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  1. Museum LIVE 2016

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    Saturday 05/11/16 will see the museum host the 3rd annual free open day when everyone will be invited to visit the museum collection free of charge. There will also be a host of other free attractions including our amazing “stars on stage” feature which is presented in association with wheel builders to the museum, Central Wheel Components Ltd.

    Meet The Experts: In attendance will be some of the museum’s specialist suppliers, craftsmen, and related personalities (including our own restoration team) who will be available to chat and answer questions. Also unveiled at the event will is an exciting new permanent display “the history of wheel building” presented by wheel builders to the museum, Central Wheel Components Ltd.

    Meet the following -

    The Museum Restoration Team.

    Brian Crighton & Dave Hickman (Rotary Norton Race Machines).

    Ivan Rhodes (Velocette Guru).

    Fred Walmsley (2016 Goodwood Revival Winning Classic Race Tuner).

    Les Williams, John Woodward, Arthur Jakeman & Norman Hyde (Triumph Race Shop).

    Ken Sprayson (“The Frame Man”).

    Central Wheel Components Ltd (Wheel Builders To The Museum).

    Calibre Customs (Machine Painters To The Museum).

    Redditch Shot Blasting (Machine Component Preparation & Coatings To The Museum).

    Stars on Stage In Association With Central Wheel Components Ltd: Racing legends CARL FOGARTY MBE & JAMIE WHITHAM will again host two special FREE TO ENTER “stars on stage” features at 11am & 2pm

    Held on the stage in the museum’s magnificent Britannia suite these free 1 hour chat shows will feature Carl & Jamie as well as other motorcycling personalities. Appearing courtesy of Phil Morris Racing two very special guests will include TT superstar IAN HUTCHINSON and Moto GP star & British Superbike front runner JAMES ELLISON. All our guest stars will also be making personal appearances to sign your favourite memorabilia. Motorcycle journalist and author Frank Melling will also be giving a talk on his life in bikes and his two recent autobiographies.

    Our star riders will be “riding” & posting their fastest times our new Manx TT arcade machine! Can you beat them?

    Full Star Rider line up now confirmed

    Carl Fogarty, Jamie Whitham, Ian Hutchinson, John McGuinness, James Ellison, Maria Costello, John Cooper & Chris Vincent.

    NEW FOR 2016!

    Museum Live “Start Up” Feature: See & HEAR some of the most famous race machines in the world started up in our special LIVE START UP area. Bikes old and new will include the Hislop “White Charger” Rotary Norton, NVT Cosworth Challenge, Vincent “Super Nero” sprinter, the Phil Morris Racing owned 2012 ART GP12 Moto GP bike (ex-James Ellison), plus many others including genuine Moto GP Ducati’s and WSB/WSS machinery-not to be missed! See attached images.

    Just some of the guest machines that will be on display with a number being fired upas part of our new “Start Up” feature-

    2012 ART GP12 Moto GP (ex-James Ellison),1972 TZ700 Yamaha, 2003 Honda 1000 TT Superbike (ex- Ian Lougher), 1975 MV Agusta 500cc Triple,1969 Paton 500cc (ex-factory), 2012 Moto2 FTR (ex Ratthapark Wilairot), 2011 Moto2 FTR (ex- Karol Abrahams), 2008 Ducati Desmosedici MotoGP (ex-Casey Stoner Silverstone GP Winner), 2003 Ducati Desmosedici 990cc (ex- Troy Bayliss), 1963  Bianchi 498cc Twin(ex-factory) , 1996 Ducati 916 Old Spice BSB, 1996 Castrol Honda WSS (ex-James Toseland) , 2000 Vimto Honda SP1, 1969 Benelli 4Cyl. 

    Museum Bikes That You Can Hear “Fired Up”-

    Senior TT winning “White Charger” rotary Norton (ex-Steve Hislop) , NVT Cosworth Challenge, Vincent “Super Nero” sprinter.

    Catering & entertainment: The Museum shop and restaurant will be open throughout the event. A wide variety of catering will be on offer including breakfast, lunch, a range of hot meals & snacks.

    In addition to the museum restaurant, this year’s event will feature

    The Bracebridge Suite- Licensed bar with entertainment from jazz band “The Moonlight Trio”.

    The Ballacraine Suite- New Food Hall with lots of great dishes freshly prepared by our chefs including our famous Katsu curry!   

    BBQ-There will also be a BBQ with lots of delicious favourites prepared by our own chefs.

    To assist visitors, everyone arriving on site will be given a free timetable with a full list & timings of all the day’s exciting, free, events.

    This timetable will also be available to view on the event webpage

     

  2. Grassia takes crucial maiden EJC win at Magny-Cours

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    Paolo Grassia (Chiodo Moto Racing) has come out victorious at the end of the enthralling 11-lap, sixth-round race of the Wil Sport European Junior Cup, powered by Honda, which was contested today at the Magny-Cours circuit in central France. This is a crucial maiden win in the series for the 16-year-old Italian, who not only denied Mika Perez (Granshagen Racing Team) an early title win, but also dramatically improved his own chances for the ultimate prize.

    The opening of the race saw Hungary’s Richard Bodis (H-Moto Team) and Mika Perez swapping positions between themselves several times, with a nine-way pack locked together at the front. The battle for the win continued with Grassia trying to dictate the pace on the five rivals left for the win. It wasn’t until the penultimate lap that Grassia managed to pull away, eventually crossing the line with a two-second advantage over team mate Alfonso Coppola. Dorian Laville (Team Laville Mi&Do) completed the podium in third place, ahead of Perez and Lausitzring race winner Harun Cabuk (KNN54-TMF).

    Early leaders Bodis and Giuseppe de Gruttola (SK-Racing Team) crashed out at turn 13 on lap 10, while fighting for the win. Avalon Biddle (Avalon Biddle Racing) successfully retained the FIM Europe Women’s Cup title courtesy of today’s 11th overall finish.

    With only the doubleheader at Jerez left in the season, Perez still holds a healthy 25-point lead over Grassia, with Laville (-38) and Coppola (-46) still mathematically in contention for the title.

  3. IAM RoadSmart roars back to “Motorcycle Live”

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    Leading independent road safety charity IAM RoadSmart has announced today it will be returning to the MCIA’s Motorcycle Live in November for the first time in five years.

    The show is the UK’s biggest motorcycle event all year, and is billed as a fun-packed family day out with opportunities not only to see the best the bike world has to offer but a chance to meet the stars, and for kids and adults to experience riding for themselves on a special indoor course. Until this year the charity was known as the Institute of Advanced Motorists, but in its 60th anniversary year has become IAM RoadSmart as it looks to attract new drivers and riders to the world of enjoyable and safe driving and riding.

    IAM RoadSmart introduced the advanced motorcycle test in 1976. Since its establishment in 1956 more than half-a-million people have taken either the advanced driving of riding course. 

    Sarah Sillars, IAM RoadSmart chief executive officer, said: “We are very much looking forward to being at Motorcycle Live – it is a colourful and vibrant show and represents everything that is fantastic in the world of motorbikes. It’s a good fun day out – take the family.

    “We are keen to show that you can ride safely and have fun at the same time. Learning those amazing road skills and showing you have the ability to handle any situation is a very satisfying thing, and we want to empower bikers in this way.”

    Motorcycle Live takes place at the Birmingham NEC from 19-27 November. IAM RoadSmart will be in Hall 2 Stand 2C44.

    For more information visit www.motorcyclelive.co.uk - come along and say hello.

  4. Shakey retains his championship lead at TT Circuit Assen with two podium finishes

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    • Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne finishes 2nd in both races
    • Rookie Glenn Irwin scores more solid points
    • Alex Polita gets up to speed with his new Lloyds British MotoRapido BSB Team
    Two 2nd place finishes by Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne at the TT Circuit Assen keeps the Be Wiser Ducati Team rider at the top of the championship with just one round to left to decide the 2016 British Superbike champion.
     
    Race 1
     
    Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne (Be Wiser Ducati) started from pole after setting a new lap record in qualifying yesterday but James Ellison (JG Speedfit Kawasaki) got the better of him as the riders entered the first corner, before he was then passed by Luke Mossey (Quattro Plant Kawasaki).
     
    By Lap 2 it was the six showdown riders who were the top 6 on track and it wasn’t long before Shakey made his way back up to the front of the pack.
     
    On Lap 10 Leon Haslam (JG Speedfit Kawasaki) had taken the lead from Shakey and went on to swap places with his teammate Ellison with Shakey being dropped down to third once again.
     
    On Lap 12 Shakey passed Ellsion for 2nd and then made a lunge on Haslam to lead once more. Haslam was looking to make amends for his disappointing home round at Donington and passed Shakey once more. The two riders entertained with plenty of close racing with Shakey eventually finishing the race just one hundredth of a second behind Haslam.
     
    Shakeys’ teammate Glenn Irwin had lined up in 12th and despite a poor start managed to cross the line in 11th place.
     
    In his first race of the season for the Lloyds British MotoRapido Ducati Team, Alex Polita stalled his bike on the grid, dropping him to the back of the field. But the Italian regained his composure to move up the field, eventually finishing in 23rd.
     
     
    Race 2
     
    A poor start from the second row of the grid saw Shakey languishing in 12th place with title rival Haslam at the front of the leading pack.  On the second lap he had moved up to 11th and by the end of lap 4 was up to 8th behind Billy McConnell (FS-3 racing). After passing McConnell Shakey caught up to the leading group of riders, finding himself behind Richard Cooper (Buildbase BMW Motorrad) in 7th.
     
    Irwin had started from 17th position and at this point was now running in 15th, while Polita had moved from 24th up to 21st.
     
    At two-thirds race distance Polita was up to 18th, but out at the front Shakey was finally able to get past Cooper, before going on to take Luke Mossey (Quattro Plant Teccare Kawasaki) for 5th place.
     
    Shakey was now on a charge, passing Dan Linfoot (Honda Racing), Jason O’Halloran (Honda Racing), and then Ellison before hunting down the race leader. Despite his best efforts Shakey finished just behind Haslam, ensuring he minimised any reduction in championship lead between the two title contenders.
     
    Irwin finished in the points again in 12th position, while Polita wrapped up his first race weekend with a new team and bike in 18th position.
     
    Following his two 2nd place finishes, Shakey heads into the final round at Brands Hatch GP continuing to lead the championship, the Be Wiser Ducati rider now holding a 17 points advantage over rival Haslam.
     
    Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne
    “The first race was good for me because we have not used the hard tyre in the Ducati before. We had an 8 lap run with the bike on the Friday but I had no idea what the tyre would do over a race distance. With the temperature being so cold we had no choice but to run the harder tyre, so to use a tyre that doesn’t work so well and run Leon (Haslam) so close to the line gives me a lot of confidence.
     
    I think I had the worst start in my career [Race 2], I let go of the clutch and the bike bulked so much so that I had to have another stab at the clutch. The bike reared up so I had to roll off again, so before I knew it I was back in 12th. It was a disastrous start but I made some passes and got to the back of Richard Cooper. Richard is a small guy on a rocket ship so I struggled to get by. At one point I realised I had only five or six laps to go and I could see I still had six guys in front of me and I needed to at least be second behind Leon. I got past Richard and then made a move towards the front and got on to the back of Leon, but he was incredibly strong. I am really happy with the result because the cold weather here in Assen forced us to use the hard tyre for the first time hopefully we can get some warmer weather at Brands and we might be able to run on our preferred tyres. We have a learnt a lot from Assen so I look forward to Brands Hatch and three races but I definitely don’t want to finish second in all those races.”
     
    Glenn Irwin
    “We’ve shown that we’ve got good pace. Definitely. And I’m really happy with after where we were with the last race and not being well and the difficult round at Oulton. We’ve kept it upright all weekend and we’ve been quick. I’ll be the first to admit it I’ve been feeling the pressure a bit about trying to secure my deal next year, so I know I’m not riding the way I can. If I had that pressure off me it might help me a little bit. I don’t think we’ve run as much fuel at other circuits, I’m learning all this. It’s a heavy fuel load here and it’s something that I struggle to brake deep with at the beginning of the race. Once we get past that bit it’s like a different race. It’s nothing to do with tyre wear or anything like that. If you look at my tyre in parc fermé my tyres were maybe worse than some of the ones that passed. It’s a lot to learn for me, I’m a rookie still and I need to understand a heavier bike.”

  5. Rob Guiver leads the Ducati TriOptions Cup championship once more while Sean Neary gets that elusive first win

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    • Guiver overtakes and extends championship lead over Morris
    • Neary claims his first victory after a series of 2nd place finishes
    • First double podium for the Boast Plumbing team
    Race 1
     
    Rob Guiver (Hyside Motorcycles) started race 1 at TT Circuit Assen from pole, having qualified half a second ahead of the field. But it was the current championship leader Leon Morris (Carl Cox Motorsport/P&H Motorcycles) that got the holeshot from 3rd on the grid to temporarily take the lead into the first corner ahead of Guiver and Sean Neary (Zoek Racing Team).
     
    As the race went on Guiver and Neary were pulling away from the rest of the field and by half race distance had a gap of more than 2 seconds over Robbie Brown (Boast Plumbing) who was now in 3rd place and coming under pressure from his teammate Jonathan Railton.
     
    By the final lap Guiver and Neary had extended their lead to 4 seconds. Despite his best efforts Neary was unable to make a pass for the lead and finished in 2nd place with Guiver taking the chequered flag and his 8th win of the season, overtaking Morris in the championship standings. Jonathan Railton (Boast Plumbing) took the final podium position, his first for 2 years.
     
    Rob Guiver - Hyside Motorcycles
    “I thought it was Leon behind me the whole race, because it was Leon who had the holeshot and I passed him. I just saw +0, +0, +0 on my board. Whenever I get in that situation I just try and stay calm and see where they attack me really. And obviously Sean never had a go. So on the last lap I thought if anyone was going to pass it would be into that final chicane. So I really set myself up for a good half a last lap and as soon as I went into the chicane I knew I’d got it. So it’s fantastic. And with Leon to finish in 5th makes it even better for me really.”
     
     
    Race 2
     
    After setting the fastest lap in Race 1 it was Railton who lined up in pole, but championship leader Guiver made the most of his front row start in 2nd to take the lead going into the first corner before being passed later on the opening lap by Neary.
     
    Following a brief safety car period the race restarted on Lap 3 with Neary immediately making good progress and going on to take a 1 second lead. By half race distance Neary led with Railton, Morris, Louis Dawson (Wolverhampton Ducati) and Guiver making up the rest of the top 5.
     
    Railton was starting to chase down Neary down and was able to make a pass but Neary never let him out of his sight, retaking the lead on the penultimate lap and going on to win his first ever Ducati TriOptions Cup race.
     
    Railton took second, with his Boast Plumbing teammate Brown taking the last podium position. Guiver finished just in front of Morris in 4th to extend his new championship lead by another 2 points. He now sits at the top of the standings with 262 points.
     
    Sean Neary – Zoek Racing
    “The front tyre was absolutely finished by the end. But I would rather not finish than finish 2nd again. I really wanted that win. I’m so happy for the Zoek Racing team and all the boys, Ducati Coventry, all the people who’ve stood by me and backed me. It’s a great present for them. Just need to get more of them now.”
     
    The Ducati TriOptions Cup heads to Brands Hatch in 2 weeks round for the final round. Rob Guiver holds an 8 point lead over nearest rival Leon Morris.
     
    Championship points:
     
    1. Rob Guiver           262
    2. Leon Morris          254
    3. Sean Neary          239