Neill wants to see BSB round in Northern Ireland

TAS Racing team owner Philip Neill says a British Superbike Championship round in Northern Ireland "absolutely has to happen".

The BSB's only previous visits to the island of Ireland were at County Kildare venue Mondello Park between 2003 and 2007.

But speaking to the BBC Bikes podcast, Neill believes Northern Ireland's passion for motorcycle racing would make for a "phenomenal" stop on the BSB calendar.

"It's not if, it's when, in my opinion," he said.

"The commercial appetite, the fanbase and the heritage are already in place.

"Stuart Higgs (BSB series director) and Jonathan Palmer (Motorsport Vision chief executive) are fully aware of the following we have - it will happen."

TAS Racing are preparing for a major shift in direction after almost a quarter of a century in BSB as they prepare to hand over their BSB operation to Michael Laverty and GRYD Racing.

Neill reflected on the impressive tenure which began after the team's early partnership with Suzuki.

"We're 27 years consecutively now as TAS Racing and 24 in BSB," he said.

"We've had some phenomenal riders like Adrian Archibald, Ian Lougher, Cameron Donald, Adrian Coates, Tom Sykes, Alastair Seeley, Keith Farmer, David Jefferies, Bruce Anstey - they've all played a huge part in our success."

Neill also said the BSB paddock has transformed dramatically in recent years.

"It's definitely not got any cheaper. If you're going to try British Superbike racing with two riders, you're wasting your time if you have anything less than a million," he said.

Despite the scale of modern BSB, Neill remains proud of TAS's Northern Irish identity.

"I've been accused over the years of swaying towards Northern Ireland riders - and it's completely true," he said, adding that the country "punches well above its weight" in motorcycle sport.

Neill also said that he and his father Hector - who founded TAS - are considering a return to road racing.

"He longs for road racing. I want to still be in racing and that would be a natural step for us," Neill said.