Matt Patterson's early racing career

1991: I started club racing in the Ministock (or Supersport 125) class on an ex James Hayden Yamaha TZR125.

Finished 2nd in first ever race at Mallory Park in the first round of the British Clubmans Supersport 125 Championship.

1st trip to hospital in my 2nd race after a big first chicane pile up at Darley Moore.
30+ wins throughout season.
1991 Ministock Champion.

1991 – My Yamaha TZR125 ‘Ministocker’ with a few of the trophies won in my first season.

1992/3: Competed in British GP125 Championship on Honda RS125 NF4
Best result, 2nd at Mallory Park, UK Riders Cup National GP125 Championship.

Racing in Asia ARRC & Thai championships

1994/5: Competed in Thai National 250cc Championship on Yamaha TZR250. 2nd position overall.
Colin Marshall Castrol Racing Team.

1995: Competed in Thai National 250cc Championship on Honda NSR250. 2nd position overall.
Colin Marshall Castrol Honda Racing Team.

1995/6: Honda NSR250SP. Colin Marshall Castrol Honda Racing Team.

1996: Competed in selected races of the Thai National 250cc Championship on Honda NSR250.

Competed in Asia Road Racing 250cc Championship on Honda NSR250. 4th overall. Colin Marshall Castrol Honda Racing Team.

1997: Competed in Asia Road Racing 250cc Championship on Yamaha TZR250. 4th overall. Colin Marshall Castrol Racing Team.

1997: Relaxing in hospital with a broken hip and various other minor ailments sustained at Johor Barhu, Malaysia

During 1994-1997 I raced professionally for the Colin Marshall Racing Team. Priority #1 was as the team’s number one rider, but I was also at the head of the development of the NSR250, NSR150, Nova110 and finally TZR250. We had our own dyno and when the bikes weren’t being raced, they were on the dyno trying the latest modifications.

In the majority of races, our NSR250 and 150 were faster than the HRC supported bikes of AP Honda, which caused much chin scratching. We had to finally give up the info on the 150 engine details as we had full Honda support and the bike was theirs, even though we had full control of development. That was a crying shame as their bikes improved after they “borrowed” my engine. The NSR250 however didn’t have full support so we were able to hide the engine mods 😉

Mechanic at HARC pro

1998/9: After a disastrous end to the 1997 season that ended with surgery to piece together a smashed pelvis after a big crash in Malaysia, I went to work with the highly regarded Harc-Pro Racing Team in Tokyo, Japan, as a full time technician for their Honda RS125 NX4 machines and Chief Technician/test rider for their VTR1000 Firestorm project.

Harc-Pro work at the sharp end of HRC development, so it was a great learning experience. It was also an honour to wield the spanners for Hiroshi Aoyama in the 1999 All Japan 125cc Championship. Hiro was just a young lad then, but went on to become the last 250cc 2 stroke World Champion, on a Honda of course. Other racing such as Super Motards and track days.

2000: Chief Mechanic/test rider for Colin Marshall Castrol Racing Team in Asia Road Racing 600cc Championship. Preparing/developing Yamaha R6
All Thailand 400cc Champion. Kawasaki ZXR400.

2000: On the grid in Pole Position. All Thailand 400cc Championship. Kawasaki ZXR400. With Charlie, my brolly dolly.

Thailand Open Supermoto Champion. Honda CR250 / CR500

Competed in World Endurance Championship – Zhuhai, China. Ducati 999. Team Ducati Hong Kong

Wins in the Malaysian Superbike Championship. Team One Performance, Singapore.
3rd position in Malaysian Superbike race, Johor Bahru, riding Honda NSR250 F3, Team One Performance, Singapore.
3rd position in Thai Superbike race, Bira Circuit, riding Honda RS250 NX5, Team TYGA.

Testing at Ohlins. TYGA & Sponsoring (SAG moto2/AP Honda/Private Teams & Riders)

Ohlins test rider since 2013. First development program was Honda MSX125 GROM. Since then I have helped to develop many front and rear suspension solutions, including the Kawasaki Ninja 400 rear shock, as used by the first ever female World Champion Ana Carrasco in the World SSP300 class.