The 27 year old from Sittingbourne in Kent rode the machine at the recent Cadwell Park test and will make his race debut at the forthcoming Oulton Park round over the weekend of 6/8 September.

Olsen has been a leading light in the Pirelli Superstock 1000 National Championship in recent years including winning at Silverstone earlier this season aboard a BMW, and now joins 32-year-old Hickman from Waddington in Lincolnshire for Alan and Rebecca Smith’s team.

Alex Olsen:  “I’m delighted to be joining the Smiths BMW team for the remainder of the 2019 season and would like to thank Alan and Rebecca Smith for the opportunity. I enjoyed a good test at Cadwell Park last week so can’t wait for the three races at Oulton Park.  I’d like to thank my sponsors for their help and am really looking forward to it.”

Rebecca Smith, Team Manager: “We are delighted to welcome Alex into the team alongside Peter and to restore our two-rider dynamic for the remaining BSB rounds. We believe Alex has the makings of a great Superbike rider which he has been demonstrating with his performances aboard a BMW in the Superstock 1000 class. I’m sure he’ll give a good account of himself for the rest of the season.”