Volunteer roles at the Vauxhall International 2015 North West 200

As many people know the International North West 200 is supported by an 800 plus team of experienced volunteers. Some work on an annual basis, others during race week itself, with many volunteers coming from other bodies such as St. John’s Ambulance, British Red Cross and MCUI Marshals Association. The role of the volunteer at the NW200 has also widened and the opportunities for anyone wishing to lend their skills as well as learn new ones has increased.

NW200 work closely with Volunteer Now, the Causeway Volunteer Centre and local groups to develop its volunteer structure and are seeking new volunteers to come on board and get involved with the event.

We have created a wide range of roles that you can get involved in, there is something for everyone. Outlined below are the roles. A brief explanation is given for each role, including:

•Purpose of the team and what it offers
•Tasks involved
•Preferred skills and experience
•Possible challenges

The volunteer roles available are defined as:

•Course Set Up/Build Team
•Marshals / Flag Marshals
•Branding Team
•Event Survey & Marketing Team
•Administration Team/ Media Team
•Health & Safety Team
•Event Coordination/ Hospitality Team

Read more here

NABD GRANTS:
At the November 2014 National Committee meeting of the National Association for Bikers with a Disability (NABD), grants totalling £9,510.00 were awarded to help thirteen more disabled riders to adapt bikes and/or trikes to suit their needs.

At the December 2014 National Committee meeting of the National Association for Bikers with a Disability (NABD), grants totalling £9,611.00 were awarded to help ten more disabled riders to adapt bikes and/or trikes to suit their needs.

At the January 2015 National Committee meeting of the National Association for Bikers with a Disability (NABD), grants totalling £2,855.00 were awarded to help four more disabled riders to adapt bikes and/or trikes to suit their needs.

At the February 2015 National Committee meeting of the National Association for Bikers with a Disability (NABD), grants totalling £3,845.00 were awarded to help six more disabled riders to adapt bikes and/or trikes to suit their needs.

That’s a grand total of £55,599.93 awarded in grants so far, since the start of this financial year in April 2014.

World Supersport debutant Kyle Smith has completed his first test on the Pata Honda World Supersport CBR600RR machine and is now looking forward to this weekend’s opening round at Phillip Island in Australia.

The 23-year-old British rider stepped up to world championship competition after competing in last season’s European Superstock 1000 series and has never ridden at the iconic 4.445km Phillip Island circuit.

However, Smith is satisfied with his first outings with his new team and relishing the opportunity of riding the CBR600RR that won last season’s World Supersport championship in the hands of Dutch rider Michael van der Mark.

Kyle Smith - best time 1m34.482s

Yeah, I’m happy with this test. We progressed a lot yesterday and today and the lap time dropped, which is good. Obviously, you always want more and towards the end of today’s session we tried a bunch of stuff with the bike but didn’t manage to make the little step forward that we wanted. I’d like to be a couple of tenths faster to be a little higher but I’m happy with the progression we’ve made. I think we can be there on Friday but we’ve learned an awful lot these last two days. It’s a new bike and a new track for me, but I think I can be faster again on Friday. There’ll definitely be a lot more of an attack mentality for the race weekend!

Pieter Breddels - technical co-ordinator

It’s been our first outing with our new rider, Kyle, and it’s also his first time here at Phillip Island and on our CBR machine. There is an awful lot to learn of course, and he made good progress yesterday. This morning he improved his time by more than a second over yesterday. We tried a few things but kept the bike quite close to the base with which we won last year and it seems to be the correct base to work from. That’s positive because we can use all the data for the rest of this season. Kyle is a good guy to work with – he’s really relaxed and we’re looking forward to our first race weekend with him.

Today Dunlop announces its renewed status as Official Tyre Partner of the TT Races and has extended the agreement to include Sponsorship of the Classic TT. The decision follows the tyre manufacturer's massive success at the 2014 Isle of Man TT Races and underlines their commitment to motorsport on two and four wheels.

Dunlop has had unprecedented success at the Isle of Man TT and at the 2014 TT Races took 13 out of a possible 15 podium places in the Superbike, Superstock and Supersport classes. At the Classic TT, Bruce Anstey claimed first place in the esteemed race on a Dunlop-shod Grand Prix YZR500 Yamaha.

The Classic TT Races take place between 29th and 31st August as part of the the Isle of Man Festival of Motorcycling, with three races over the famous 37 ¾ mile TT Mountain circuit, the VMCC Festival of Jurby, a stunning Parade Lap and additional activity including exhibitions of racing motorcycles, legendary rider autograph sessions and a paddock carnival.

Tony Ward, Dunlop's Brand Manager, said: "Dunlop is a company that was born to win. Ever since John Boyd Dunlop invented the pneumatic tyre to give his son competitive advantage in a tricycle race more than 125 years ago, Dunlop has been racing to win at event such as the Isle of Man TT.

"We are delighted to extend our association with the Isle of Man by becoming sponsor of the Classic TT, an event that continues to build momentum in the industry year on year."

LEON HASLAM AND JORDI TORRES ARE HARD AT WORK GETTING READY FOR THE RACES THIS WEEKEND.

EXCELLENT THIRD BEST TIME FOR THE ROOKIE, FIFTH FOR LEON HASLAM

Phillip Island (Australia), 17 February 2015 – The Superbike 2015 season opened up as usual with two days of testing on the Phillip Island track where the first two races of the season will be held on Sunday. These were two essential days of testing for the Aprilia Racing – Red Devils team following a winter break where the two new riders astride the RSV4 world champion bike often ran into unfavourable weather conditions. But yesterday and today Leon Haslam and Jordi Torres were able to get quite a bit of work done together with their respective teams to gain familiarity with the Superbike from Noale and explore all the possible settings.

The thirty-one year old English rider took on these tests focusing particularly on tyre wear, a vitally important factor for the races here at Phillip Island. In fact, the long sweeping turns and the fast nature of the track require specific consideration of this aspect, both in terms of setup and riding style. At the end of the two days Haslam expressed his satisfaction with the work done in this area, well aware of the fact that there will be time on Friday and Saturday to take full advantage of his Aprilia RSV4's full potential.

Leon Haslam: “Another positive day. This morning we tried a lot of new things over a long run and this afternoon we focused on fine tuning everything, testing more new changes without pushing to the limit to try and find our best lap time. I'm pleased with the job we did during these two days and I'm confident for the first race weekend. We still have the Friday and Saturday practice sessions which we will use to further improve some aspects of the setup and the electronics, but I'm confident that we will be very competitive in the races.”

For rookie Jordi Torres, making his début in the category, the two days of testing were also quite positive. The Spaniard improved lap by lap, increasing his familiarity with the RSV4 and working a lot on finding the best riding style for this type of bike. On a fast and demanding track like Phillip Island Torres ended the two days with the third best time (fastest lap 1’30.971) despite having lapped on used tyres for most of the sessions. This is an important calling card just a few hours from his first World Superbike race weekend. He also had a crash about an hour before the tests ended. After a highside on turn 11 Jordi suffered a slight abrasion to a finger, but nothing that will compromise his race.

Jordi Torres: “At the end of the day I'm satisfied, even if there are still a lot of aspects I need to understand better, such as the braking sections or the “tight” ride this bike requires. The RSV4 rides well, the team works great and I don't think that even the crash today will create any big problems in terms of confidence. It was a shame to have to stop the tests early because there were still a few important things to try in order to further adapt my riding style to the bike. We need to continue working like this in order to improve lap by lap.”