Once again, almost 600 Veteran and Vintage motorcycles will ride en masse when the Heritage Motor Centre hosts the nostalgic Vintage Motor Cycle Club Banbury Run™.

The event which is in its 66th year will run over two days with the Vintage Training Day taking place on Saturday 7 June offering Vintage Virgins the chance to ride the Motorcycles in a safe “off road” environment. The main Banbury Run™, which will take place on Sunday 8 June, is the largest gathering of pre-1931 Motorcycles & 3 Wheelers in the World.

The Banbury Run™ is aimed at those who enjoy the thrill of riding with other Vintage, Veteran & Pioneer bikes. The exact route is kept top secret until the day, but we can exclusively reveal that it will venture through the villages of Whatcote and Great Bourton. In addition to the Run, there will also be Club and Trade Stands, over 100 Autojumble pitches and special interest displays.

Tom Caren, Show Manager for the Heritage Motor Centre stated “The Banbury Run is a fantastic day out for both those participating in the Run and those coming along to watch the bikes in all their glory as they set off for their annual ride around the nearby countryside. Watching the vintage motorcycles ride together is a real spectacle to see!”

The Museum will be open from 9am – 5pm with the Banbury Run™ beginning at 10am. Tickets for the Run cost £6 in advance or £8 on the day for adults, children and concessions and £25 for a family on the day.

www.heritage-motor-centre.co.uk or call 01926 641188. For more information about the Vintage Training Day contact Natalie Thornhill on her email [email protected].

The 40th annual Gloucestershire Steam & Vintage Extravaganza will return to South Cerney Airfield, Cirencester from Friday 1st - Sunday 3rd August 2014.

This year the show celebrates its 40th show, an amazing feat and something we want to celebrate with everyone especially those born ON 6th & 7th September 1975 - the weekend of the very first show. We will send everyone born over that weekend a complimentary ticket for this year’s show to come and share our birthday cake with us! (DOB ID will be required)

Since the humble beginnings the show attracted just 500 visitors it now has more than 15,000 over the three days and over the last 40 years has raised thousands of pounds, donating to both local and national charities including the Cobalt Appeal Fund and Diabetes UK.

The Gloucestershire Steam & Vintage Extravaganza was originally conceived for steam enthusiasts, but the range of vintage transports sections have grown year on year, and now includes exhibits including; buses and coaches, commercial vehicles, tractors, emergency vehicles, motorcycles, caravans, cycles, traction engines, steam engines, tractors, military vehicles, static aircrafts, radio controlled planes, model village to classic cars and much much more!

The Steam Section is considered by many visitors to be the heart of the show, and is packed with more than 100 full-size Steam Engines of all descriptions, makes and type, several of which are first-timers to the event and have never been displayed in the country before. The infamous 'Demonstration Arena' puts these mighty machines to the test, where the engines are encouraged to display their capabilities to maximum potential.

The classic car section alone features over 600 vehicles, showcasing veteran, pre-war, post-war, American to modern classics. Alongside regular exhibits are rare and remarkable stories of restoration projects and histories to be told.

The show is packed full of exhibits, displays and stalls to keep the whole family entertained for hours. Alongside the hundreds of vintage vehicles the famous Ken Fox Wall of Death will be returning to wow spectators with their incredible stunts and high-speed chases on their 1920’s Indian motorcycles. Fun for all the family – the popular steam driven vintage fun fair, 'electric yachts', the waltzer, the big wheel, the steam-driven 'gallopers', face painting, dodgems, a ghost train and traditional arcade games. After all this fun visitors won’t be able to leave without a visit to the vintage tea hut and dancing which will keep little and big kids entertained for hours.

The show prides itself on encouraging interaction between exhibitors and visitors to provide a ‘hands on’ experience. Chairman of the Stroud Vintage Transport and Engine Club, Martyn Slater, said: “The Gloucestershire Steam & Vintage Extravaganza is the biggest of its kind run entirely by volunteers and I am proud to be involved. As well as raising money for local and national charities, our aim is to provide a safe and happy environment for everyone to celebrate our unique transport history, in hope that we can inspire future generations to get involved in the preservation of historic vehicles.”

A free vintage bus service will be operating around the perimeter of the show site, and to and from Kemble railway station throughout the show to connect with selected First Great Western Trains.

For details of the bus schedule and further details, please visit www.glossteamextravaganza.com

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New Zealander Bruce Anstey continued his form around the Mountain Course in tonight's SES TT Zero 2nd Qualifying session. The New Zealand rider followed up his stunning outright lap record around the Mountain Course with an unofficial lap record for the TT Zero class, posting a time of 112.355mph (20:08.914).

His Mugen teammate also took the opportunity for a lap and was marginally outside Michael Rutter's lap record (109.675) set last year. Robert Wilson (Sarloea Racing), Mark Miller (Vercarmoto) and George Spence (Kingston) also completed electric bike laps this evening.

Earlier in the evening, Clerk of the Course Gary Thompson opted to give the riders a chance to practice on their Superstock machines ahead of Monday's race as well as their Supersport and Lightweight and a number of riders took up the option.

Guy Martin again emphasised his quality after his Superbike podium with a 127.22 mph lap in the Superstock qualifying while Bruce Anstey, Lee Johnson and Michael Dunlop were all over 126 mph.

In the Lightweight qualifying session Ryan Farquhar was the fastest on the night with a lap of 116.84, still outside Ivan Lintin's time from Tuesday evening, with Olie Linsdell powering the stunning Paton to a similar speed (116.23).

Gary Johnson posted a pair of quick laps in the Supersport class (125.72 and 125.16) with Josh Brookes, William Dunlop, Ian Hutchinson, MIchael Rutter and Dean Harrison all posting 123mph+ laps

The 2014 Isle of Man TT races got underway today with Honda Racing’s Conor Cummins securing a podium finish in the opening Superbike race. His team-mate John McGuinness – who is still recovering from a broken scaphoid – completed the six-lap outing in seventh place.

The race began at 11am in warm and sunny conditions and by the end of lap one, Cummins was in third aboard his Honda Racing CBR1000RR Fireblade SP machine. A smooth and confident performance saw the Manxman putting serious pressure on second-placed rider Guy Martin, with a gap of less than a second at the halfway stage.

Cummins eventually crossed the line just under three seconds behind Martin to take his fifth TT podium – his first on a Superbike since a serious crash on the Mountain course in 2010, which threatened to end his road racing career.

McGuinness, meanwhile, dug deep and got his head down, climbing from eighth to fifth by lap four. The 20-time Isle of Man TT winner was in the battle for fourth place until the end of the penultimate lap, when a late attack from Bruce Anstey coupled with a wave of backmarkers saw him drop down to seventh come the chequered flag.

In what turned out to be a spectacular opener, a new outright lap record of 132.298mph was set by Bruce Anstey aboard his Padgetts Motorcycles Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade.

The Honda Racing team will reconvene on Friday 6 June for the Senior TT.

- Molyneux/Farrance top the board in Sidecar Class
- McGuinness looks to make up for last year's disappointment with fast opening SES TT Zero lap

After the trials of tribulations of recent evenings, conditions were perfect for the final qualifying session of the 2014 Isle of Man TT Races, fuelled by Monster Energy, and it proved to be a rapid night of action on the Mountain Course as Michael Dunlop threw down the gauntlet with a lap of 131.501mph, not only his personal best but also just 1.3s outside the outright lap record.

Gary Johnson set the pace on the opening lap on his Superstock bike and he was the only rider to break the 130mph barrier first time around with a lap of 130.207mph although Guy Martin wasn’t far behind on his Superbike with 129.992mph.

Second time around and Bruce Anstey went quickest at 130.642mph on his Superbike with John McGuinness lapping at 129.790 which saw him end up fourth overall. Dan Kneen slotted into a superb fifth place at 129.107, comfortably his best ever lap of the 37 and ¾-mile course while Michael Rutter placed sixth (128.883) with William Dunlop, Josh Brookes, James Hillier, Ian Hutchinson and Dean Harrison the other riders to lap in excess of 127mph.

However, Dunlop waited until the closing stages to really set the track alight as he ripped round the course at 131.501mph to end the week top of the Superbike leaderboard and surely heading into tomorrow’s Dainese Superbike race as favourite. Anstey remained in second overall with Guy Martin the third Superbike rider over 130mph with a lap of 130.102mph.

Cameron Donald had his best night of the week on the Norton with a speed of 123.095 with strong performances also coming from Jimmy Storrar (124.286), James Cowton (123.247) and Michael Sweeney (121.039).

Johnson’s superb 130mph lap saw him top the Superstock class although Harrison was also flying on his Superstock Kawasaki with a speed of 128.662mph, which was his best ever lap of the course. Michael Dunlop went slightly quicker at 129.333 to place third with Hillier in fourth and Rutter putting in a late quick lap to go fifth.

Meanwhile, newcomer Peter Hickman put in three laps in excess of 121mph but his fourth was his best of the week at an excellent 123.329mph. Fellow debutante Martin Jessopp just missed out on his first 120mph lap at 119.918mph with Alan Bonner (117.499), Vick de Cooremeter (116.741), Phil Crowe (116.738), Danny Webb (116.510) and Callum Laidlaw (112.058) all improving on their previous bests.

With most riders opting to get out on their 1000cc machines, there were few quick laps in the Supersport class but Johnson had a busy evening with two laps on the Triumph, the quickest of which, 125.934, was the fastest of the week. William Dunlop (124.475) and Keith Amor (124.356) placed second and third respectively on the night although Michael Dunlop’s lap from Thursday, 124.530, means he ended the week second overall. There was a notable performance from Daley Mathison who moved up to 22nd fastest qualifier from an original start number of 81.

In the F2 Sidecar class Dave Molyneux/Patrick Farrance were fastest on the night at 113.422 closely followed by John Holden/Andy Winkle (113.039), Conrad Harrison/Mike Aylott (112.333) and Tim Reeves/Gregory Cluze (111.651).

Karl Bennett/Lee Cain put in their first ever 110mph lap whilst a stunning lap came from newcomers Alan Founds/Tom Peters with a speed of 107.291mph. Fellow debutantes John and Jake Lowther also recorded their best lap of the week at 101.246mph.

All eyes then switched to the SES TT Zero class as fans were treated to their first look at this year's Electric bike class. The eagerly anticipated showdown between Mugen teammates Bruce Anstey and John McGuinness was put on ice when Anstey pulled in at Quarterbridge leaving McGuinness to post a stunning first lap of 20.:13.202 (111.904mph).

Buckeye's Rob Barber and Italian outfit VercarMoto also completed laps to get their qualifying campaigns underway while Paul Owen (Brunel) Rob Wilson (Sarolea) and Russ Mountford (Arc Ev Engineering) all set off from the grandstand but failed to complete their laps.

Neal Champion (Greeba Castle) and Calum Laidlaw (Governors Bridge) were both reported off in the Superbike session but while Laidlaw was reported OK and later went out again, Champion was taken by airmed to Nobles Hospital. Sean Anderson was also airlifted to Nobles in the Supersport following an accident at Guthries while Frank Lelias and Paul Knapton were both taken by airmed for further assessment.