Highly promising Northern Ireland road racer Gareth Keys will make his debut at the 2015 Isle of Man TT Races fuelled by Monster Energy.

The 24-year old will contest the Monster Energy Supersport and Bike Nation Lightweight Races for the B&W Racing team, riding Honda and Kawasaki machinery respectively.

Having spent his formative years on the national short circuit scene the Lisburn resident, nephew of former TT regular Trevor Keys, has enjoyed a considerable rise through the road racing ranks in the last two seasons. Highlights include strong results at the Ulster Grand Prix, where he won the 250cc category on his debut in 2013, the North West 200 and Oliver's Mount, Scarborough, where he took a race victory in 2014.

In addition to the famous 250cc win at Dundrod in 2013, he also scored a notable ninth place finish in that year's Superstock Race, lapping the high speed 7.4-mile circuit at over 123mph during the Superbike race on the ex-Keith Amor BMW. He followed that up last year with a solid 15th in the Supersport Race.

His North West 200 debut in 2014 saw him take tenth place in the Supertwin Race and he put in consistent performances throughout the season at Oliver's Mount including a first place in the Cock o' the North Superbike B final. He also took a pair of top ten finishes in the Superbike Races at the corresponding meeting.

Keys took first and second places in the Cookstown 100 Superbike B Races in his native Northern Ireland with top six finishes in the Lightweight class at the Bush and Armoy Road Races.

B&W Racing, run by Brain Hull, has considerable experience at the TT and the other International road races having worked with Scottish ace Keith Amor for a number of seasons, helping him to numerous race wins and podiums.

Speaking about his forthcoming TT debut, Gareth said:

"I am really excited about racing in the TT in 2015. It is the culmination of a long held dream and I am putting everything I have into making sure when I get to the event I am as well prepared as I can possibly be. I'm watching the on board laps constantly, playing the Playstation game and have made a number of trips across to the Island to try and increase my circuit knowledge. I am very grateful for the support I have had from the TT organisers with regards to my preparation and all of my sponsors who are putting so much into my TT effort."

Japanese based Team Mugen (M-TEC Co., Ltd., Shin NAGAOSA, President) has confirmed that it will make a dual assault on the electric bike class at the 2015 Isle of Man TT Races fuelled by Monster Energy.

Mugen has confirmed that their team will again be represented in the SES TT Zero Race by twenty-one time TT Race winner John McGuinness and outright lap record holder, New Zealand's Bruce Anstey, who set the fastest ever lap around the Mountain Course, 132.298 mph (00:17:06.682), in last year's Superbike Race.

Three qualifying sessions have been confirmed for this year's SES TT Zero Race on Friday 5th, Saturday 6th and Monday 8th June with race day on Wednesday 10th June.

Team Mugen will participate with a machine named 'SHINDEN YON', which means "God of Electricity, number 4". The machine has been newly developed to improve on last year's 'Shinden San' model. 'SHINDEN YON' will be exhibited at the 2015 Tokyo Motorcycle Show, which will be held at Tokyo Big Sight in March, 2015.

The team made their TT debut in 2012, achieving a prestigious 104mph average lap speed in their debut season and at last year's meeting John McGuinness raised the outright lap record for the Zero class to 117.336mph, (19:17.3) becoming the first rider to break 20 minutes for an electric bike with his team-mate Bruce Anstey following him home in 115.048. To date the pair are the only riders to have lapped the course in a time of under 20 minutes.

Akihiro Miyata, Mugen's team Director, commented:

"The challenge of participating in the Isle of Man TT electric motorcycle races, which is a new discipline to us and completely different from our core strengths as a manufacturer and developer of high-speed internal combustion engines, started in 2012 as our unique project to foster young engineers and conduct developments in a new area.

He continued:

"We achieved our initial goal of 2014 which was to exceed an average speed of 115 mph (185 km/h) and in doing so captured the long-sought after victory, with a one-two finish for the team, in a time that beat the previous record lap record in the TT Zero Challenge class by more than one minute (00:19:17.3 lap)."

Mugen's Satoshi Katsumata and Director Akihiro Miyata will represent the 'Shinden Yon' team on the Isle of Man.

Cristiano Silei leaves Ducati to face a new professional challenge
• Claudio Domenicali "We thank Cristiano Silei for his contribution
• in achieving the record results in 2014"
• Andrea Buzzoni will start in his new position on February, the 2nd, 2015

Borgo Panigale (Bologna) 30 January, 2015 – Andrea Buzzoni (45) will become the new Ducati Sales and Marketing Director. His motorcycle passion and great experience in Sales Management and Marketing of premium brands will be a key factor for the growth of the Borgo Panigale Company.

Andrea Buzzoni, born in Milan and graduated in Political Science, has gained his experience in the motorcycle world, working for over 17 years in Sales and Marketing. Former Ducati employee, he worked as Director in the Germany Branch from 2001 to 2004, then he was the General Manager for BMW Motorrad Italy for 10 years.

His commitment in the racing world was also great. Firstly he has managed, for BMW Motorrad Italia, the projects of the Superstock and Superbike World Championship and subsequently, the official factory team of the World Superbike Championship.

Ducati Vice President Sales and Marketing, Cristiano Silei (47), has resigned from the Company to face a new professional challenge.

Claudio Domenicali, Ducati CEO, thanks Cristiano Silei for the achievements and the commitment in these years of collaboration, and wishes him further success in his future career. Cristiano Silei has contributed to increase Ducati international expansion and has achieved record results. Over 45.100 motorcycles have been delivered to customers in 2014, this is the best result ever for the Borgo Panigale Company.

Cristiano Silei has greatly contributed in the creation of the new Ducati brand, Scrambler, laying the foundation for further commercial successes for the Company.

We have had to change the dates of this year's event – now between the 31st August – due to a double booking. We apologise if this has caused an inconvenience. On a positive note, the change of date means the rally does not clash with the Rock and Bike at Squires Café Bar and also the Bulldog Bash at Avon Raceway, which will mean busy rallies for all three events. 

1st to the 3rd of May 2015

A LOT OF LAPS AND GOOD SENSATIONS FOR THE APRILIA RSV4

LEON HASLAM IS FIT AND READY FOR PHILLIP ISLAND, "ROOKIE" JORDI TORRES IS IMPROVING AND PLEASED

Jerez (Spain), 27 January 2015 - The two days at Jerez de la Frontera for the Aprilia-Red Devils team were intense, with riders Leon Haslam and Jordi Torres busy with the final tests before the opening round of World Superbike 2015 which will be held in Australia on 22 February.

Thanks to the decidedly fair weather, Leon and Jordi were able to complete a tight testing schedule, increasing their familiarity with the reigning World Champion bike, the Aprilia RSV4, lap by lap. Lap times were encouraging, but what really counts is that the range of possible adjustments was explored in terms of setup and electronics, gathering information which will be useful as the season develops.

Leon Haslam, already fast at Portimão, confirmed his excellent condition. His harmony with a bike that is new to him is impressive, so much that the rider from Ealing was able to work on tyre wear, simulating race conditions. Haslam put in 148 laps, the best of which in 1’40.069. "We took a lot of laps today, more than anyone else. We analysed a lot of things and now I feel really good on the bike in terms of setup. In a race simulation toward the end of the testing we were able to find a good speed and I gained confidence, even managing to improve on my best time using a soft tyre. That has always been a problem for me, putting the qualifier tyre to good use is another reason for us to be pleased with these tests. Phillip Island is a track that I like and apparently it suits my Aprilia well, so we'll definitely be optimistic going into our first race."

The "rookie", Jordi Torres, showed significant progress compared to the previous tests. Determined to do well in his rookie World Superbike year, the twenty-seven year old Spaniard took full advantage of the two days he had, lapping consistently (169 times around the track by the end of the tests) and stopping the clock at 1'41.983 on his best lap. He also did a lot of work with used tyres and reported a decidedly positive feeling.

Jordi Torres: "I'm pleased with the way things went. We were able to try a lot of things. The bike is easy to ride, that's my first impression, even if I still don't feel like I'm at 100%, especially when braking in the middle of a turn. There are still a lot of things I need to figure out, but I'll be heading to Phillip Island confidently, especially since we did a good job with race tyres. We could have shaved off a few more tenths of a second, maybe testing the qualifier tyre, but overall I'm quite pleased."

Six-time World Champion Max Biaggi was also in the Aprilia garage at Jerez, with Michael Laverty working alongside him as a test rider. Biaggi made excellent progress, topped off with a best time of 1'41.9 in race simulation.

Max Biaggi: "At the beginning of these tests I had a bit of trouble getting back into the groove, but that's normal after a long break. Little by little I began to feel more comfortable with the bike and my times began to show it, so as a result my enthusiasm also increased because I'm always happy to be in the saddle. I'm happy that we were able to complete the testing schedule. That's what I'm here for and I adapted willingly to the Team's needs. We are all quite pleased with this return 3 years after my last time around the track on a Superbike. In the future I expect to put in some faster laps so I can give accurate indications in “race” mode."