Oxford Products and Celeres Racing are proud to announce that James Hillier will be campaigning their Ducati 888 in the Motorsport Merchandise Superbike Classic TT Race at this year’s Classic TT presented by Bennetts meeting on the Isle of Man.

Fresh from another successful TT campaign, where he secured a 2nd and two 4th places on the 37.73 mile Mountain Circuit, Hillier remains the 5th fastest rider in TT history. He will be riding the Celeres Racing Ducati 888 that celebrates the 25th anniversary of Oxford’s last TT campaign. To fully authenticate this replica the bike, with the support of Oxford Products, has been painted in classic 1992/3 Oxford livery, as used by Trevor Nation, Robert Dunlop and Mark Farmer.

The Ducati 888 was built last year by Stafford Evans of Celeres Racing to compete in the 2016 Superbike F1 Classic TT race. Wearing Ducati red, Dave Hewson rode the bike to 11th place, with a best lap of 115.769mph.  Modifications were made to an original 1991 road frame and an abundance of carbon fibre parts were fitted to replicate the original machine. 

Hillier will run race number 5 in 2017, the same number as Trevor Nation did 25 years ago and he will also wear replica leathers for the event. He was upbeat about his prospects.

‘I have a real ambition to win the Superbike race of course, but I will also make every effort to be the fastest man around the Island on a Ducati 888.’

Team owner Stafford Evans was equally optimistic.

‘It’s a real honour to be able to replicate the Oxford team of 25 years ago. I actually think that with this bike and with James at the ‘bars, we have a real shot at bringing home the top prize. I am very excited.’

Hillier is no stranger to the TT course having visited the rostrum several times. These include a Lightweight TT win in 2013 and a 2nd place in the F1 Classic TT in 2014.  

... will be guest of honour at the 24^th Carole Nash Classic Mechanics Show over the weekend of October 14-15 at Staffordshire County Showground.

As fast and smooth on the track as he was flamboyant and controversial off it, and often sporting a multi-coloured Mohican haircut, Slight will have some entertaining tales to share with the Stafford audience. And with more than a decade racing in WSB, when the series was arguably at its peak for both factory Kawasaki and Castrol Honda teams, the friendly New Zealander will have plenty of great races to draw from.

The Classic Mechanics Show, the largest show of its kind in the world which majors on the later Japanese and European scene, promises the usual successful mix of almost 1000 trade and autojumble stalls, stunning club stands and private entries, Bonhams record-breaking auction, live entertainment in the Classic Dirt Bike area and Classic Racer Grand Prix Paddock, and the live Restoration Theatre.

Ticket prices are a bargain £12 for adults, £11 for seniors or £3 for under-12s if bought in advance. Parking is free.

www.staffordclassicbikeshows.com/october 

Allied Memorial Remembrance Ride (AMRR)
The National Tramway Museum 'Classic Motorcycle Day'
Hogroast North
Oydis - North West Bike Meet
Diamond Day – NCC London Custom Bike Show @ Ace Cafe
Haynes Breakfast Club
Milton Keynes Motorbike Show 2017
Berkshire Motor Show
Wacky Woods Weekender

See more details (and more events) on the main WHAT'S ON section for July

THE APRILIA RS-GP CONFIRMS GREAT POTENTIAL IN HOLLAND

ALEIX ESPARGARÓ IS BACK IN THE TOP TEN IN A RACE RUINED BY THE RAIN. CRASH FOR SAM LOWES

ALBESIANO: “WE HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TO STAY IN THE TOP FIVE”

Aleix Espargaró is back in the points, finishing tenth in the Assen GP. This is certainly a positive result that ends Aleix's streak of zero point finishes, but the Aprilia Racing Team Gresini Spaniard's race should have ended with a much different result.

Just after the mid-race point, the Espargaró-Aprilia package demonstrated its full potential. After a cautious start without forcing his pace too much, Aleix moved up from fifteenth to seventh, joining Crutchlow's group. An even more significant statistic is that during that part of the race (16th and 17th laps) he had lapped with the second best time and his gap behind the leader was less than seven seconds. In short, all the conditions were right for an excellent race finale, on the hunt for a top-five finish. Instead, raindrops began to fall and the altered grip conditions (Aleix had the hard tyre on the rear) ruined his pace completely. Aleix dropped back position by position to the end, in any case managing to defend a top-ten finish.

Notwithstanding, the Aprilia RS-GP confirmed once again in this race that a top-five finish is definitely within reach of a project which has made clear progress in terms of performance over recent months.
Sam Lowes, who had started from the fourth row for the first time thanks to outstanding qualifiers, crashed out in the ninth lap while lying fifteenth. There were no consequences for him and he can take comfort in a weekend where he demonstrated the biggest improvement of his rookie year in MotoGP.


ALEIX ESPARGARO'
"I cannot be entirely satisfied because our goal is still to be closer to the leaders. The race had started well. I managed the first part, successfully overtaking a lot of riders and maintaining a good pace. A few laps before the rain I had begun to visibly recover ground. The RS-GP was really working well and I was closing the gap quickly. Unfortunately, I did not have a good feeling on the damp track and I was unable to push. Today we demonstrated once again that we can be very competitive, but the weather got in the way."

SAM LOWES
"It was a difficult race for everyone. We had ridden on the dry track only on Friday and the track changed completely. I was in a good group. When Lorenzo overtook me I felt like I could stay with him and set my sights on a good position. I battled a bit with Baz. I was faster than him in some situations, but we overtook one another on practically every lap. I crashed as I was opening up the throttle. Maybe I was a bit too close to the white line, but this weekend I definitely took a step forward. I am pleased that there will be a race in a few days because we are on a positive trend."

ROMANO ALBESIANO - APRILIA RACING MANAGER
"Once again we expressed potential that is clearly worthy of the top-five which did not bear the deserved fruits due to a contingent situation. As long as the race proceeded in normal, dry track conditions, performance was very high. When it began to rain after the mid-race point, Aleix was just over six seconds from the leader. He had caught up to the group ahead of him without pushing too hard and he had a better pace than they did. Realistically, he could have aimed for the top-five. The level that Aprilia has achieved is a clear fact by now. We will keep going strong because if our potential is at these levels, we will soon be reaping the results.”

FAUSTO GRESINI - TEAM MANAGER
"With the dry track we rode a fantastic race. Aleix maintained a spectacular pace. He moved up through the ranks easily and was lapping with the same pace as the leaders. Those raindrops ruined the final result, but there are many reasons to be confident and even pleased to have finished the race in the top-ten anyway. These are points that boost morale after our recent DNFs. We draw confidence from the knowledge that we are close to the leaders in terms of performance and that is what we are taking away from this race.”

The Honda Endurance Racing team returned to the podium today aboard the all-new Honda Fireblade after finishing the 8 Hours of Slovakia Ring in third place.

With progress made throughout all practice and qualifying sessions the team and its riders, Freddy Foray, Julien Da Costa and Sébastien Gimbert, started the eight-hour race quietly confident. The Slovakia Ring is a new circuit added to the FIM EWC calendar and is one that seems to have suited both riders and the 2017 Fireblade.

The race got underway at 1330 local time and it was Foray who started for the Honda squad. With a good start off the line, Foray was within the top-five by the end of the first lap. However, a small mistake in the opening stages saw him drop to 21st place and the battle to get back into the lead group started.

Honda’s endurance specialists pushed on at the 5.922km circuit and teamed with fast pit stops from the super-slick Honda crew, it wasn’t long until Honda Endurance Racing broke back into the top-ten.

By the third pit stop as Gimbert took over from Da Costa, the team were running fourth and all eyes turned to the new Fireblade on track. With consistent lap times and super-quick pit stops, the riders pushed through the extreme track temperatures, masterfully keeping the CBR within the podiums reach.

The closing stages of the 8 Hours of Slovakia Ring were a tense affair in the Honda garage, as on track they battled with SERT for second place. But after eight hours of racing, 222 laps spun and approximately 1.315km covered, the Honda Endurance Racing team crossed the line in third place, taking their first podium finish of the 2016-2017 FIM Endurance World Championship.

After today’s result the Honda Endurance Racing team is sitting 11th in the overall championship standings and will now prepare for the final round of the Endurance World Championship; the Suzuka 8 Hours, which takes place on 28-30 July.