an impulsive visit to Austria!
The decision was made to build another bike using a Honda CRF450R engine, unfortunately the Honda wouldn’t fit in the Husaberg chassis, so a new one was designed and built from scratch and clever attention to detail has created a machine that weighs in under the minimum weight of 95kg!!
The team had some good results in 2004 with the Honda, including a 2nd at Mallory Park, a 5th at Assen and two strong finishes in Sweden after the suspension had been looked at and sorted out by Perry Leask at HM racing.
The season ended with a bike that was competitive and a rider in Bruce Dunn, who really exploited the advantages of the bike.
The 2005 season has begun well, when at the Donington round in May, the team recorded their first pole and outright win, crossing the line over 15 seconds ahead of the second place rider!!
 Milltek Sport are continuing to work closely with the NWS GP1 Lung team developing and testing various different exhaust pipe and silencer configurations to suit the different power and torque demands made by each circuit. Milltek Sport are also able to study the potential cross-over technology between bikes and cars in terms of weight saving, material selection and durability. The team is currently running a lightweight system that is manufactured from a combination of thin wall stainless steel tube and titanium sheet.
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