Lee Johnston paid tribute to Bruce Anstey after winning a thrilling Dunlop Lightweight Classic TT Race – the second race of the 2018 Classic TT presented by Bennetts - after a titanic battle with Adam McClean.  The Northern Ireland rider replaced Anstey on the Padgetts Racing Honda on which the New Zealander won the corresponding race last year. 

“I’d like to thank Bruce for letting me ride the bike.  He’s a hero of mine and it’s an absolute privilege. I really enjoyed it,” he said in the winner’s enclosure after the race. “The team told to try and win at the slowest possible pace. Clive Padgett has made my childhood dream come true.”

Although Anstey was unable to defend his Dunlop Lightweight Classic TT title due to illness, the popular New Zealander did ride a demonstration lap on a Padgetts Racing RCV Honda ahead of the race to show that he was on the road to recovery.

Dan Cooper on the Turner Racing Yamaha was first away from the start line at Glencrutchery road but almost immediately was reported as a retirement at Crosby Crossroads.

Cooper was followed by Dean Harrison on the Laylaw Racing Yamaha, Adam McLean, who was the fastest qualifier with a time set on the opening night on the Binch Racing Yamaha and Ian Lougher, Harrison’s Laylaw Racing teammate.

McLean was first to Glen Helen, less than a second ahead of Lougher with Lee Johnston, who started from his traditional grid position of 13, riding the Padgetts Racing Honda, completing the top three a further five seconds back.  Harrison was less than a second behind Johnston with Sweeney holding fifth but already fifteen seconds behind the race leader.

Johnston turned around a three second deficit to Lougher at Ballaugh to move three seconds ahead of the Welshman by the Bungalow but at the front of the field McLean had established his own three second lead over Johnston.  

That remained the order at the end of the opening lap with McLean’s 116.329 giving him a four second lead from Johnston (115.915) with Lougher (115.589) third a further three seconds back. Harrison 113.371 and Sweeney (112.461) completed the top five at the end of the opening lap.

Johnston was on a charge and had cut McLean’s lead to less than a second at Glen Helen and had put ten seconds between him and Lougher in third with Harrison dropping back almost half a minute behind his teammate.  Johnston moved ahead of McLean by Ballaugh and extended the lead to three seconds at Ramsey with Lougher holding third and Harrison and Sweeney completing the top five.

Coming in to the pits at the end of the second lap, Johnston’s 117.463 gave him a 1.7s lead but McLean (116.870) made up a couple of seconds with a faster pit stop and the gap was reported to be only a tenth of a second at Glen Helen on the third lap.  Loughe experienced a lengthy pit stop which put him a minute behind the leaders but he was still eighteen seconds ahead of Harrison with Gary Vines moving into the top five after Sweeney ran out of fuel at Hillberry but Vines then retired in the pits leaving Joey Thompson on the John Chapman Racing Honda in fifth.

Johnston upped the pace after Glen Helen and his third lap of 111.870 – including the pit stop - to McLean’s 111.181 gave him a lead of almost ten seconds from the Northern Ireland rider. The Laylaw Racing pair maintained their third and fourth places with Thompson holding fifth.

Johnston duly held on to take the chequered flag with a last lap of 117.919, finishing almost thirty seconds ahead of McLean (115.902) with Lougher’s last lap of 117.439 clinching the final podium place.  Harrison was a minute and twenty seconds behind his teammate with Joey Thompson completing the top five.

Dan Sayle came off his bike at Ballaspur and was taken by airmed to Nobles Hospital where his condition was described as serious but stable with a reported head injury.

The well-known instability of the weather at Silverstone played a leading role in the MotoGP qualifiers. The FP4 session, which started on a dry track, ended early due to a series of crashes on asphalt that had been made treacherous by the rain. Even Aleix Espargaró was involved in an off-track excursion, managing to keep the bike upright and returning his Aprilia RS-GP to pit lane.

In qualifying, the English track was divided into two parts: one part was almost dry, in contrast to other sections with wet asphalt, forcing the riders to put on rain tyres. This was a choice that did not reward Aleix Espargaró, who only turned one flying lap in the final moments of the session and was relegated to the sixth row.

Scott Redding, always fast in these conditions, found a good pace and skilfully exploited his feeling on the wettest sections. His spot on the fifth row in fourteenth place and the forecast for rain tomorrow make him optimistic for a good race.

ALEIX ESPARGARO'
"The biggest problems, even in the wet, stem from the uneven asphalt. In FP4 I was among the first to go out with a rain tyre and at the end of the back straight it was impossible to brake because of the aquaplaning. I thought I was going to crash, but instead I managed to slow down enough in the gravel and stopping just short of the air fence. Unfortunately, Tito was hit by a bike while he was on the ground. First and foremost, I hope that his condition is not too serious. In qualifying, the soft tyre we started with was not the best choice. I boxed to go out with the second bike, but I only had time for one flying lap. I think that with a second lap, Q2 could have been within our potential. It will be important to make the right choice tomorrow, always putting safety first, because in the wet there are some very critical points."

SCOTT REDDING
"In qualifying, the wet tracked helped us, but the circuit was split into two parts. I was fast on the damp patches but lost a bit on the dry track. In these cases, tyre choice is always a compromise. At Silverstone, situations like today are the norm. I'd say that it is part of the charm of this race. Tomorrow I would prefer to race on a wet track, but in any case I'll do my best to give the fans a good show."

John McGuinness enjoyed a hugely popular return to racing on the Isle of Man after a two-year absence, winning the Bennetts Senior Classic TT Race on the Roger Winfield Paton, the opening race of the 2018 Isle of Man Classic TT Races presented by Bennetts.

Afterwards he revealed how special it was to return to winning ways on the Mountain Course.

“I never thought I’d be back in the winner’s enclosure here, but I’ve worked really hard and it feels very special.  The Paton was great – it never missed a beat. I so, so enjoyed that.  It’s an amazing feeling and we had no problems from the drop of the flag, but it was hard work.  It takes it out of you after all the barbecues and pies.”

McGuinness, starting at number 1, was first to Glen Helen and had established a commanding lead of eight seconds from Maria Costello riding the Team Beugger Paton at the first timing point with fellow Morecambe resident Alan Oversby completing the top three, ten seconds behind the race leader.

However, Oversby was reported as a retirement at Barregarrow and Jamie Coward, riding a Ted Woof Craven Manx Norton, moved into second place ahead of Costello at Ballaugh. While McGuinness was enjoying a comfortable lead at the front of the field, Costello was clawing back time on Coward with the superior power of the Paton telling over the Mountain section of the Course.

Bill Swallow, Ian Lougher (Union Mills), John Barton (Ballacraine), Davy Todd (Greeba Bridge) and Ollie Linsdell (Sulby Bridge) were all reported retirements on the opening lap but at the front of the field McGuiness powered to an opening lap of 110.510 which gave him a decisive lead of over 38 seconds. 

Coward (107.170) held second at the end of the opening lap while Costello (107.014), who did have the gap from Coward down to less than a second at Cronk Ny Mona, was a further 1.8 behind Coward at the end of the opening lap.  Chris Swallow on the Linsdell Enfield and Lee Johnston on the Davies Motorsport Honda were three and five seconds respectively behind the final podium place in fourth and fifth.

While McGuinness maintained a significant lead at the front of the field – 46 seconds by Glen Helen on the second lap – there was a ‘battle royal’ for the remaining podium places. Costello held second at Glen Helen but had dropped to fourth behind Coward and Lee Johnston at Ramsey, albeit only by half a second from the Northern Ireland rider.

John McGuinness second lap of 110.676mph put him well over a minute ahead of Coward (107.791) but only six seconds separated Coward, Johnston (108.189) and Costello (107.422).  Coward’s second lap gave him a lead of 2.3 seconds over Johnston with Costello almost four seconds behind the final podium place and Swallow (106.884) holding fifth a further ten seconds back.

Fans in the Grandstand seats could clearly hear Costello’s Paton misfiring as she went past the grandstand at the end of the second lap and she duly dropped time on her third lap. Lee Johnston was on a charge and had moved into second place by Glen Helen with Costello dropping to fifth, now almost five seconds behind Swallow.

McGuinness and Johnston came into the pits at the end of the third lap which saw Coward move back into second and Swallow into third, fourteen seconds ahead of Johnston at Glen Helen. Costello was also into the pits at the end of the third lap but retired, promoting Michael Russell on an Izzard Racing Norton into fifth place.

McGuinness duly clinched his second Bennetts Senior Classic TT win with a last lap of 105.409 and an overall race time of 109.258/ 1:22.52.747  which gave him a winning margin of over a minute from Coward (107.676/ 1:24.05.819)  Johnston’s four cylinders clearly had the advantage over Swallow’s single cylinder bike and the Northern Ireland rider made up a fourteen second deficit on the third placed man after his pit stop to take the final podium position by four seconds from Swallow in a time of 107.132/ 1:24.31.403.

Mick Moreton came off his Paton at Handleys but was unhurt on the opening lap of the race but was unhurt. 

A survey conducted by road safety charity IAM RoadSmart has found that its members are increasingly disillusioned with the state of the roads in the UK – and feel the Government is not doing nearly enough to tackle the problem.

The survey of more than 7,000 IAM RoadSmart members found that the majority think that our roads have become much worse in recent years, that there are many more potholes than ever before, and that they have to swerve to avoid potholes on every journey.
Some 47% - over 3,400 respondents – say they have experienced damage to their car, commercial vehicle, motorbike or bicycle or personal injury as a result of hitting a pothole.
Around 90% have spotted a deterioration of some level in the roads they use with just over 50% rating the state of their roads as ‘much worse’ in the past three years and 38% rating them ‘worse.’
Some 81% - close to 6,000 people – say they have noticed ‘many more’ potholes in the past three years, adding in the 13% who have seen ‘a few more,’ that gives a total of 94% who report more potholes.
Over 56% say they have to take avoiding action on every journey to dodge potholes, while 27% say they have to steer around a pothole every day.
While a third of IAM RoadSmart members are willing to consider new funding ideas to help improve our roads, half were against a 2p increase in fuel duty and most of those were strongly opposed.
Mike Quinton, Chief Executive Officer of IAM RoadSmart, said: “IAM RoadSmart is deeply concerned at the safety implications of drivers having to swerve to avoid potholes as well as the high level of damage and injuries revealed by our survey.
“We are looking to the authorities to work together to produce a long term and sustainable plan to reduce the backlog of road maintenance before yet another damaging winter sets things back even further.

“The figures from our survey are compelling and it is increasingly clear that those who use the roads on a daily basis are pretty much united on this one - enough time has now passed for a long term plan to be in place and for work to have started. As our survey has shown, this is now the motoring public’s number one priority.”

To download the full survey click here

The historic Silverstone circuit in England will host the 12th round of the 2018 MotoGP season. With its 5,891 metres, the English track is the longest one on the calendar and it has recently been completely resurfaced. This means that the teams and riders will begin their work with an assessment of the new surface in terms of grip and tyre wear. All with one eye on the weather forecast, which is always a point of concern when on the other side of the English Channel.

Aprilia Racing Team Gresini heads to Silverstone after a profitable day of private testing in Misano, where some engine and chassis upgrades were tested which will be useful in the rest of the season.

ALEIX ESPARGARO'
"The Misano test was fundamental for our season and for the future of the project. I suffered last year at Silverstone. I had just come from a very painful injury that compromised the entire weekend. This year I am at 100% and I really want to do well. I hope that the new asphalt solved some of the problems with the bumps on the track and that the weather will be stable."

SCOTT REDDING
"The home race always has a special flavour. The warmth of the fans and the location are something quite unique. Last year I rode a good race here. We'll have to assess the new asphalt to see about grip and aggressiveness on the tyres. We need to work with precision, session after session, in order to be as ready as possible for the race. We are coming from a good test in Misano which has boosted our confidence."