John McGuinness was last night inducted into Motorsport Magazine's Hall of Fame in a glittering ceremony at the Royal Opera House in London.

The twenty time Isle of Man TT race winner joins the eight founding members and 17 past inductees including Ayrton Senna, Enzo Ferrari, Sir Stirling Moss, Michael Schumacher, Sir Jackie Stewart and Nikki Lauda, Last night's ceremony also added engineer, technical director and team principal Ross Brawn, 1976 Formula 1 World Champion James Hunt and four-time Formula 1 world champion Alain Prost to the prestigious list.

The fifth annual Motor Sport Hall of Fame was opened by host and Sky Formula 1 presenter Simon Lazenby before Magazine editor Damian Smith took the stage to wish the magazine a happy 90th birthday.

Morecambe Missile John McGuinness was fresh back from his first race of the year in Australia and became the third motorcyclist to join the illustrious Hall of Fame club. In 2012 both John Surtees and Giacomo Agostini were inducted and it was the former that was on hand to present McGuinness with his trophy. The six-time Isle of Man TT winner won the Formula 1 World Championship exactly 50 years ago.

“I’m nearly 42 and I look pretty average,” McGuinness said, “but in my head I feel pretty good. I’ll carry on for one or two more years yet. I felt a bit nervous to be honest, there are so many champions on four wheels and two, but to see my name up there with the greats is a massive honour.”

The evening also featured an auction in aid of the Grand Prix Mechanics Charitable Trust in association with RM Auctions, which raised £23,000 for the Trust. Some of the lots included mounted Ferrari F1 fuel cap, which sold for £1250 and a signed Michael Schumacher shirt, which went for £5000.

The Motor Sport Hall of Fame Awards show will air on Sky's F1 channel (Channel 406) at 8.30pm on Friday January 31 after a review of the Jerez test.

Fresh from announcing his return to TT competition as Ryan Farquhar's teammate, Keith Amor will also contest the Classic TT presented by Bennetts in August.

The Scots ace, who retired from racing at the end of the 2011 season, will continue his comeback riding Tony Dunnell-prepared Nortons in both the 500cc and 350cc Classic TT events.

It will be the 42 year-old's Classic machinery debut but the Dunnell machines have plenty of experience around the Mountain Course and Dunnell is one of the most respected classic bike builders in the UK. Former factory Honda rider Amor takes over the seat vacated by Conor Cummins, who rode for Team Dunnell at last year’s inaugural event.

Cummins was forced to retire from the 500cc event last August but took a solid seventh in the 350cc race and whilst he has a lack of Classic race experience, Amor’s diminutive stature and knowledge of the Mountain Course should mean he’ll be challenging for podiums in both races.

Adding his name to the provisional entry list for the 500cc and 350cc Classic TT Races, the five-times TT podium finisher adds further spice to an already mouthwatering line up that promises to be even better than the line up in the inaugural year's event.

Dunnell himself has a long association with the Isle of Man, first as a competitor in the Manx Grand Prix and, in later years, as a sponsor and entrant. After a four year layoff, Tony returned to the Isle of Man in 2013 and has clearly embraced the Classic TT movement as he will be providing Keith with the latest specification 500cc and 350cc Manx Nortons along with spare bikes for each class.

Speaking about his Classic TT plans Keith Amor commented: “I was at the Classic TT last year and was gutted to see all the other guys having so much fun out there and I really wanted to be involved. In fact, it was one of the key reasons behind my decision to come back to racing. I feel honored to get the chance to make my debut on a classic bike with Tony Dunnell who builds some of the best Manx Norton's around.”

Tony Dunnell added: “We really enjoyed the Classic TT last year despite having to endure a number of mechanical issues throughout the fortnight. Conor (Cummins) was a joy to work with and whilst we are disappointed that he has to miss the event this time around, Keith Amor is an ideal replacement and we look forward to working with him. We managed to find the problem that plagued our Classic TT once we got home and we will be giving Keith bikes that should be capable of finishing on the podium.”

Following warnings of icy weather, road safety charity the IAM is offering driving tips for the frost and ice from Britain’s top advanced driver, Peter Rodger.

IAM chief examiner Peter Rodger said: “Some bits of the country have already had a first taste of this year’s winter. That means it’s time for the rest of us to start thinking about how to deal with it too.”

Rodger offers six tips to drive confidently in icy conditions:

1) Keep to the main roads as they’re more likely to be salted. Also bear in mind that after the frost has gone, ice can remain in areas which are shaded by trees and buildings – and it forms there first, so be careful in the evening as the temperature drops.

2) It may seem obvious to say – but every year people do forget, so ensure you have de-icer and a scraper. And don’t be one of those people, still out there, who only scrape a small area and drive looking through a slit – clear the whole screen to be able to see properly.

3) If the road is slippery when you start off, do it in second gear, releasing the clutch and accelerating gently, avoiding high revs – this will help prevent wheel spin. As you drive, stay in higher gears to help avoid wheelspin. In an automatic be gentle with your feet, and use whatever gearbox features that the car handbook says will help in slippery conditions.

4) It seems obvious, but cars go in ditches every winter because drivers haven’t taken icy roads seriously enough. If it’s cold outside treat wet looking patches with great care – they could be ice, not water.

5) Stopping distances are increased by up to 10 times in icy conditions, so leave plenty of distance between your car and the car in front - plan so that you’re not relying on your brakes to stop - on ice they may not do that for you. If it is really slippery slow down early and use the gears to do it.

6) If your car loses grip and starts to slide sideways, take your foot off the accelerator, and point the front wheels where you want to go.

Rodger said: “These are just a few pointers to start you thinking. Being mentally prepared as well as having the right equipment is vital, so think about any problems you encountered last winter, and what you need to do to avoid them or overcome them if they recur this year. Be prepared for the worst – icy conditions will affect accelerating, steering and braking.”

59 Club Renewal Day with Mick Duckworth
9am - 5pm
Sunday 2nd February

On occasion of the 59 Club's annual "Renewal" day at the Ace on Sunday 2nd February, author Mick Duckworth will be on hand not only signing copies of the seminal book, "Ace Times - Speed thrills and tea spills, a cafe and a culture", he will also be signing copies of his new book, "Triumph Experimental: Doug Hele and his Development Team 1962 - 75" recently published by Norman Hyde.

Mick's all new 208 page hard back book, with 165 illustrations, tells for the first time the full story of chief development engineer Doug Hele and his men at Triumph Meriden motorcycle factory and later at the Norton - Triumph research centre.

www.normanhyde.co.uk
www.the59club.org.uk

www.ace-cafe-london.com

Scottish ace Keith Amor will continue his racing comeback at the 2014 Isle of Man TT fuelled by Monster Energy, with rides in both of the Monster Energy Supersport Races.

Amor, who recently announced his return to the sport as part of Ryan Farquhar's KMR Kawasaki team for the bikesocial.co.uk Lightweight TT, will ride the Site Sealants B&W Racing Honda CBR600RR in both of the 4-lap races.

The Falkirk rider, who now bases himself in Cyprus, has always excelled in the ultra-competitive Supersport class with four of his five TT podiums coming in the 600cc Races, with his first in 2008 in what was just his second appearance on the Mountain Course. Further rostrums were taken in 2009, 2010 and 2011. He also set the fastest lap of the opening Supersport Race in 2010 with a lap of 126.909mph, making him the seventh fastest rider ever on a 600cc machine.

In his five previous years of TT competition, between 2007 and 2011, Amor took no less than 13 top ten finishes and won 14 silver replicas. His fifth TT podium came in the Superstock Race of 2009 and he is currently the 12th fastest rider of all time with his lap of 130.177mph set in the 2011 PokerStars Senior TT Race.

The team will be run by Amor's former mechanic, Brian Hull, who, more recently, has been backing Irish youngster David Haire in the Irish Short Circuit Championships to great effect, the combination winning the Supersport title in 2012 and 2013 and taking second and third in the Superbike series in 2012 and 2013 respectively.

Speaking about the news, Keith Amor commented: "Brian offered me the chance to ride in the Supersport Races, which have always been my favourite class and I just couldn't say no. I've enjoyed the best days of my career on a Supersport bike at the TT and I am confident that I can still give a good account of myself. I'm working hard on my fitness at the moment and looking to get my weight down to the sort of level it was the last time I raced there, which I think is going to be critical on the smaller bikes."

"At this moment in time, I don't have any plans to race in the 1000cc Races, and I am currently working on a programme with Ryan Farquhar and Brian of what races and testing I will be doing in the build up to the TT."

Tickets are now on sale and selling fast for the 2014 TT Races. Glencrutchery Road Grandstand race day tickets are sold out but there are still TT Fan Zone Grandstand tickets available at Ballacrye, Creg Ny Baa and Nobles Park during practice and race days. Grandstand tickets are also available by purchasing VIP or Platinum Hospitality tickets. All tickets are available from www.iomtt.com or by phoning 00 44 (0)1624 640000.