Matt Bond - Background

Matt Bond began to take his first steps into the world of motorcycle racing when he jumped aboard a 500cc motocross bike back in 1994, aged just eight years old. The next two years weren't spent just learning how to control the machine and after experiencing numerous falls on the way to finding out where the brakes were, Bond took part in his first competition in 96.

From here he spent the next two years competing in various club races, with a few good results along the way. 1998 saw Bond have a great year as he took 2nd overall in the Norfolk & Suffolk 80cc schoolboy motocross championship and 3rd with Norwich & District, in the same class. Bond also began to compete in the Eastern Centre championship later in the year.

1999 saw Bond really establish himself as one of East Anglia's top young motocross riders as he won the Eastern Centre title, Norfolk & Suffolk and Norwich & District championships, which saw him picked to represent the Eastern Centre at the National youth team event. This success was repeated in 2000 and Bond was then offered the chance to go road racing with the A&R Motorcycles racing team, an opportunity he grabbed with both hands.

2001 saw Bond jump on board the A&R machine for the first time early in the year, ready to compete in the Aprilia RS 125 Superteen series. For Bond the year was continuously a learning curve, as he adjusted himself from an off road rider into the road racing style of rider which he now is. Despite only competing in half of the series Bond managed to score two points at Cadwell Park, where he took 14th place after a number of the front runners fell. After learning all the circuits Bond looked set to move up the leader board in 2002, which was exactly what he did.

The season began slowly with Bond just breaking into the top 10, but then as the season wore on Bond began to improve, and at Mallory Park Bond proved his talent taking an amazing third place, his first road racing podium. The season then continued with Bond taking numerous top 8 finishes, ending the season 11th overall. For 2003 Bond was to continue on in the series, in hope of being one of the title contenders. The series started spectacularly with Bond finish in the top five in each of the first four races and this success carried on through the middle of the series where Bond just missed out on his first victory at Oulton Park, where he came home second, just 0.02 seconds behind the race winner.

But from here on out the season went rapidly downhill as bike problems and mechanical failures plagued the end of the season. The light at the end of the tunnel however came when Bond turned 16 and was offered a ride on the Naked Racing Project SV650 MiniTwins race bike. As soon as Bond jumped aboard the machine everything clicked for him as he took a fourth place finish in his first ever ride on the bike. This lead to a permanent ride on the team's machines for 2004 in the BEMSEE MiniTwins championship.

Bond's hopes for 2004 were to finish the championship in the top 10, but this feat was to be far surpassed thanks to an awesome year long effort. The season began slowly as the team tried to fix engine problems for the first two rounds, but when the series arrived at Snetterton, Bond's home race, for round three of the championship, everything just went right as Bond ended the meeting with a fantastic set of three podiums. Bond never looked back from this point and the year just got better and better.

Whilst also competing in the Minitwins, Bond entered the 400/650 championship, a class in which he excelled. Not only did he win the title, he won all but four races in the class, a fantastic achievement and Bond's first road racing title. At Lydden Bond smashed the lap record and came home with a double victory, an achievement he repeated again at Croix en Ternois in France.

Bond then suffered a heavy fall at Brands Hatch which damaged his points score considerably and it was to come down to the last round as Bond battled to obtain second place overall in the championship. The final race was tense, but Bond just hung on to take home the runner up spot from the series in his debut year in the class. It was a fantastic result for the youngster, whose success netted him a ride on board the Mike Edwards prepared T&J Commercials/givemethekeys.com Suzuki for 2005.

The MRO championship title was Bond's target for the 2005 season, but all did not begin well as he suffered a monumental fall in the opening round, completely destroying the bike, and costing the Beccles lad some 50 championship points. But all was not lost as Bond returned from the injuries and began to get back onto race pace. Lap by lap he grew more confident and improved in leaps and bounds and when the series returned to Snetterton Bond was back on form, and how it showed. Pole position, three race wins and a new lap record put Bond straight back into the title chase and the youngster's confidence went skywards. Bond repeated this performance at both Knockhill then Cadwell, putting him into the lead of the series for the first time, some 39 points clear of the field.

Bond hopes to continue the good run of form for the rest of the season, as he aims to capture the MRO title. So far Bond has collected a total of 22 race wins from both MRO and BEMSEE races, and has set a total of four lap records this year. The future looks bright for this hot young prospect and only time will tell just how far he can go. But for now, his sight is firmly set on being the top rider in this years MiniTwins series.