This year’s Bennetts Senior Classic TT Race will again signal the start of the 2018 Race programme for the Classic TT Races presented by Bennetts and with an 80-strong grid, another fiercely contested Mountain Course Race is expected.

Heading the entry at number one is 2016 Race winner and current Senior Classic TT Race lap record holder John McGuinness who returns on the Team Winfield Paton. After almost 18 months out of racing, 23-time TT winner McGuinness’s comeback is eagerly anticipated.

The twin-cylinder Paton has won no less than four of the five previous Senior Classic TT Races but there are plenty of other riders capable of stopping their domination, perhaps none more so than ten-time TT winner Ian Lougher (#5) on the John Chapman Racing MV Agusta. Lougher won the race in 2014 and will certainly be aiming for the top step again.

Maria Costello (#10), third in 2016 and fourth last year, will again be mounted on the Team Beugger Racing Paton but perhaps the biggest threat to the Italian multi-cylinder machines will come from the three pronged attack of the Davies Motorsport Honda team.

Works Honda TT rider Lee Johnston will, arguably, be their strongest challenger as he sets off at number 13 but both Alan Oversby (#2) and Dominic Herbertson (#8) will be pushing for a podium - at least - with the latter finishing in fifth place twelve months ago.

The field is packed with potential rostrum men riding British machines led by last year’s runner-up Jamie Coward (#3) on the Ted Woof/Craven Manx Norton. The Yorkshire rider has the distinction of setting the fastest ever lap on a British single-cylinder machine during last year’s meeting.

Six-time TT winner Michael Rutter (#4) will again ride the Ripley Land Racing Matchless with former World Championship 125cc and Moto3^TM competitor Danny Webb (#17) on board the Dunnell Racing Norton with Michael Russell (#19) riding a similar machine for Izzard Racing.

Olie Linsdell, the maiden winner of the Senior Classic TT Race in 2013, will again be on the Flitwick Motorcycles/Steve Bond Royal Enfield, this time with the number nine plate, while the CSC Racing Honda pairing of Daniel Cooper (#11) and James Hillier (#14) and the father and son duo of Bill and Chris Swallow also feature in the top twenty. Bill goes at number 15 on a Ducati while Chris is a place behind on the grid on another Royal Enfield.

Austrian ace Horst Saiger rounds out the top twenty on the Egli Motorradtechnik Vincent machine but there is also quality throughout the field and other riders outside the top twenty include Mark Parrett (Norton), Mark Herbertson (Matchless), Peter Boast (D&M Engineering Honda), Phil McGurk (Dave Hardman BSA), Dave Matravers (Round Oak Services Paton), Steve Ferguson (Greenall Racing Honda) and John Barton (Wemoto.com Matchless).

The Welsh family of Hefyn, Bob and Mereydd Owen are back for another attempt as are David Madsen-Mygdal, Lancelot Unissart, John-Leigh Pemberton, Alex Sinclair and Chris McGahan.

Josh Daley, Matt Mylchreest, Barry Lee Evans and Dean Osborne are amongst the debutantes in the four-lap race which is scheduled to get underway at 11.00am on Saturday 25th August.

Classic TT Grandstand tickets are available now starting from as little at £5 with race day tickets priced at £30. VIP experiences, tickets for the Classic TT Party on Saturday 25th August and the RST Classic TT Heroes Dinner on Sunday 26th August are all available to buy now at iomtt.com

Midlands based Davies Motorsport will continue their association with the Classic TT Races presented by Bennetts, in 2018 with one of the strongest line up on the grid at this year’s event.

The team will again run three riders with Alan Oversby and Dominic Herbertson joined by new recruit Lee Johnston contesting the Bennetts Senior Classic TT and Junior Classic TT Races on their latest-spec Honda machines.

The team has been a mainstay at the event since the inaugural year of 2013. William Dunlop and Oversby represented them ever year and achieved four podiums.

Dunlop took second in the 2013 Bennetts 500cc Classic TT, before recording third in the same race twelve months ago while Oversby finished in third place in the 350cc Classic TT Race in 2014.

The Grange-over-Sands rider led in the early stages and lapped at an impressive 104.140mph before having to settle for second behind eventual race winner Johnston.  He also added another podium to his name in 2016 with third in the same race. 

Johnston will have his first taste of the Honda machinery having previously campaigned MV Agustas for Black Eagle Racing - winning in 2014, as well as finishing second in the corresponding race last year. He still holds the Junior lap record at 105.239mph while he also took third place in the 2015 Bennetts Senior Classic TT Race.

Rising star Herbertson made his first impression at the Classic TT in 2016 when he finished sixth in the Bennetts Senior Race. That brought him to the attention of Davies Motorsport and he rode superbly for them in 2017, finishing fourth and fifth in the Junior and Senior races respectively. He lapped at more than 108mph in the Senior Race and also had his best ever TT earlier this year as he lapped at close to 128mph on his way to twelfth in the RL360 Superstock Race.

With all three riders having proven pedigree around the Mountain Course, they are sure to be among the race favourites for the two four-lap races.

Davies Motorsport have been long-time front runners on the Classic racing scene and the team is headed up by John Davies, who sponsored numerous high profile riders in the 1980s and 90s including Alex Bedford, Kevin Mitchell, Neil Hodgson and Steve Thompson. 

Davies himself was a regular competitor at the Manx Grand Prix between 1978 and 1997, with his best finishes being second in the 1978 Senior Newcomers race and a brace of fourths in the 1986 and 1987 Lightweight 250cc Races. He also campaigned a 500cc Grand Prix Harris Yamaha for the Padgetts team.

Specialising in Honda machinery, nephew Colin Davies handles all the technical aspects for the team and he too has a wealth of experience at all levels including numerous years as technician to Kevin Schwantz at Lucky Strike Suzuki where together they won the 1993 500cc World Championship.

Forecasted rain this week could make roads slippery after the heatwave warns the Road Surface Treatments Association (RSTA).

There are two reasons why motorists should slow down and drive with care on roads that are wet after a heatwave. Firstly, during periods of prolonged hot weather the bitumen in asphalt roads becomes more mobile and can sometime ‘bleed’ through to the surface. This reduces the texture depth and wet skidding resistance. In extreme conditions, like those experienced this summer, councils will apply grit to the road surface to increase its skid resistance. Secondly, dry roads often have a build-up of rubber and oil particles. When it rains these substances can mix with water and create a greasy layer that can become very slippery.

“Wet roads after a prolonged hot, dry period can become slippery. In addition to ensuring that their tyres are in good condition and properly inflated, motorists should slow down and drive with care”, warned Howard Robinson, RSTA chief executive.

He continued: “Just like the freezing and ice of the winter, summer’s high temperatures underline how essential it is to ensure that roads are maintained to a correct standard. Unfortunately, continued cutbacks to highway budgets means that councils cannot afford the necessary programmes of long-term maintenance and surface dressing to ensure pothole-free, skid resistant roads.”

Thrilling racing and a close finish are expected to be the order of the day in the Locate.im Junior Classic TT at this year’s Classic TT Races presented by Bennetts with a grid of almost 80 entries featuring many of the world’s leading road racers.

Last year’s winner Michael Rutter returns with the Ripley Land Racing Honda which he also took to victory in 2015 and he will set off at number four again in a race which looks set to be dominated by the Japanese marque.

The Davies Motorsport trio of Alan Oversby (#2), Dominic Herbertson (#8) and 2014 race winner Lee Johnston (#13) are all race contenders as is Jamie Coward (#3) returns on board the Ted Woof/Craven Honda that he took to third place twelve months ago.

Daniel Cooper on the CSC Racing Honda has the honour of setting off first down Glencrutchery Road and he will be looking to get back on to the Classic TT podium for the first time since 2014.

Rutter has a team-mate this year in the shape of Derek McGee - the Irish rider, who achieved his maiden TT podium in this year’s Lightweight TT Race – who will go ten seconds behind his team leader with Olie Linsdell (#9), Conor Cummins (#10) and Phil McGurk (#11) adding further weight to the Honda challenge.

Only two of the first ten starters won’t be Honda mounted - Danny Webb (#6) on the Dunnell Racing Norton and Chris Swallow (#8) on his Velocette both fly the British flag.

Classic racing legend Bill Swallow (#17) is also on board a Velocette and aside from Bob Owen (#20) on an Aermacchi, the remaining top twenty all on the favoured 350cc single cylinder Honda with Hefyn Owen (#14), Alex Sinclair (#15), David Madsen-Mygdal (#16), Peter Boast (#18) and Steve Ferguson (#19) all top ten contenders.

There are a number of other riders more than capable of finishing inside the top ten seeded outside of the top twenty including Chris McGahan (#21), Mark Herbertson (#22), Dave Matravers (#26), Chris Moore (#30), Lancelot Unissart (#33) and Sam Johnson (#39). A number of regular TT competitors have also entered the Junior Classic TT Race including Timothee Monot, Dave Moffitt  and Forest Dunn.

The four-lap race is scheduled to get underway at 10.15am on Monday 27^th August. 

Classic TT Grandstand tickets are available now starting from as little at £5 with race day tickets priced at £30. VIP experiences, tickets for the Classic TT Party on Saturday 25^th August and the RST Classic TT Heroes Dinner on Sunday 26^th August are all available to buy now at iomtt.com or via our sales hotline on (00 44) (0) 1624 640011.