Osborne and Caswell-Cox win B and C Races

The Isle of Man's Billy Redmayne followed illustrious names including Ian Hutchinson, Robert Dunlop, Michael Dunlop, Carl Fogarty, Phillip McCallen and Ryan Farquhar by winning the Manx Grand Prix Newcomers title.

The Manxman clinched a thrilling IMGold Newcomers Race victory by 1.8 seconds after a last lap duel with Malachi Mitchell-Thomas with Ireland's Shane Egan taking the final podium place. It was a double celebration for the Isle of Man with Douglas based Dean Osborne taking the B title while Felpham's James Caswell-Cox clinched the Newcomers C Race.

Competitors were greeted with the best conditions of the week for the rescheduled race as the Mountain Course was bathed in sunshine, although Clerk of the Course Phil Taubman warned the assembled grid about sunlight glare from Union Mills to Ballacraine and on the Mountain section from the Gooseneck.

Competition was expected to be fierce between the three fastest qualifiers - Manx rider Billy Redmayne, who is home from a tour of Afghanistan, Horwich's Malachi MItchell-Thomas, who won the Newcomers B race at the Southern 100 and Ireland's Shane Egan, the 2012 Superbike Cup Champion and so it proved.

The Newcomers Race is broken into three different classifications with Newcomers A for machines up to 750cc, 650's twins and 250 two strokes eligible for the Newcomers B Race and Newcomers C for 400's and 125cc bikes.

The Race, the first of the Manx Grand Prix meeting, got away exactly on time at 6.30pm and Wales's Matthew Rees, the fourth fastest qualifier, riding the GT Superbikes Kawasaki had the honour of being first away from the start line.

And Rees turned the pre-race form book on its head by establishing a 3 second lead at Glen Helen from Redmayne with Mitchell-Thomas a further 1.5 seconds back in third. Egan was six seconds behind Rees in fourth.

Redmayne began to close on Rees and moved narrowly ahead at the Bungalow, but by only half a second although at the end of the first lap Redmayne (115.950mph) had extended his lead over Rees (115.690) to 2.6 seconds with Egan (115.593) and Mitchell-Thomas (115.395) completing the top four.

With the race reduced to three laps in a truncated programme following yesterday's postponement, refuelling tactics were clearly going to play a part and while Rees and Redmayne came into the pits, Shane Egan elected to go straight through on his second lap.

Redmayne seemed to lose time in the pits after a problem with his fuel cap and dropped to fifth behind new race leader Shane Egan with Sam West, who also went straight through on the opening lap, in second from Mitchell-Thomas and Rees.

With both Egan and West refuelling at the end of the second lap, Malachi Mitchell Thomas moved into the lead but Redmayne was clearly on a charge and had closed the gap to four seconds at the Grandstand.

Although Mitchell-Thomas extended his lead to almost six seconds by Ramsey, a stunning Mountain Course section saw Redmayne move back into the lead at the Bungalow and the Manxman clinched the race win by 1.8 seconds with a final lap of 117.102, which gave him an overall race time of 114.955 (19:19.914).

West was only 2 seconds behind Egan at the Bungalow in the race for the final podium position but retired at the Creg Ny Baa leaving Egan (59:28.595/ 114.186 mph) to secure the final podium spot.

Dean Osborne, the fastest Newcomer in the B class qualifying, established a decisive lead after his opening lap 107.239 (21:06.593) with Barry Furber (105.440) twenty seconds back in second and Nick Anderson (104.923) holding third.

Despite pitting at the end of the first lap, Osborne was only eight seconds down on Furber at the end of the second lap with Furber opting for a three-lap strategy. Osborne was not to be denied and made up the gap, coming home with a final lap of 108.615 and an overall race time of 1:03.31.073 (106.921mph) to win by sixteen seconds from Furber (1:03.47.373/ 106.466) with Anderson (1:04.38.139/105.072) taking the final podium position.

French rider Lancelot Unissart led the Newcomers C race by 15 seconds from James Caswell-Cox, who set the fastest qualifying time in the class, after an opening lap 99.443 with Great Harwood's Gavin Browne third. Both Unissart (101.378) and Caswell-Cox (100.940) posted 100mph laps on the second lap but with Unissart pitting, Caswell-Cox's three-lap strategy saw him win by almost thirty seconds in 1:07.48.432/100.158mph) from Unissart (1:08.16.647/99.468). Brown's (1:10.31.688/ 96.293) secured him third place.

A popular icon of 1950’s and 60’s motoring, Everoak Helmets were the protection of choice for motorists and bikers alike, including Stirling Moss, Graham Hill and Pedro Rodriguez.

The iconic Everoak has endured as a much loved symbol of the classic era of racing and with the resurgence of retro brands, Everoak is set to make a longed for return. Step forward master craftsman Bill Vero to handcraft perfect replicas of these world-famous helmets!

Bill Vero, one of the most experienced helmet makers in the world, will be using a lifetime of experience and craftsmanship to make replicas from the golden age of motoring. Grandson of original founder Everitt W Vero, Bill Vero has re-started hand making individual Everoak helmets, exact to their original design and specification. The perfect display item for a collector or enthusiast, Bill can replicate helmets worn by famous drivers who won National Championships; for example Stirling Moss, Mike Hawthorn, Jack Brabham, Graham Hill, Pedro Rodriguez, Innes Ireland and Jim Clark. Taking nearly a month each to create, the helmets are manufactured using traditional processes and each will be a rare, unique and special piece, meeting the client’s exact specification. Nothing else like this exists and Bill has both the knowledge and skill to bring each one to life.          

Maker Bill Vero says "There's no way these could be worn today for historic racing; they're display pieces, but you could wear one in your classic to go down the pub."

Anyone interested in seeing one for real or owning the legend that is an Everoak Helmet, should pop into The Signature Store or go along to Goodwood Revival (12-14  September 2014), where a classic ‘Moss’ and a Jack Brabham replica will be on display on the Porter Press stand in the market.    In addition to re-launching this range of exclusive, iconic helmets, Everoak are also set to launch a merchandise line in the next few weeks, starting with T-Shirts in partnership with RetroF1 and with more merchandise planned for the future.

Helmets cost from £695 and will be one of a kind replicas made by Bill Vero.

www.everoakhelmets.com    

Metzeler at the Ace, Friday 29th August, 6pm - 11pm

After a successfully supporting the Stunt Festival and Streetfighter show at Wembley, Metzeler will be back at the Ace on the last Friday of the month. They will be on hand with their technical team, promo girls and the guys from HGB Tyres will have offers exclusively for Ace customers. All that plus the usual merchandise and entries to a prize draw to win sets of the new Sportec M7 RR: a new Supersport tyre for the road developed by the likes of Guy Martin at the Isle of Man TT. Metzeler said they will even bring the weather (hopefully!).

www.metzeler.co.uk

www.ace-cafe-london.com

After the frivolity of the '80s paddock carnival earlier in the day, the riders got back to the serious matter of the final official qualifying session at the 2014 Isle of Man Classic TT Races presented by Bennetts and the session was dominated by three of the TT's biggest names - John McGuinness, Michael Dunlop and outright Mountain Course lap record holder Bruce Anstey.

Conditions were described as the best of the week with riders warned of dazzling sunlight although there were still damp patches at Governors Dip.

In the first session, away on time at 18.20, Northern Ireland rider Lee Johnson was first away on his Black Eagle Racing 350cc MV Agusta with Michael Rutter alongside him riding the Seeley G50 that he'll race in tomorrow's Bennetts 500cc Classic TT Race. However, Rutter was reported as an early retirement at Ballacraine shortly after but Johnston went on to post the fastest 350 time of the evening (99.792mph).

John McGuinness was quickly on the pace in the 500's session and was fastest to Ramsey ahead of Ryan Farquhar, the pair riding the Team Winfield Patons and McGuinness laid down the gauntlet to the rest of the field, posting the fastest 500cc time of the week and inside race winner Olie Linsdell's lap record from last year's 500cc Race, setting himself up nicely for tomorrow's race. McGuinness later revealed that he'd actually been taking it steady through the opening sector as he was on new tyres.

Farquhar's 109.749 was the second fastest with Bruce Anstey on the McIntosh Norton (106.487), Ian Lougher on the Flitwick Motorcycles Paton (105.768), William Dunlop (105.739) and Michael Dunlop on the Molnar Manx Norton (105.348) all having useful shakedowns ahead of the first race day.

The latter F1/F2 session Bruce Anstey (120.968) and Michael Dunlop (120.505), last year's race winner, continue to stamp their authority on the field. Dunlop's opening lap was all the more credible as it was clear that he lost a significant amount of time on the final sector and he later reported that his F1 machine was stuck in fourth gear on the run in from the Bungalow. Anstey, on his Valvolene by Padgetts Motorcycles YZR500 Yamaha then went quicker on his second lap, posting the fastest of the week to date with 122.888, inside his time from Wednesday's session.

Tomorrow's first race day features the Bennetts 500cc Race, which is scheduled to get away at 12.30, which follows a qualifying session for the F1/F2 and 350cc machines.

Digital Speedos are pleased to introduce a brand new gauge concept from KOSO called the D1 OLED, using the very latest OLED screen technology (like the iphone 5) it means it can be viewed from all angles and lighting conditions.

The Display has a very small footprint, only 46 x 22 x 9 mm, in fact so small it could be built into a handlebar clamp. The screen display unit is connected to the control unit by a 3 core cable so could be fed through the handlebars if required. 

The control box is just 80 x 50 x 24mm so compact enough to hide under the seat or fuel tank.

The standard functions of the gauge are:

Speed MPH or KH

RPM programmable scale 8 – 20k

Total mileage – (settable to existing mileage)

2 x resettable trip meters

3 x temps – oil/water/ambient

Time Clock

Fuel gauge – multiple settings for sender

Low fuel warning setting

Volt meter

5 warning lights

Included in the package:

Display screen

Control Box

Wiring Looms

Speed sensor, magnets and brackets, the range of KOSO alternative speed sensors will also fit.

Temperature Senders

Remote Program Switch

Part Number BA032000

RRP is £224.95, inc VAT

www.digital-speedos.co.uk

See more here