Check out the latest MotoGP Championship 2017 news here

Sam Lowes is also satisfied, able to find the pace he had demonstrated during practice at Jerez. He and his team had some important confirmation today, with his best lap in 1'40.572 out of a total of 64 laps done.

ALEIX ESPARGARO'

“I am satisfied with this test. We tried a lot of things and I was able to be more competitive than I was in the race yesterday. We are working to better understand how the bike behaves in load transfers. In fact, the RS-GP is extremely stable in braking, but it suffers when I release the brake. The front tyre with the more rigid carcass provides benefits in this sector. I think it may be interesting to try it again. Overall, we took a step forward in terms of getting to know the bike and we have a lot of data to work on from now until the next race.”

SAM LOWES

“Today we worked mainly on understanding what happened yesterday. In fact, I started with the bike in identical conditions to the race, immediately improving my times. It is strange. It could be due both to the track conditions and to my lack of experience. The important thing was getting back to lapping at the times I was doing during practice. I also tested a new swingarm that should increase stability, but I think it may work better on tracks with more grip. Both the new front tyre that Michelin brought and the downforce fairing gave positive signals. They are not massive differences, but in any case it is a tangible contribution to my feeling with the RS-GP. Honestly I think this has been the best test for me so far”.

Check out the latest MotoGP Championship 2017 news here

Five former race winners are in the line up for this year’s two Sure Sidecar TT Races, at the 2017 Isle of Man TT Races fuelled by Monster Energy, with no less than 25 victories between them.

Almost fifty entries have been accepted for the two three lap races with the first on the opening day – Saturday 3rd June and the second forming part of the ‘Championship Day’ on the final day of the meeting – Friday 9th June.

The competitive field includes thirteen crews have already lapped the Mountain Course at more than 110mph and the strength in depth extends through the field. Only ten drivers are seeded but the top thirty have all lapped at more than 106mph.

Like the solo seeds, there’s change in the sidecar ranks as Ben and Tom Birchall take the number one plate for the first time. With four wins in total, and three in the last two years, as well as being the current outright lap record holders, the Nottinghamshire brothers are the crew to beat and will be confident that they can add to their tally of wins.

Setting off ten seconds behind them are the most successful driver and passenger in TT history – Dave Molyneux and Dan Sayle. With seventeen and eight wins respectively, the Manx duo have an unbelievable record but the last few years have been marked by a dip in their fortunes and they will be hoping a switch to Yamaha will elevate them back to the top step of the podium.

John Holden, last year’s winner, is at number three. The Silicone Engineering-backed driver took his second individual win in the opening race of 2016. With 15 podiums to his name, the Blackburn driver has made a change to his wing man with local passenger Lee Cain joining him in a formidable looking combination.

Conrad Harrison, another race winner, is at number four.  The Bradford driver took victory in the opening race of 2014 but has had a year to forget in 2016 and failed to start a race for the first time in his TT career. Having recruited Holden’s former race winning passenger Andy Winkle, he is likely to be challenging for honours again.

The same applies to five times World Champion Tim Reeves who takes the number five plate this time around on the Klaffi Racing Honda. His sole victory came in 2013 and although he has a rookie passenger, to the TT at least, in Mark Wilkes, he’ll be looking to build up his challenge during race week and in contention come race day.

Last year’s sensation, Cheshire’s Peter Founds, who took second place in the opening race in just his second year of competing as a driver at the TT, starts ten seconds behind them. Passenger Jevan Walmsley had a dream debut and having already lapped at close to 113mph, the duo will be hoping to make even greater strides in 2017.

Peter’s brother Alan was also on the podium last year, finishing third in the same race and he takes the number seven plate. He also has a new passenger in the shape of Jake Lowther who last competed at the TT with his brother John in 2015, the duo lapping at close to 109mph.

Next up at number eight is another local driver, Karl Bennett. He had his best ever TT result 12 months ago when he took fourth in the second race and also broke the 112mph barrier for the first time. He too has a new passenger on board and, having partnered with Cain since 2010, he’s now recruited Frenchman Maxime Vasseur.

The father and son pairing of Steve and Matty Ramsden are at number nine and deservedly become a seeded pairing after two great drives in 2016 saw them claim fourth and sixth place finishes while at number 10 Gary Knight is the last of the seeds. The former European Champion lines up with Daniel Evanson again after they finished eighth and twelfth in 2016.

The rest of the field will confirm their starting positions during qualifying week including Tony Baker/Fiona Baker-Milligan, Wayne Lockey/Mark Sayers, Michael Grabmuller/Manfred Wechselberger, Mike Roscher/Ben Hughes and the returning Rob Handcock/Ken Edwards and Allan Schofield/Steve Thomas who will all be looking to secure low start numbers for the two Sure Sidecar TT Races.

...And over a 47-year working life, Brits will spend over a year of their lives commuting to and from work, with 68 per cent driving, 11 per cent taking the train, and eight percent making their journeys on two wheels.

The study of 2,000 commuters in the UK also found that out of the lifetime cost of commuting, over a third is on snacks and takeaway coffees in the morning.

Andy Goodson, the Sales and Marketing Director for motorcycle insurance specialists Lexham Insurance, who commissioned the research, said: “While many commuters think their journeys to and from work are barely worth considering, the amount of time we spend on them shows we should give them a bit more thought.

“With an average commute time of almost an hour a day, for many Brits this is wasted time as they’re stuck behind the wheel in traffic. Some of the happiest respondents in our survey were ones who were able to walk to work – giving themselves the shortest commute possible.”

Brits commute on average of seven miles to work and back each day, which tallies up to an incredible 171, 080 miles over their working life – enough to circle the globe more than six times each.

Taking a car to work was voted as the most stressful way to get to work, followed by the bus, the train and Metro or Underground systems.

And taking a motorbike was one of the lowest scoring in terms of stress, alongside walking and riding a bicycle.

Nearly half of respondents admitted to being late at least once a week, arriving an average of 10 minutes behind schedule each time.

The most common cause was bad traffic, followed by a lack of sleep leading to too many taps of the snooze button.

Sixty two per cent of commuters said that if their trip to work is particularly stressful or annoying, it makes the rest of their day worse.

And an unlucky 30 per cent of train travellers have had their face stuck up next to someone’s stinky armpit more than once.

Over the course of their working life, the average commuter will read 67 books, 2248 newspapers and listen to 3617 albums.

They’ll also send 1710 work emails, munch down 977 bananas and play 2077 games on their phones.

Andy Goodson said: “One of the best ways to make your commute happier is to cut down how long it is. Motorbikes and scooters are a convenient way to bring down your commuting time, as they can beat traffic so easily. Nobody wants to have their day made any more stressful than it needs to be – and sitting in traffic, other commuters’ personal hygiene and constantly late trains definitely don’t help.”

A LIFETIME OF COMMUTING IN NUMBERS

Distance travelled: 171,080 miles
Amount spent: £48,708.92
Time spent: 10,998 hours
Days late to work: 1906
Newspapers read: 2248
Coffees bought: 1759
Games played on phone: 2077
Social events planned: 1710
Albums listened to: 3617
Bananas eaten: 977

The study was commisioned by Lexham Insurance.

– Ongoing success sees the Honda TT Revolution return to the Isle of Man for the fourth year
– Honda partners with Mixmag for this year’s event
– Closing party at the Isle of Man TT to round off seven days of breathtaking racing action

Now in its fourth year, the Honda TT Revolution is fast becoming the must see event at the Isle of Man. Held at the culmination of an unforgettable week of motorcycle racing, the TT Revolution celebrates the Isle of Man TT with an epic closing party that is attended by fans, racers and celebrities alike.

For the 2017 edition of Honda TT Revolution, Honda Motor Europe joins forces with Mixmag – the world’s biggest dance music media brand – to bring the BBC’s Reggie Yates to the island, who will headline the event after the Senior TT on Friday 9th June.

“I’m really excited to head over to the Isle of Man TT races”, explained Reggie Yates, ahead of this year’s event. “It’s an event that has grown year-on-year and I am excited to be a part of it. I’m looking forward to seeing some of the racing too, I have watched some onboard videos from the Honda Racing team and it looks insane! I can’t wait to get over there and experience the Honda TT Revolution for myself and be a part of it”.

Since its launch in 2014, the Honda TT Revolution has grown year-on-year taking the crown as the TT closing party and the place to be on the island. With tickets selling fast each year, the event has always been sold-out with partygoers keen to see their TT experience off in style.

The Honda TT Revolution closing party will take place at Tahiko, Douglas on Friday 9 June. A limited number of tickets will be on-sale through Resident Advisor on Friday 12 May, with further tickets available on the door at Tahiko, priced at £5 per person.

Join Honda on the #HondaTTRev journey!

Twitter: @HondaRacingCBR
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www.mixmag.net

www.reggieyates.com