Traction Direct sponsors Michael Howarth at British Super Bikes
Traction Direct is proud to announce their sponsorship of Michael Howarth in the 2016 British Superbikes.
Former rugby league player Michael Howarth will make his return to the MCE British Superbike Championship 2016 with the MotoDex team. Howarth's first race meet is at Oulten from 30th April to 2nd May, and the live race will be televised on channel Eurosport 2 May 2nd from 12:30pm.
Michael will be riding the BMW S1000R Superbike. This bike was previously ridden by Kyio and is from Buildbase BMW. The bike weighs in at 168kgs for maximum performance, is capable of over 200mph and has a massive 210bhp.
Sponsors Traction Direct create battery charging technology for many industries including automotive, haulage, and many other industries. Their units are suitable for both industrial and workshop use. They also design and manufacture bespoke charging solutions for both ‘one’ off production or volume applications. The company has been at the forefront of battery charging technology since the 1980’s when the company developed the first charger to correctly charge the then new Calcium/Calcium and Calcium/Silver lead/acid batteries. Since then Traction Direct have developed many new charging related products, including the patented Sulphation Recovery Programme used by many of the world’s leading battery and vehicle manufacturers.
As part of the sponsorship deal, Traction Direct will be supplying a Battery Support Unit for Howarth’s BMW bike. The BSU provides constant voltage during diagnostics and programming operations, avoiding any possible loss of data or damage to control units whilst the vehicle is in a Key On, Engine Off state. This technology will allow Howarth and his team to carry out pre and post-race analysis without risk of power loss or battery drain.
Michael Howarth says of Traction Direct 's BSU “We’re really excited to be introducing this technology into our race strategy. The unit will achieve two positive outcomes for us – firstly it will reduce any risk of losing any essential data that we download from the vehicle whilst analyzing the race. Secondly, to keep the vehicle lightweight for maximum speed, all components are reduced to their bare minimum in weight. This on occasion means that batteries are drained during diagnostic analysis and forces us to use starter rollers on the start line. Using Traction Direct’s battery charging technology means we’ll no longer have to contend with this frustrating task and focus solely on the race.”
Chris Walker, Managing Director of Traction Direct comments on the sponsorship. “We are absolutely delighted to have agreed this new sponsorship deal for Traction Direct. Michael Howarth has proved his potential as a first-class British Superbike contender and we’re proud to start this journey with him and MotoDex, and to be part of his successes in the 2016 races. The core pillars of the Traction Direct brand are in innovation, quality and British-origin, three principles we feel are present in British Superbikes and Michael Howarth.”
The Battery Support Unit that Traction Direct will be supplying is the BSU2-50, which is OEM approved by Jaguar, Landrover, Volvo, Ford and Nissan. This unit provides a stable voltage and up to 50 amps of fully regulated power to prevent loss of charge and damage to the battery. BSU2 can be used with any 12V automotive battery including AGM and GEL. When the battery is charged the BSU is a regulated power supply to sustain accessory loads and offset parasitic drain.
The unit specification includes reverse polarity protection, input of 100–240VAC 50/60Hz, Output of 13.4V up to 50A continuous and weighs 6.5kg. It is portable and slimline at 257 x 160 x 130 mm.
As part of the sponsorship deal, Michael will review Traction Direct’s Battery Support Unit range on the BSB weekly show ‘Motors TV’ which broadcasts at 9pm Thursday evenings during the BSB season. The show focuses on “behind the scenes” and gives an insight into what it takes to compete, including the equipment that is used to optimize performance.