After many years of campaigning by road safety experts, learner drivers will be allowed on motorways as of 4 June – in a move that road safety charity IAM RoadSmart has welcomed and said could save countless lives as well as reduce congestion-causing incidents.

The DVSA announced back in March that learner drivers would be able to take driving lessons on motorways in England, Scotland and Wales from 4 June.

Learners will have to be accompanied by an approved driving instructor and driving a car fitted with dual controls. Motorway lessons will be voluntary and it will be up to the instructor to decide when the learner is competent enough for them.

Neil Greig, IAM RoadSmart director of policy and research, said: “IAM RoadSmart strongly welcomes this common-sense change to the law on motorway driving.

“It has never made sense to us that new drivers on our most important roads learned how to use them by trial and potentially fatal error. The government’s insistence on the use of approved instructors and dual-controlled cars is a welcome safeguard that will ensure consistent levels of training and a proper phased introduction to motorway driving skills.

“Delays and injuries caused by driver error blight our motorways and with new systems such as smart motorways being widely introduced, it is vital that the level of knowledge and skill among motorway users is improved to keep our key economic routes flowing.

“Any current drivers who feel the need to refresh their skills or improve their confidence and enjoyment on the motorway can take an IAM RoadSmart motorway module today.”

Peter Hickman (Smiths Racing BMW) claimed his first victory at the Isle of Man TT Races, fuelled by Monster Energy, when he took a sensational RL360 Superstock race by 4.4s from Michael Dunlop (MD Racing BMW) with Dean Harrison (Silicone Engineering Kawasaki) in third.

The race saw the top three swap positions from the throughout the race but a stunning new lap record of 134.403mph on his final lap, just outside Harrison’s outright lap record from Saturday’s RST Superbike race, enabled the Burton upon Trent rider to come home in a new race record some 58.7s quicker than the old mark.

Harrison led Dunlop by three and a half seconds through Glen Helen on the first lap with Johnson in third and Rutter, Hillier and David Johnson completing the top six. But it had been a slow start to the race for Hickman who was down in an unfamiliar tenth spot after running straight on at Braddan Bridge with newcomer Davey Todd flying in ninth place.

By Ballaugh, Harrison had extended his lead to 4.4s and through Ramsey for the first time it had crept up again to 4.8s. Hickman had got going and had jumped up to third, six seconds behind Dunlop and 3.5s ahead of Rutter. Gary Johnson was in fifth and Conor Cummins in sixth as just two seconds covered fourth to eighth placed Hillier who had dropped to the back of the group.

An opening lap of 133.073mph was just a whisker outside Ian Hutchinson’s lap record from 2016 for the class and he was now 4.3s ahead of Dunlop with Hickman only a further 3.3s behind in third. The gap to Rutter was bigger, at 12.8s, with Cummins, David Johnson, Hillier and Gary Johnson now the running order as Todd completed the lap in a brilliant ninth place after a lap of 127.625mph.

As they got to Glen Helen, Harrison’s lead was up to 5.7s as Hickman closed to within 1.4s of Dunlop and by Ballaugh, he’d nosed ahead of the Ballymoney rider by 0.8s. The race was all about these three riders as Rutter was now over 22s adrift in fourth.

Through Ramsey Hairpin, Hickman had cut Harrison’s lead to 2.4s with Dunlop only 2.2s back in third. Rutter was still in fourth but his advantage over David Johnson was a slender 1.5s with Hillier only 0.8s behind the Australian. There was disappointment for Cummins though as he retired.

At the head of the field, Hickman was really pressing on and a sensational lap of 134.077mph saw him arrive at his pit stop with a 1.2s lead over Harrison with Dunlop only 1.8s behind in third, just three seconds covering the trio. David Johnson had moved up to fourth ahead of Rutter and Hillier but it was extremely tight as just one second separated the three riders.

Meanwhile, Todd became the second fastest newcomer ever with his lap 127.890mph moving him up to an unbelievable seventh place.

The pit stops shuffled the order with Dunlop hitting the front for the first time at Glen Helen on lap three, his lead over Harrison half a second with Hickman slipping back to third albeit only a further 0.7s in arrears. Johnson was holding station in fourth but Hillier had moved up to fifth at the expense of Rutter whilst Gary Johnson was another high profile retirement.

Dunlop still led at Ballaugh but only just with Hickman back up to second and only a miniscule 0.178s adrift. Harrison was still very much in contention, one second behind Hickman and Hillier had now got in front of Johnson albeit by 0.047s.

Hickman was back ahead by 0.87s as he rounded Ramsey Hairpin with Harrison now 1.7s behind Dunlop whilst the battle for fourth continued to rage, Johnson now back ahead of Hillier by 0.088s!

The scene was set for a thrilling final lap and although just 0.5s split leader Hickman and Dunlop, it looked like Harrison was racing for third as he’d slipped almost five seconds behind Dunlop.

Hickman added another eight tenths of a second to his lead at Glen Helen only for Dunlop to pull two of those tenths back on the run to Ballaugh. And by Ramsey, Dunlop’s charge continued as he brought the gap down to 0.146s.

However, Hickman responded immediately and set a sensational sector time from Ramsey to the Bungalow, the fastest ever, as he did from the Bungalow to Cronk ny Mona and a with a new lap record of 134.403mph, just a fraction outside Harrison’s outright record from Saturday, gave him his maiden TT win.

Dunlop was an eventual 4.4s back in second with Harrison in third and Johnson, Hillier and Rutter filling the top six places. Martin Jessopp, Sam West, Ivan Lintin and Todd completed the top ten, West the first privateer to finish.

Dunlop (70) extended his lead over Hickman (41) in the Joey Dunlop Championship to 29 points with Hillier in third on 40. West now leads the TT Privateer’s Championship on 58 points. 

Michael Dunlop (MD Racing Honda) took a record-breaking win in Monday’s Monster Energy Supersport race at the 2018 Isle of Man TT Races, fuelled by Monster Energy, coming home 10.2s clear of Dean Harrison (Silicone Engineering Kawasaki).

Dunlop’s second lap of 129.197mph shattered his own lap record from 2013 and it propelled him to his second win of the week and 17th in total. Harrison’s second place went some way to make up for the disappointment of retiring from Saturday’s RST Superbike race with the same applying to Peter Hickman (Trooper Beer Triumph) who took third.

Harrison led through Glen Helen on the opening lap, the Bradford rider holding a one-second lead over Dunlop with James Hillier a further two seconds behind in third. Hickman, Gary Johnson and Lee Johnston rounded out the top six.

At Ballaugh, the gap between first and second was just 0.2s and by the time they swept round Ramsey Hairpin, Dunlop was in front by a second. Hillier was now eight seconds adrift in third with Hickman still in fourth and only 0.2s behind but Conor Cummins was now up to fifth ahead of Johnson.

Dunlop’s opening lap was 128.265mph which put him 1.7s ahead of Harrison and it was now Hickman in third, his advantage over Hillier 2.5s. There were changes happening further back too with Johnston now ahead of team-mate Cummins as Johnson, Josh Brookes, Derek McGee and Jamie Coward completed the top ten.

Second time around through Glen Helen and Harrison had pulled back a tenth of a second and it now looked to be a two-horse race with Hickman now some 14.2s adrift. He’d edged away from Hillier though with the gap up to 3.3s with the gaps to Johnston and Cummins three seconds each.

On the run to Ballaugh, Dunlop added another second to his lead and by Ramsey it had increased further to 4.6s. Indeed, as he came into the pits for his solitary pit stop, a stunning new lap record of 129.197mph gave him a healthier advantage of 6.4s. Harrison was 22.7s clear of Hickman but the final podium position was still wide open with Hickman only 3.6s ahead of Hillier who, in turn, was only three seconds ahead of Johnston. Johnson, Brookes, James Cowton and McGee were filling seventh to tenth.

Hillier was now leading on the road and a superb pit stop meant he was only 0.2s adrift of Hickman at Glen Helen on lap three and over ten seconds clear of Johnston whilst Dunlop’s advantage had moved up to nine seconds. And by Ballaugh, Hillier had taken over third from Hickman albeit by 0.6s but this had doubled to 1.2s by Ramsey.

Going into the final lap, Dunlop and Harrison were now together on the road with the official gap being 9.4s and Hillier still held onto third with the difference between him and Hickman still only 1.5s. Cummins was a further 19.2s back in fifth with Johnston continuing to hold onto sixth although the gap to Johnson was down to five seconds.

The final lap saw Dunlop and Harrison circulate together and with neither having any issues, they duly came home in first and second. The duo eased back in the closing stages so much so that Harrison was only 0.258s ahead of third placed Hickman, who got the better of Hillier for the final podium position by 1.8s.

Cummins was secure in fifth but sixth place was also in doubt until the chequered flag and Brookes took the position after a final lap in excess of 126mph. Johnson, Johnston, Cowton and Ivan Lintin completed the top ten.

McGee finished in an excellent 11th to be the first privateer home ahead of Todd (12th) and Dominic Herbertson (14th)

The Joey Dunlop Championship sees Dunlop lead with a maximum of 50 points ahead of Cummins (31) and Hillier (29) while McGee now leads the TT Privateer’s Championship on 38 points from Phil Crowe (35) and Sam West (33).

Shortly after the conclusion of the Race ACU Events Ltd confirmed that newcomer Adam Lyon from Scotland had been involved in a fatal accident at Casey’s. ACU Events Ltd wishes to pass on their deepest sympathy to Adam’s family and friends.

Touching the Cloth 4 NABD Bike & Trike Rally 
Thunder Thursday with Triumph
Lincoln Bike Fest
Gasworth Jesters Charity Ride-out
Lion Rally
Rali Y Ddraig Feddw
Crackin' It Wide Open Bike Show
17th Whistle With The Wind Rally presented by Boring Old Fartz Mcc
Summer Solstice Rally
Daventry Motorcycle Festival
Garstang Autojumble
Ride4Life Isle of Wight
North East Classic Car & Motorcycle Show
Newport Shropshire Carnival
Northumberland & Borders Rally - Scatter Challenge
Triumph Bike Day @ Ace Cafe

See more details and events on THE BIKER GUIDE
www.thebikerguide.co.uk/motorbikerallyjune.html

Honda Racing’s Lee Johnston secured a solid sixth place finish in today’s opening RST Superbike race at the Isle of Man TT, aboard the Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade SP2, while teammate Ian Hutchinson retired from the six-lap race.

With the Superbike race getting underway at a slightly later time than planned, due to fog and mist across the Mountain, the Honda duo set off at 1pm local time, with Hutchy fourth and Johnston 13th on the road.

‘The General’ had strong pace from the start and quickly settled into a good rhythm aboard the CBR around the 37.73-mile Mountain circuit. Coming into the first pit stop at the end of the second lap, Johnston had moved into tenth place.

With consistent, quick lap times and fast pit stops from the super-slick Honda crew, Johnston was able to make up places throughout the race, eventually crossing the line in sixth place with a race time of 1:47:42.014 (15 seconds from fifth place).

Meanwhile teammate Hutchinson retired from the race on lap four at Governor’s Bridge. Having got a good start off the line and looking strong in the opening stages of the race, he pulled in at the end of lap four having struggled with suspension set-up on the CBR machine.

The team will now prepare for the Superstock race on Monday 4 June, ahead of the blue riband Senior TT on Friday 8 June.