Team Hero EBR was one of the highlights of this year’s pre-season, with the interest stretching to Round 1 in Australia as Larry Pegram rode alongside Italy’s Niccolo Canepa for the first time. As explained by American Pegram, who takes on a duel role as Team Manager and rider, selecting Canepa as a rider was easy.

“Well, he has a very good-looking girlfriend!” Pegram laughs as he answered in jest.

“I talked to him a bunch and his attitude was exactly what we needed. It wasn’t, ‘Hey, I want to get paid this much, I need this kind of flight to the race track and I have been a World Champion’. It was, ‘Hey, I want to ride this bike as hard as I possibly can and do the best I can for you guys’ – and that is what he has done from the minute he stepped foot on the bike.

“He has been flat-out. I am exceptionally happy with him and his attitude.”

In a cruel twist of fate, Canepa missed the second race of the season at Phillip Island following a Race 1 crash which caused an ankle injury. However, that did not stop the team from scoring its first points of the year as Pegram collected two points for 14th position, matching the result he achieved at Laguna Seca last year.