John McGuinness enjoyed a hugely popular return to racing on the Isle of Man after a two-year absence, winning the Bennetts Senior Classic TT Race on the Roger Winfield Paton, the opening race of the 2018 Isle of Man Classic TT Races presented by Bennetts.

Afterwards he revealed how special it was to return to winning ways on the Mountain Course.

“I never thought I’d be back in the winner’s enclosure here, but I’ve worked really hard and it feels very special.  The Paton was great – it never missed a beat. I so, so enjoyed that.  It’s an amazing feeling and we had no problems from the drop of the flag, but it was hard work.  It takes it out of you after all the barbecues and pies.”

McGuinness, starting at number 1, was first to Glen Helen and had established a commanding lead of eight seconds from Maria Costello riding the Team Beugger Paton at the first timing point with fellow Morecambe resident Alan Oversby completing the top three, ten seconds behind the race leader.

However, Oversby was reported as a retirement at Barregarrow and Jamie Coward, riding a Ted Woof Craven Manx Norton, moved into second place ahead of Costello at Ballaugh. While McGuinness was enjoying a comfortable lead at the front of the field, Costello was clawing back time on Coward with the superior power of the Paton telling over the Mountain section of the Course.

Bill Swallow, Ian Lougher (Union Mills), John Barton (Ballacraine), Davy Todd (Greeba Bridge) and Ollie Linsdell (Sulby Bridge) were all reported retirements on the opening lap but at the front of the field McGuiness powered to an opening lap of 110.510 which gave him a decisive lead of over 38 seconds. 

Coward (107.170) held second at the end of the opening lap while Costello (107.014), who did have the gap from Coward down to less than a second at Cronk Ny Mona, was a further 1.8 behind Coward at the end of the opening lap.  Chris Swallow on the Linsdell Enfield and Lee Johnston on the Davies Motorsport Honda were three and five seconds respectively behind the final podium place in fourth and fifth.

While McGuinness maintained a significant lead at the front of the field – 46 seconds by Glen Helen on the second lap – there was a ‘battle royal’ for the remaining podium places. Costello held second at Glen Helen but had dropped to fourth behind Coward and Lee Johnston at Ramsey, albeit only by half a second from the Northern Ireland rider.

John McGuinness second lap of 110.676mph put him well over a minute ahead of Coward (107.791) but only six seconds separated Coward, Johnston (108.189) and Costello (107.422).  Coward’s second lap gave him a lead of 2.3 seconds over Johnston with Costello almost four seconds behind the final podium place and Swallow (106.884) holding fifth a further ten seconds back.

Fans in the Grandstand seats could clearly hear Costello’s Paton misfiring as she went past the grandstand at the end of the second lap and she duly dropped time on her third lap. Lee Johnston was on a charge and had moved into second place by Glen Helen with Costello dropping to fifth, now almost five seconds behind Swallow.

McGuinness and Johnston came into the pits at the end of the third lap which saw Coward move back into second and Swallow into third, fourteen seconds ahead of Johnston at Glen Helen. Costello was also into the pits at the end of the third lap but retired, promoting Michael Russell on an Izzard Racing Norton into fifth place.

McGuinness duly clinched his second Bennetts Senior Classic TT win with a last lap of 105.409 and an overall race time of 109.258/ 1:22.52.747  which gave him a winning margin of over a minute from Coward (107.676/ 1:24.05.819)  Johnston’s four cylinders clearly had the advantage over Swallow’s single cylinder bike and the Northern Ireland rider made up a fourteen second deficit on the third placed man after his pit stop to take the final podium position by four seconds from Swallow in a time of 107.132/ 1:24.31.403.

Mick Moreton came off his Paton at Handleys but was unhurt on the opening lap of the race but was unhurt. 

A survey conducted by road safety charity IAM RoadSmart has found that its members are increasingly disillusioned with the state of the roads in the UK – and feel the Government is not doing nearly enough to tackle the problem.

The survey of more than 7,000 IAM RoadSmart members found that the majority think that our roads have become much worse in recent years, that there are many more potholes than ever before, and that they have to swerve to avoid potholes on every journey.
Some 47% - over 3,400 respondents – say they have experienced damage to their car, commercial vehicle, motorbike or bicycle or personal injury as a result of hitting a pothole.
Around 90% have spotted a deterioration of some level in the roads they use with just over 50% rating the state of their roads as ‘much worse’ in the past three years and 38% rating them ‘worse.’
Some 81% - close to 6,000 people – say they have noticed ‘many more’ potholes in the past three years, adding in the 13% who have seen ‘a few more,’ that gives a total of 94% who report more potholes.
Over 56% say they have to take avoiding action on every journey to dodge potholes, while 27% say they have to steer around a pothole every day.
While a third of IAM RoadSmart members are willing to consider new funding ideas to help improve our roads, half were against a 2p increase in fuel duty and most of those were strongly opposed.
Mike Quinton, Chief Executive Officer of IAM RoadSmart, said: “IAM RoadSmart is deeply concerned at the safety implications of drivers having to swerve to avoid potholes as well as the high level of damage and injuries revealed by our survey.
“We are looking to the authorities to work together to produce a long term and sustainable plan to reduce the backlog of road maintenance before yet another damaging winter sets things back even further.

“The figures from our survey are compelling and it is increasingly clear that those who use the roads on a daily basis are pretty much united on this one - enough time has now passed for a long term plan to be in place and for work to have started. As our survey has shown, this is now the motoring public’s number one priority.”

To download the full survey click here

The historic Silverstone circuit in England will host the 12th round of the 2018 MotoGP season. With its 5,891 metres, the English track is the longest one on the calendar and it has recently been completely resurfaced. This means that the teams and riders will begin their work with an assessment of the new surface in terms of grip and tyre wear. All with one eye on the weather forecast, which is always a point of concern when on the other side of the English Channel.

Aprilia Racing Team Gresini heads to Silverstone after a profitable day of private testing in Misano, where some engine and chassis upgrades were tested which will be useful in the rest of the season.

ALEIX ESPARGARO'
"The Misano test was fundamental for our season and for the future of the project. I suffered last year at Silverstone. I had just come from a very painful injury that compromised the entire weekend. This year I am at 100% and I really want to do well. I hope that the new asphalt solved some of the problems with the bumps on the track and that the weather will be stable."

SCOTT REDDING
"The home race always has a special flavour. The warmth of the fans and the location are something quite unique. Last year I rode a good race here. We'll have to assess the new asphalt to see about grip and aggressiveness on the tyres. We need to work with precision, session after session, in order to be as ready as possible for the race. We are coming from a good test in Misano which has boosted our confidence."

2010 Winter Olympics Gold medallist Amy Williams MBE will join established presenters Steve Parrish and Steve Plater for ITV4’s coverage of this year’s Classic TT Races presented by Bennetts.

Amy won Britain’s first solo Winter Olympics gold medal for thirty years, and the first by a woman for 58 years, with victory in the women’s skeleton bobsled. Her presenting experience includes Channel Five’s the Gadget show, BBC2’s Ski Sunday and she has appeared on Top Gear and ITV Show 71 Degrees North as well as the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea for the BBC.  

Amy Williams said:

“Road racers are unique sportsmen and I have huge admiration for anyone that tackles the TT course. I’m really looking forward to my first experience of the Isle of Man and seeing this great festival close up.”

Former World Championship and TT Racer Steve Parrish has presented the Classic TT show since it was first broadcast in 2013 and is well known to Motorcycle fans for presenting the BBC’s coverage of MotoGP.  Steve Plater is a double TT Race winner and currently appears on ITV4’s coverage of the TT Races.

ITV4 will be screening an additional show from the Classic TT Races – there will now be two hour long programmes; the first will be broadcast on Wednesday 29^th from 9pm and is currently scheduled to feature the Bennetts Senior and Dunlop Lightweight Classic TT Races.  The second programme will be broadcast at 9pm on Thursday 30^th August and will feature the RST Superbike and locate.im Junior Classic TT Races.

The definitive history of the two-stroke Suzukis, from little known machines hardly seen outside Japan to the triples that took on the world. The book covers all major markets and uses stunning contemporary photography gathered from all over the world to help owners and enthusiasts establish authenticity or simply take a trip down memory lane.

Researched and written in Japan with the full co-operation of the factory, here in definitive detail is the story of the two-stroke Suzuki bikes – a series of models that put the company on the map, helping it to survive a difficult era that saw hundreds of Japanese motorcycle makers reduced to just four.

Successful immediately, the two-stroke models defended Suzuki's honour on the tracks as well as in the showrooms, handing the company numerous world championship titles. The series has now been all but killed off, but this title helps celebrate an era when the two-stroke was king, concentrating on the 1950s through to the late-1970s.

Go click for more details