ALEX OLSEN

17 Years of Sponsorship and Partnership History between 2006 – 2023

Burnell Switchgear & Control have known Alex Olsen since he was a young and spritely teenager of 14 years old, fuelled with a passion for fast motorbikes at an early age in accompanying his Mum and Dad to all of the races, they never missed one! The same would be said of Danny Buchan, world champion racer and instructor Ron Haslam and Scott Redding, always in attendance with family as youngsters and actively supported by their families in their climb and rise to racing fame and glory.

At home, Alex’s father Andy Olsen always had a bike project on the go and loved nothing more than making exhausts and tinkering with bikes and parts from the 70’s. It is fair to be said Alex Olsen’s upbringing was positively influenced by a mechanical and engineering background, leading to Alex becoming a hard-working, fully qualified electrician by trade, and one of the finest young talents on the circuit.

Through continuity of common interest, passion, understanding, support, community and constant meets, motorbike racing is a family orientated sport and a club that delivers a sense of belonging.

Our affiliation with Alex Olsen’s racing career began in 2009 when colleague Richard Cunningham was asked to help out with the Triumph Triple Challenge. Both Alex Olsen and Tommy Dale had demonstrated signs of promise and were itching for the opportunity to break through and challenge all in the Daytona 675s class; this being a series where everyone competes on race prepared bikes of the same specification to promote close and exciting racing. In 2010 the Triumph Triple Challenge increased its association with BSB with five out of nine rounds of the unique and challenging series being hosted on the national stage – This created the perfect setting for ambitious riders to place their talents, skills and abilities under the spotlight. From the go Alex Olsen was up front and one of the leaders of the pack. Between 2010 and 2012 Alex went on to partner with Derek Saunders and James Jackson and won many races in conjunction with the Haribo Starmix team and Triumph bikes. As seen online, following a race win and a fastest lap by Alex Olsen in the British Superstock 600 in 2012, Alex Olsen’s Triumph 675R respectfully went on to retire, selling for £6,000 in 2016.

Unfortunately 2013 was a quiet year off the track and out of the public eye for Alex due to a shortfall in funding. Given Alex’s need for speed and the sheer determination deeply embedded in his DNA, Alex utilised 2013 to embark upon some Enduro training to enhance his riding in damp conditions.

2014 was a great year and an almighty comeback, supported by John Blake and Richard Cunningham of Burnell Switchgear & Control, Kevin Hann of 33kV Ltd, and a rekindling between Alex Olsen and a Triumph 675R built to championship specification by T3 Racing. It was a year of innovation with Burnell steaming ahead with solar farm installations, with John, Richard and Kevin collaborating to form Power Projects Racing Ltd and BSB race engineer Pete Clifford taking his first FaceTime call from Richard and Alex! Having been a friend to Richard since 2007 and a friend to Alex since 2013, they facetimed Pete to bring him up to speed with all of their new developments on and off the track – Described as a lovely fella by Richard, this wonderful relationship has been shaped from having a mutual respect for each other and understanding how hard the sport can be at times. In the main, through caring and sharing the highs, lows, doldrums and accolades of winning.

In 2014 Alex competed in the National Endurance Championship and came third. The suspension on the bike was changed to suit and Alex retained second position for the majority of time, but it wasn’t his championship to win, it was a championship where Alex Olsen yet again proved his rider skills.

Testing was held in Spain and Alex loved the bike and was fast from the off. The dynamics were tweaked and the geometry of the bike was changed by lengthening and shortening the chassis by moving the wheels in. For the fast track, the longer chassis was stable and for the bendy and twisty track a shorter chassis responded best. A British firm called K-Tec advanced the suspension for Alex’s bike in 2014 and they extended their support with sponsorship in 2015.

The start of that year was a wet meeting at Brands Hatch and Alex came fourth in a two class race. It was full on super sport the whole year through with the bike being developed at every round. Alex challenged all of the 60k Supersport bikes with his 20k Supersport bike and went on to be crowned the first ever British Supersport EVO Champion, winning his class by a country mile, with three rounds remaining. Every weekend was like a party and everyone was having fun. Alex retained his fantastic focus throughout, making sure he had plenty of sleep between meetings.

Newly crowned EVO Champion Alex Olsen said: “What a mega weekend! When we came here we weren’t really in a position to wrap the title up and I was expecting to do it at Assen, but to do it here is incredible! I started my career with T3 in the Triumph Triple Challenge so to be back with the guys and to win the first ever EVO Championship with so many wins and podiums has just been amazing; I can’t thank them all enough! The pressure’s off now for the next few rounds so I can relax and push to see just how far up the pack we can get the EVO machine.”

In 2015 five weeks were spent in Spain testing dirt bikes, with Peter Clifford from Actiforce Action on hand to provide great advice on what improvements could be made. Having been involved in motorcycle racing for 35 years, with twenty of these years attributed to British superbikes, Pete’s experience and advice was truly valuable and appreciated. Richard was in charge of the porridge and Alex the pasta and much to everyone’s amusement, they both became known as PP from Power Projects. It was a dream team at work and a close knit community pitching for prime.

This was also the year Power Projects Racing Ltd formed an alliance with Shaun Rose and the Moto-Breakers Racing team, complete with a 8m x 6m bike, mechanics, and refreshment area for sponsors to come along and be involved with the events. In March 2015 Jimmy Rose and Alex competed in the three hour National 1000 Endurance and gained a very respectable place. Very respectable because a chain snap forced Jimmy back to the pits. The mechanics worked wonders with their quick fix and Alex and Tom resumed the race, clawed back places, passed the leaders and eventually took the flag three laps ahead of 2nd place!  Alex stepped up to compete in the Pirelli Superstock 1000 and continued with his winning formula, gaining a podium third at Thruxton. The whole season was like camping with your best mates and it was the best it could be with motorbikes involved.

In 2016 the same great team was retained, but the wrong choice of bike was made. The bike was a new model of Kawasaki with new emissions and rules. The electronics were complicated and produced many fault codes; even Kawasaki would admit it was not the best specification for the Superstock racing machine. Engineers were continually having to break into the ECU and you needed to be an electronic professor to re-program it. During the first round the bike kept switching on and off and as this was incredibly dangerous, the decision was taken to sell the Kawasaki and buy a BMW. A new BMW marked the starting point for a new bike development. Alex did incredibly well to keep his cool whilst testing was being carried out at race meetings. Through circumstances beyond our control, the team were a little behind others in the tournament, which was somewhat trying and frustrating. In true spirit every challenge was met head on and Alex finished the National Superstock 1000 Championship in 8^th position.

In 2017 Burnell Switchgear & Control sponsored Alex Olsen to compete in the Pirelli National Superstock 1000 Championship. Alex signed to Buildbase Suzuki and finished in 11^th position.

In 2018 Burnell Switchgear & Control sponsored Alex Olsen to compete in the Pirelli National Superstock 1000 Championship. Alex signed to Astro JJR Racing, and made us all proud with seven podium finishes across the season, a double podium at Silverstone and 4^th position at showdown.

In 2019 Burnell Switchgear & Control sponsored Alex Olsen to compete in the Pirelli National Superstock 1000 Championship and Alex signed to IMR Racing. Equipped with a BMW S1000RR, Alex achieved the quickest speed and lap at Donington Park in March 2019 and 1st position at the pre-season test at Silverstone in April. Alex also delighted everyone with his seven podium finishes, which included a double podium on our home turf circuit, Brands Hatch. Alex did not finish the season due to a move to Smiths Racing for the showdown races at the British Superbike Championship. Alex Olsen was recorded as finishing 5^th in the Pirelli Superstock 1000 Championship. Had he remained in the category for the year, his position in the standings would have been higher.

Since competing in the Triumph Triple Challenge in 2009 and the National Superstock 600 Championship in 2010, Alex Olsen has firmly established himself as one of the finest young talents on the circuit, completely dominating the Evo series in 2014 with his eighteen podium finishes out of twenty-two races, and podium’s galore ever since. All has contributed to Alex Olsen’s rise to BSB.

In 2020 Burnell Switchgear & Control sponsored Alex Olsen to compete in the Bennetts British Superbikes Championship. Alex signed to leading BSB team Smiths Racing and made a solid start. Sadly Alex Olsen’s participation in the 2020 BSB Championship was brought to an abrupt halt at R3 Silverstone due to oil on the track that led to an accident involving six contenders. Alex made a remarkable recovery and returned to compete in the 2021 and 2022 Pirelli National Superstock Championship on behalf of FHO Racing. In 2021 and 2022 Alex achieved third place in the overall standings of the Pirelli National Superstock Championship, proving he has what it takes to win podium positions again and again.

Burnell is proud to be sponsoring Alex Olsen in the 2024 BSB Pathway Specification.

Click here to view Cumins by Team IWR owner Ian Woollacott, Alex Olsen and their 2024 machine