Team Winfield, one of the most successful Classic motorcycle racing teams on the planet, will once again take to the TT Mountain Course in 2017 having secured the considerable talents of Josh Brookes for the Classic TT Races presented by Bennetts.

The team will concentrate their efforts this year on the Bennetts Senior Classic TT Race with Australian ace Brookes campaigning the 500cc Paton that John McGuinness took to a record-breaking victory 12 months ago.

Roger Winfield’s outfit have been ever-present at the Classic TT since 2013, and the Classic Manx Grand Prix before that, and although McGuinness was out of luck in the early years of the Classic TT, he made up for that last year when he won the race and set a new lap record of 113.342mph as he came home over twenty seconds clear of Dean Harrison.

The 23-time Isle of Man TT had been due to ride Winfield’s rapid 500cc twin cylinder Paton again this year but having sustained leg injuries at the North West 200, the team were in need of a top quality replacement and they’ve got just that in 34-year old Brookes.

The former British Superbike Champion enjoyed a superb return to the 37.73-mile Mountain Course at this year’s TT as he lapped at close to 131mph on the SG6 Norton on his way to securing sixth place in the Pokerstars Senior Race. He took the same result in the Bennetts Lightweight Race, on Ryan Farquhar’s IEG/KMR Kawasaki. The Northern Irishman himself has a strong link to Team Winfield having taken numerous victories at the Manx Grand Prix on Winfield’s immaculately prepared machines.

Brookes will be getting his first taste of Classic TT action but there’s not doubt that the combination of his skill and talent and Winfield’s engineering expertise, is one to be feared They will come into this year’s event as one of the pre-race favourites. Indeed, the Sydney rider could well start favourite for his maiden Mountain Course race victory.

Team owner Roger Winfield commented:

“We were deeply saddened when John (McGuinness) was ruled out after his crash at the North West 200. Working with John has been a real highlight for our team over the past few years and after some terrible luck we showed what we are capable of last year when he won the race and moved the lap record on considerably. Hopefully he will continue to mend well and we look forward to be able to work with him again in the future.”

He continued:
 
“The task of replacing the most successful living TT rider has been a difficult one and we would have been forced to miss the event if we couldn’t find a rider of the very highest calibre to fill John’s boots so we were delighted when Josh Brookes agreed to join our team. While not as experienced on the Mountain Course as some of the riders in the field, there is no question about his skill level, and his results impressed everyone at this year’s TT after two years away. We will give Josh a great bike which hopefully he will get a lot of enjoyment out of riding, and we will see where we all end up after a week’s qualifying and four fast laps in the race itself.”

Josh Brookes added:

“It’s great to be riding the team Winfield Paton at the Classic TT. The team and the bike clearly have pedigree having won last year’s race and setting a new lap record. It’s going to be a steep learning curve for me with a type of bike I have no experience of riding, but I am looking forward to the challenge and will give it my all to give Roger and the team a good result.”
 
Classic TT Grandstand tickets are available now starting from as little at £5 with race day tickets priced at £20. VIP experiences, tickets for the Classic TT Party on Saturday 26thAugust the RST Classic TT Legends Dinner on Sunday 27th and the Classic TT Prize giving and Closing Party on Monday 28th August are all available to buy now at iomtt.com or our sales hotline on (00 44) (0) 1624 640011.

The 2017 Cheltenham Festival of Bikes is just a couple of months away. There will be a good selection of trade stalls and around 100 stunning customs, classics and modified specials in the Invitational Showcase.

If you have a shed built custom, modified / original classic, cafe racer, tracker or racer please send us a good photo and you could see your masterpiece on stage at the Cheltenham Festival.

The Festival of Bikes takes place inside the Main Hall at the Cheltenham Racecourse on Sunday 24th September 2017. Photo below from last year's Festival at Cheltenham.

If you are bringing a bike to display please email [email protected] with photos, you will need to ride in or van drop your bikes between 7am - 10.30 am on Sunday 24th Sept. The show opens at 11am.

Each bike owner on display will receive TWO free show passes for the day.

Go here for details

www.thebikerguide.co.uk/competitionsfomotorbikeevents.html

With the release of the Official Review on DVD, Blu-ray and Download fans can now enjoy the spectacular racing from the 2017 edition of the Isle of Man TT once more, this time from the comfort of their favourite armchair.

The review brings together the best moments from North One TV’s spectacular coverage to produce a comprehensive story of a fortnight of dramatic action.

Also included alongside the race action are the full post-race press conferences, showing riders’ adrenaline-soaked reactions to victory in the raw.

2017 saw a whole host of memorable feats, including that sensational 117+mph lap from the Birchall brothers, the first Superbike win at the TT for Suzuki since 2008 and a brilliant run of five podium finishes by Peter Hickman – not bad for a rider who’d had none before TT 2017!

All of this, and much, much more, is featured in the four-hour review, which was shot in HD throughout. There is full coverage of each of the sidecar and solo races.

The review is available on DVD (in US-friendly NTSC and European compliant PAL), on Blu-ray and as an HD download. All formats can be ordered through the official Isle of Man TT Shop at iomtt.com. Worldwide standard delivery is free.

2015 British Superbike Champion Josh Brookes has been confirmed to compete at the 2017 Classic TT presented by Bennetts.

Brookes, fresh from a highly successful campaign at the 2017 Isle of Man TT Races, will make his debut in the August event riding for Wiz Norton Racing.

The Australian ace will ride a 588cc Norton Rotary alongside the team’s regular rider Richard Wilson in the four-lap Motorsport Merchandise Superbike Classic TT Race.

Brookes has been testing the bike at the Donington Park, and the Norton produces approximately 120bhp and and is running an original specification from the era when the likes of Robert Dunlop, Trevor Nation and Ron Haslam all enjoyed success on the British-built machine.

Arguably the Norton’s finest moment, though, came in 1992 when Steve Hislop won the Senior TT after a race long duel with Carl Fogarty - the race voted the greatest ever by race fans in a 2011 survey to celebrate the 100^th anniversary of the Mountain Course. The Scot lapped at 123.50mph, the fastest ever lap by a rotary machine, and this is the lap time that Brookes and the Wiz Norton Racing team are aiming to beat.

Earlier this year, 34-year old Brookes made his return to the Mountain Course after a three-year gap and took four top twelve finishes, including sixth place on Ryan Farquhar’s IEG International/KMR Kawasaki in the Bennetts Lightweight Race.

His best performance came in the closing PokerStars Senior Race with another sixth placed finished sixth lapping at 130.883mph on the SG6 Norton to record not only his personal best lap but also the quickest ever by a Norton machine. This followed up the seventh place he had already recorded in the opening RST Superbike Race.

Wilson has competed on a similar Norton Rotary for Wiz Racing in the last three Superbike Classic TT Races finishing 21^st in 2014 and 19^th in 2016 despite a lengthy pitstop in the latter that dropped him down the order. His fastest lap came in last year’s race at 114.836mph.

Speaking about the news, Josh Brookes commented:

“I’ve always been interested in the Rotary Norton racers from the 1990’s and love the engineering ideas that went into this truly iconic motorcycle. I saw the Wiz Norton guys at an event and got talking to them about the project and one thing led to another and it wasn’t long before I was testing the bike. I’m really excited about making my Classic TT debut on such a fabulous motorcycle and getting some more time on the TT Mountain Course.”

Classic TT Grandstand tickets are available now starting from as little at £5 with race day tickets priced at £20. VIP experiences, tickets for the Classic TT Party on Saturday 26thAugust the RST Classic TT Legends Dinner on Sunday 27th and the Classic TT Prize giving and Closing Party on Monday 28th August are all available to buy now at iomtt.com or our sales hotline on (00 44) (0) 1624 640011.