After a problematical few days, conditions were finally perfect for practice at the 2015 Isle of Man TT Races, fuelled by Monster Energy, with blue sky and sun all across the Island.

At 6.22pm, the solo session got underway with Michael Rutter and Dan Kneen first to leave the line with both, like the majority of the front runners, eager to put in as many laps as possible on their Superbike machines.

Guy Martin, James Hillier, Bruce Anstey, Gary Johnson, Ian Hutchinson, Ivan Lintin, Ryan Farquhar, Keith Amor and Cameron Donald followed in quick succession with Lintin the exception to the norm on his Supersport mount.

Martin was first to complete a lap at 127.277 but Hutchinson was quickest at 127.967. Johnson was the only other rider over 127mph but Anstey, Hillier and John McGuinness were all over 126mph with Conor Cummins and Rutter both over 125mph.

The two Dunlops both pitted with Donald switching to his Supersport machine but the majority of riders went straight through and it was Anstey who posted the best lap at 128.641 as he overhauled Hutchinson on the road, the latter lapping at 128mph also.

McGuinness got closest to Anstey's lap though with a speed of 128.596mph with Rutter and Cummins also impressing with 127mph+ laps. Meanwhile, Jamie Hamilton, David Johnson and Lee Johnston were all over 125mph. Last year's Junior Manx Grand Prix winner Andy Lawson was also going well with a 122mph+ lap.

The majority of the riders switched machines for their third laps and Anstey went to the top of the Supersport leaderboard with a lap of 123.388mph ahead of Ivan Lintin (121.39) and Russ Mountford (121.15). Hutchinson continued on his Superbike though and recorded another 127mph+ lap but Michael Dunlop's second lap was only 124.519mph and he then encountered trouble with his Superstock mount, stopping at Greeba Castle.

The Northern Irishman did get back out on his 600cc Yamaha as did many of the other riders and Anstey went quicker at 125.218 with Martin and Gary Johnson slotting into second and third at 123.082 and 121.678 respectively. Indeed, many got five laps in as they took full advantage of the good conditions.

After a delay due to a serious incident at Sulby Crossroads towards the end of the qualifying session in which French rider Franck Petricola lost his life, the F2 Sidecars got their first session underway at 8.11pm.

They were led away in numerical order by Dave Molyneux/Ben Binns, Conrad Harrison/Mike Aylott, Ben and Tom Birchall, Tim Reeves/Patrick Farrance and John Holden/Dan Sayle.

Molyneux was the first across the line at 109.888mph but Holden was right in his wheel tracks and comfortably quickest at 112.781mph. The Birchalls were third at 109.221mph but Harrison struck problems and only managed a speed of 99.612mph whilst Reeves failed to complete the lap.

Molyneux improved second time around to 110.44 with Birchall also over 110mph. Newcomer Peter Founds also posted an impressive lap at 100.96.

Following an incident during the sidecar session at Ballaspur, driver Brian Kelly was taken by airmed to Nobles hospital but was reported to be conscious and was confirmed to be OK following assessment while newcomers Terry O'Relly/Aidan Browne were also reported OK after hitting bales at Governors Dip.

James Hillier has a busy TT ahead of him with entries in all bar two classes. Now the 30 year old Quattro Plant Kawasaki rider has added a lap of the historic course on the new supercharged Ninja H2R to his TT agenda on June 10.

Already one of very few riders to circulate the 37 ¾ mountain course at over 130mph average, Hillier has been invited by Kawasaki Motors UK and the TT festival organisers to ride the 300 plus horsepower machine as part of a Monster Energy parade lap that will also include WSBK riders including Jonathan Rea and Tom Sykes who will be mounted on race replica Ninja ZX-10R machines.

The exclusive Ninja H2R is one of a very limited production run by Kawasaki that has been created using the company's unique aerospace and gas turbine technology as well as the enthusiasm of the motorcycle division.

With Supercharged competition motorcycles a long distant memory in TT racing circles, the raucously loud and visually intimidating Ninja H2R is yet another "must see" feature of the 2015 festival.

"I've seen the road going Ninja H2 at Bournemouth Kawasaki where the Quattro Plant team is based but this is something else altogether," said Hillier, who was trusted to transport the machine to the TT paddock. "I can't wait to hear the sound echo around the first part of the course and then let it rip up the mountain mile - it's going to be a mega experience!"

Manx National Heritage and the National Motorcycle Museum in Birmingham have reunited the two bikes that participated in what is widely recognised as the greatest TT race of all time.

Carl Fogarty's Loctite Yamaha 0W01, owned by Manx National Heritage, and the National Motorcycle Museum's ex-works Norton NRS588 that Steve Hislop raced in the 1992 Senior TT will feature in a unique display, supported by the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company, at the Manx Museum in Douglas from Saturday 23rd May to Sunday 14th June.

The race, which was voted the Greatest TT Race of all time in a poll by Isle of Man Post Office, saw Hislop swap the lead with Fogarty throughout the six-lap race before the Scot eventually won by just 4.4 seconds. Fogarty had the consolation of setting the outright lap record at 122.61mph, while Hislop set a race record of 121.8mph.

The display forms part of a programme of Manx National Heritage events and exhibitions aimed at visitors and local residents during this year's TT. Other activities include talks and a film by Mike Hailwood's son Dave, a screening of short film 'No Ordinary Passenger' including a question and answer session with 90-year-old ex-sidecar World Champion Stan Dibben and an exhibition featuring Ulster's TT Heroes at the House of Manannan in Peel.

Manx National Heritage has also produced a TT collectors pin badge, which retails at £10 and gives free admission to all Manx National Heritage sites throughout both the TT Races and Isle of Man Festival of Motorcycling.

Ian Hutchinson has secured a late deal to ride a Yamaha for British championship outfit Team Traction Control in the Supersport class at the 2015 Isle of Man TT Races fuelled by Monster Energy.

Hutchinson had been due to compete for Tsingtao Racing on an MV Agusta, but the team has opted to skip the event to 'continue development after this year's TT for next year'.

The Bingley racer - who famously won five races in a week in 2010, is among the top contenders in the Superbike and Superstock races on Paul Bird's Kawasaki and Hutchinson will now also fancy his chances of mixing it up at the front on the TCC Yamaha R6 in Keith Flint's team.

"It is a privilege to be working with Keith Flint and the team and I know how much they love their racing," said the eight-time TT winner. I have worked with Grant [Bunting] from TTC before so to be able to have this opportunity to work with them is just what I need. I am looking forward to it and as I haven't ridden the TTC bike before we need to have a good practice week and get a feel for it, but I know the team have the ability from what they have done this season and in the past," he added. "We just need to get our heads down and then hopefully my confidence that I have had this year from Superbike and Superstock can cross over into Supersport too. I want to go out and have a good go at it that's for sure." 

The Prodigys Keith Flint is team principal for Team Traction Control

www.iomtt.com

A VERY GENEROUS RACE AND TWO POINTS (14th PLACE) AT THE FINISH FOR BAUTISTA. MELANDRI FINISHES 18th. THE SEAMLESS GEARBOX PERFORMS WELL IN THE RACE.

Mugello Circuit (Italy), 31 May 2015 – For the Mugello MotoGP round Alvaro Bautista put all of his generosity on the track and brought home a 14th place finish which is his best performance in this initial phase of the season to earn another two championship points for himself and for the Aprilia Racing Team Gresini. Marco Melandri had a more difficult race, finishing 18th.

Just like when the RS-GP made its début at the beginning of this season, Alvaro expressed himself more skilfully in the race than in practice, significantly improving his position. One of the most awaited changes and innovations brought to the race this weekend was the début of the continuous shifting seamless gearbox which finished the race without any problems for both riders. This is another important milestone in the growth process for the Italian manufacturer's project.


ROMANO ALBESIANO (Aprilia Racing Manager)
“First of all I think the fact that we introduced some new important technology like the seamless gearbox is very positive, as well as the fact that both bikes finished the weekend without any problems whatsoever, both during practice and in the race. This marks and important step forward in our development schedule of the technology we need to compete in MotoGP. As always Bautista raced very professionally and skilfully. Now we need to help him improve his performance so he can increase his race pace.”

FAUSTO GRESINI (Team Manager)
“Today with Alvaro we collected two points that we can certainly consider useful for morale. Now let's just say that we need to work to earn them... with more overtaking. This weekend we brought a lot of technical changes to the track and we are pleased. There is still a lot of work left to be done but that certainly doesn't frighten us. We are doing our best to be more competitive and we will continue to do so enthusiastically.”

ALVARO BAUTISTA
“Throughout the weekend we worked on improving the situation going in and coming out of turns, also taking a few small steps forward. To be honest I expected to lap a half a second faster, but the conditions slowed me down a bit, probably because of the track that had changed, with less grip on the tarmac compared to the practice sessions. So I tried to maintain the most consistent pace possible and in the end we made our best placing of the season, right here in the team's Home Grand Prix. I'm pleased even if it is clear that there is still much work to be done. In any case I would like to thank the entire team, Aprilia, our sponsors and also all the fans that came out to support us and now we'll be trying to take some steps forward for the next round in Barcelona.”

MARCO MELANDRI
“It wasn't easy to ride because I continued to have various setup problems so I had a difficult race. Aprilia made a big effort bringing various technical innovations here, including the seamless gearbox that works well, but now I need some chassis changes that can help me.”