Biker News - Regularly updated

Welcome to our News section, where articles are listed below and if relevant within the categories on the right, just to make it easier for you to find what you wish to read...

Please note that the content within our News section (text and images), follows the same copyright laws/notice as all other content on the website - ie not to be reproduced (including slightly amending) without prior consent. 

 RSS Feed

Category: IOM TT - Manx Grand Prix

  1. TEAM CLASSIC SUZUKI SET FOR 2014 ISLE OF MAN CLASSIC TT RACES

    Posted on

    Northampton based Steve Wheatman's Team Classic Suzuki has confirmed Michael Dunlop and Lee Johnston on GSXR XR69 Suzuki's, and Maria Costello on the Harris F1 Suzuki in this year's Motorsport Merchandise Formula 1 TT Race on Monday 25th August.

    The team will be looking to emulate their success in last year's inaugural event when Michael Dunlop and Conor Cummins took the first two places in the F1 Race. Team Classic Suzuki will also feature heavily in the two parade laps organised for this year's Isle of Man Classic TT Races presented by Bennetts.

    As well as their three race bikes, and a number of prestigious parade machines, the team will have a prominent display of Classic Suzuki GP bikes and memorabilia in the paddock.

    The team is one of the foremost attractions on the international classic motorcycle scene with its vast collection of authentic Suzuki Grand Prix racers from the 1970's, 80's and 90's.

    This year the team has contributed eight machines to the Joey Dunlop Road Racing Legend - The Rivals - Parade lap sponsored by the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company. These include a factory Suzuki XR23 from 1979, identical to Tom Herron's that will be ridden by Steve Parrish, 500cc Suzuki RG500 MK10 for Steve Cull, an ex Will Hartog RG500 500cc Mk5 from 1980 that Brian Reid will ride while Jamie Hamilton will parade the TT winning ex Norman Brown 1982 RG500 Mk7.

    Riders reunited with their bikes include Mick Grant who will ride his 1981 TT winning 500cc Factory Suzuki XR34, Graeme Crosby who is reunited with his 1980 F1 World Championship winning XR69 and Rob McElnea who will parade his old TT winning Suzuki XR41 from 1984, which will be the first time that Rob has ridden the bike since his 1984 victory.

    In the Classic Racer Magazine Lap of Honour on Monday 25th August, Phil Read will make an appearance on the 1976 RG500 Mk1 500cc 'Life ' Suzuki he rode in GP's in his final GP year while Masuru Iwasaki will parade the 1975 500cc Factory Suzuki XR14 that Barry Sheene won his first 500cc Grand Prix on in 1975, a race which represented the first win for the Suzuki 500cc Square 4. Brian Reid, Rob McElnea and Graeme Crosby will ride the same machines as they appear on in the 'Rivals' parade.

  2. MICHAEL DUNLOP TO RIDE FATHER'S ROTARY NORTON

    Posted on

    AT CLASSIC TT RACES PRESENTED BY BENNETTS

    Eleven time TT Race winner Michael Dunlop is set to ride his father Robert's Rotary Norton in the 'Joey Dunlop Road Racing Legends - The Rivals Parade Lap sponsored by the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company.

    The parade, a tribute to twenty-six time TT Race winner Joey Dunlop, takes place on the Isle of Man on Saturday 23rd August as part of the Classic TT Races presented by Bennetts.

    The Ballymoney man, who won four TT Races this year riding BMW's including the historic PokerStars Senior TT Race seventy five years after George Meier's victory, will represent his late father Robert in a tribute lap that has been created to recognise some of his Uncle Joey's greatest rivals across his road and circuit racing career.

    The bike, the brainchild of ex-Norton employee Brian Crighton, is currently on display at the National Motorcycle Museum. Crighton has overhauled the bike, which hasn't run for many years, in preparation for its return to the Isle of Man Mountain Course. As well as participating in Saturday's parade, the bike will also be on display in the race paddock behind the grandstand during the Classic TT Race meeting.

    "I am very keen to showcase and celebrate the Museum and our collection in live action events and display our bikes as they were meant to be viewed and the Classic TT Races certainly fits with that objective", said James Hewing, the director of the National Motorcycle Museum in Birmingham. "The parade will not only represent a tribute to both Joey and Robert Dunlop but also the engineering achievement that the Rotary Norton represents."

    Norton's Rotary Racing campaign was one of British sport's great giant-killing stories. Starting out in 1987 with little more than a promising engine and the backing of the company's new owner, Norton returned to racing after many years' absence to score devastating success against the world's biggest marques.

    The first Rotary racer was the red, silver and blue RC588 with an air-cooled twin-rotor engine. Simon Buckmaster and Trevor Nation raced a scaled up version in 1988 to great success in the British Formula One Championship. The John Player Special sponsorship in 1989, which saw Steve Spray scoop the F1 Championship that year, evoked Player Norton days of the Seventies and saw the new liquid-cooled RCW588 in its iconic black, grey and gold livery.

    The machine Michael will ride will be the same machine his father rode in 1990, notching a Norton double in the North West 200 and also finishing third in the F1 TT of that year. Michael will complete the tribute to his father by wearing specially created replica leathers and helmet.

    The bike will also appear at the VMCC's Festival Of Jurby on the Isle of Man on Sunday 24th August.

    Tickets are now on sale and selling fast for the 2014 Classic TT Races presented by Bennetts. VIP experiences, Grandstand tickets, Classic TT Heroes Dinner and Classic TT Party tickets can be purchased from www.iomtt.com or by phoning 00 44 (0)1624 640000.

    Travel and accommodation packages to suit all budgets and requirements are available from Official Classic TT Travel Agency Regency Travel

    www.iomttbreaks.com

  3. TT AND SUPERBIKE LEGEND FOGARTY TO STAR AT 2014 CLASSIC TT

    Posted on

    Seven times World Champion Carl Fogarty MBE has confirmed he will be attending the 2014 Classic TT presented by Bennetts with the road racing legend riding a Honda RC30 in the 'Joey Dunlop Road Racing Legend - The Rivals' Parade Lap' sponsored by the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company and also a Ducati in the Classic Racer Magazine Classic TT Lap of Honour.

    Having won the Newcomers Manx Grand Prix in 1985, the Blackburn racer was a star turn at the Isle of Man TT Races between 1986 and 1992 taking three wins and seven podiums as well as the outright lap record in 1992, his speed of 122.61mph remaining unbroken for seven years.

    It was his rides in the World Formula One Championship that initially made his name, battling with Joey Dunlop in each of his World Championship winning years, with wins at the TT coming in the 1989 750cc Production, 1990 Formula One and 1990 Senior Races. It's perhaps his runner-up spot to Steve Hislop in the 1992 Senior Race, voted the greatest TT race of all time, that he's most fondly remembered for however.

    That race saw Foggy swap the lead with Hislop throughout the six-lap race and although he eventually had to settle for second, just 4.4s behind the Scot, he did have the consolation of claiming the outright lap record on the final lap.

    Fogarty, of course, went on to become the most successful World Superbike rider of all time with 4 world titles and 59 world championship race wins before injury ended his career early in 2000 but he's always maintained his relationship with the island, not only stating his love for the Mountain Course but also how his race wins remain the most special out of all his successes.

    Speaking ahead of his return to the Island for the Classic TT, Carl commented:

    "The Isle of Man holds a special place in my heart and I have said many times before that it was that part of my career which I look back on with the most happiness and pride. I can't wait to see the new Classic TT event for myself after hearing good things about last year's first event and I am particularly excited to be part of the tribute to Joey Dunlop. Joey was a special rider and someone I looked up to and wanted to beat in those early World Championship years."

    Carl will also be attending the Classic TT VIP Hospitality events and RST Heroes Dinner. You can join Carl at these events and tickets can be purchased from www.iomtt.com or by phoning 00 44 (0)1624 640000.

  4. Bruce Anstey to ride McIntosh Norton in the 2014 Classic Senior TT

    Posted on

    The fastest man ever around the famous Isle of Man "Mountain Course", New Zealand's Bruce Anstey will be teaming up with fellow Kiwi Ken McIntosh for a second attempt at the Classic TT presented by Bennetts on August 23rd.

    Nine times TT winner Anstey was lying second last year in the inaugural Senior Classic TT when a piston failure caused his retirement on the second lap of the four lap race.

    In June this year Bruce Anstey entered the history books when he became the first man ever to top 132mph average for a lap.

    Last year Anstey rode a Classic bike for the very first time and was amazed at how precise the steering was. He commented that he had to re-learn all his old "250" lines where you used every inch of the road, and sometimes more! "He wouldn't let me change any of the setting on the 'Featherbed' Manx" said McIntosh.

    With previous riders Kevin Schwantz, Cameron Donald and Andrew Stroud all winning races on the bike the setup was already well established for shorter circuits but it also proved to be good on the many jumps and high speed corners on the TT course as well.

    This year McIntosh will return with two identical models of his New Zealand built 1962 Manx Norton replicas for Anstey, so that the race bike is still fresh at the end of qualifying, giving Bruce his best chance of a finish.

    McIntosh said "It was a major blow to be the fastest single cylinder bike in all the practices and never miss a beat all week and then fail to finish when lying in second place. We had to come back and give our New Zealand built bike another chance to live up to its 'Manx' Norton name."

    Bruce Anstey will be competing for the Mike Hailwood Trophy awarded for 500cc single cylinder machines using a machine that is essentially true to 1962 specification against the much later pre-1973 period multi-cylinder bikes, but "with Bruce's speed and the fickle nature of true 'TT' racing he is certainly in with a chance of an overall podium finish" says McIntosh. "Mike Hailwood lived in New Zealand when he retired from racing the first time so there is a special Hailwood connection there."

    Tickets are now on sale and selling fast for the 2014 Classic TT Races presented by Bennetts. VIP experiences, Grandstand tickets, Classic TT Heroes Dinner and Classic TT Party tickets can be purchased from www.iomtt.com or by phoning 00 44 (0)1624 640000.

  5. IN FORM MANXMAN DAN KNEEN TO REPLACE INJURED CAMERON DONALD FOR CLASSIC TT PRESENTED BY BENNETTS

    Posted on

    Ripley Land Racing have moved quickly to replace the injured Cameron Donald for this month’s Classic TT Races presented by Bennetts with the news that Manxman Dan Kneen will take over the machines vacated by the Australian.

    Donald, who took second in last year’s Okells Brewery 350cc Classic TT Race was ruled out of action recently with two broken wrists sustained in a training accident and Kneen, who will be having his first ever outing on Classic machinery, will now line up on the G50 Seeley Matchless and 350cc 7R AJS machinery and he’s sure to be among the pre-race favourites.

    Kneen, who will also contest the Motorsport Merchandise F1 race on the RLR Motorsports GSXR750 Suzuki, has had a stellar year on the roads with the highlight clinching the Irish Superbike Road Race Championship at the recent Armoy Road Races. The Manxman has been making his debut appearances at the majority of the Irish National road races this year yet has still been victorious at the Cookstown 100, Tandragee 100, Skerries 100, Walderstown and Kells Road Races.

    The 27-year old Braddan rider also enjoyed one of his best year’s at the TT with three top ten finishes and two more finishes inside the top fifteen. His best result was seventh in the RL 360º Superstock Race while he also became the 17th fastest rider of all time around the Mountain Course with a lap of 129.360mph.

    Tickets are now on sale and selling fast for the 2014 Classic TT Races presented by Bennetts. VIP experiences, Grandstand tickets, Classic TT Heroes Dinner and Classic TT Party tickets can be purchased from www.iomtt.com or by phoning 00 44 (0)1624 640000.

    Travel and accommodation packages to suit all budgets and requirements are available from Official Classic TT Travel Agency Regency Travel