World Supersport debutant Kyle Smith has completed his first test on the Pata Honda World Supersport CBR600RR machine and is now looking forward to this weekend’s opening round at Phillip Island in Australia.

The 23-year-old British rider stepped up to world championship competition after competing in last season’s European Superstock 1000 series and has never ridden at the iconic 4.445km Phillip Island circuit.

However, Smith is satisfied with his first outings with his new team and relishing the opportunity of riding the CBR600RR that won last season’s World Supersport championship in the hands of Dutch rider Michael van der Mark.

Kyle Smith - best time 1m34.482s

Yeah, I’m happy with this test. We progressed a lot yesterday and today and the lap time dropped, which is good. Obviously, you always want more and towards the end of today’s session we tried a bunch of stuff with the bike but didn’t manage to make the little step forward that we wanted. I’d like to be a couple of tenths faster to be a little higher but I’m happy with the progression we’ve made. I think we can be there on Friday but we’ve learned an awful lot these last two days. It’s a new bike and a new track for me, but I think I can be faster again on Friday. There’ll definitely be a lot more of an attack mentality for the race weekend!

Pieter Breddels - technical co-ordinator

It’s been our first outing with our new rider, Kyle, and it’s also his first time here at Phillip Island and on our CBR machine. There is an awful lot to learn of course, and he made good progress yesterday. This morning he improved his time by more than a second over yesterday. We tried a few things but kept the bike quite close to the base with which we won last year and it seems to be the correct base to work from. That’s positive because we can use all the data for the rest of this season. Kyle is a good guy to work with – he’s really relaxed and we’re looking forward to our first race weekend with him.

Today Dunlop announces its renewed status as Official Tyre Partner of the TT Races and has extended the agreement to include Sponsorship of the Classic TT. The decision follows the tyre manufacturer's massive success at the 2014 Isle of Man TT Races and underlines their commitment to motorsport on two and four wheels.

Dunlop has had unprecedented success at the Isle of Man TT and at the 2014 TT Races took 13 out of a possible 15 podium places in the Superbike, Superstock and Supersport classes. At the Classic TT, Bruce Anstey claimed first place in the esteemed race on a Dunlop-shod Grand Prix YZR500 Yamaha.

The Classic TT Races take place between 29th and 31st August as part of the the Isle of Man Festival of Motorcycling, with three races over the famous 37 ¾ mile TT Mountain circuit, the VMCC Festival of Jurby, a stunning Parade Lap and additional activity including exhibitions of racing motorcycles, legendary rider autograph sessions and a paddock carnival.

Tony Ward, Dunlop's Brand Manager, said: "Dunlop is a company that was born to win. Ever since John Boyd Dunlop invented the pneumatic tyre to give his son competitive advantage in a tricycle race more than 125 years ago, Dunlop has been racing to win at event such as the Isle of Man TT.

"We are delighted to extend our association with the Isle of Man by becoming sponsor of the Classic TT, an event that continues to build momentum in the industry year on year."

LEON HASLAM AND JORDI TORRES ARE HARD AT WORK GETTING READY FOR THE RACES THIS WEEKEND.

EXCELLENT THIRD BEST TIME FOR THE ROOKIE, FIFTH FOR LEON HASLAM

Phillip Island (Australia), 17 February 2015 – The Superbike 2015 season opened up as usual with two days of testing on the Phillip Island track where the first two races of the season will be held on Sunday. These were two essential days of testing for the Aprilia Racing – Red Devils team following a winter break where the two new riders astride the RSV4 world champion bike often ran into unfavourable weather conditions. But yesterday and today Leon Haslam and Jordi Torres were able to get quite a bit of work done together with their respective teams to gain familiarity with the Superbike from Noale and explore all the possible settings.

The thirty-one year old English rider took on these tests focusing particularly on tyre wear, a vitally important factor for the races here at Phillip Island. In fact, the long sweeping turns and the fast nature of the track require specific consideration of this aspect, both in terms of setup and riding style. At the end of the two days Haslam expressed his satisfaction with the work done in this area, well aware of the fact that there will be time on Friday and Saturday to take full advantage of his Aprilia RSV4's full potential.

Leon Haslam: “Another positive day. This morning we tried a lot of new things over a long run and this afternoon we focused on fine tuning everything, testing more new changes without pushing to the limit to try and find our best lap time. I'm pleased with the job we did during these two days and I'm confident for the first race weekend. We still have the Friday and Saturday practice sessions which we will use to further improve some aspects of the setup and the electronics, but I'm confident that we will be very competitive in the races.”

For rookie Jordi Torres, making his début in the category, the two days of testing were also quite positive. The Spaniard improved lap by lap, increasing his familiarity with the RSV4 and working a lot on finding the best riding style for this type of bike. On a fast and demanding track like Phillip Island Torres ended the two days with the third best time (fastest lap 1’30.971) despite having lapped on used tyres for most of the sessions. This is an important calling card just a few hours from his first World Superbike race weekend. He also had a crash about an hour before the tests ended. After a highside on turn 11 Jordi suffered a slight abrasion to a finger, but nothing that will compromise his race.

Jordi Torres: “At the end of the day I'm satisfied, even if there are still a lot of aspects I need to understand better, such as the braking sections or the “tight” ride this bike requires. The RSV4 rides well, the team works great and I don't think that even the crash today will create any big problems in terms of confidence. It was a shame to have to stop the tests early because there were still a few important things to try in order to further adapt my riding style to the bike. We need to continue working like this in order to improve lap by lap.”

William Dunlop has joined the newly formed Team National Motorcycle Museum Racing for the 2015 Classic TT Races presented by Bennetts. The museum, based in the West Midlands, is home to the largest collection of British Motorcycles in the world with over 100 marques including BSA, Ariel and of course Norton.

Dunlop will ride one of the museum's original and iconic Rotary Norton bikes from the 1992 British Championship season in the Motorsport Merchandise Formula 1 Classic TT Race on Monday 31st August 2015.

Dunlop has three podium finishes in the TT Races Supersport class in the last three years and also finished runner up in the inaugural Bennetts 500cc Classic TT Race in 2013.

The Rotary Norton really came to the fore in Steve Spray's 1989 British Championship winning campaign and the 1990 TT campaign that saw Trevor Nation and William's father Robert achieving podium positions in the Formula 1 TT Race with Robert also winning the North West 200 in the same year. However the bike is most famous for Steve Hislop's 1992 Senior TT win when he rode it to victory against the might of the work's Yamaha of Carl Fogarty.

Brian Crighton, the original Rotary Norton engineer, who will be joining Team National Motorcycle Museum for the Isle of Man project commented:

"This bike was originally designed and conceived for short circuit racing so we have a lot of work to do to adapt it for the challenges of the TT Mountain Course which is a unique and hard place to race. The challenge that we are facing is very similar to the challenge that the Norton faced in 1992 adapting Steve Hislop's bike."

James Hewing, Director of the National Motorcycle Museum, commented:

"The founder of the museum Roy Richards had a huge passion for British bikes, particularly Nortons, and he always liked to see the bikes actually running rather than just being displayed. I'm sure that he would have approved of this campaign and his two sons are right behind us."

He continued:

This is a great project and I'm particularly pleased that we have got Brian Crighton on board as we couldn't even begin to try and do what we are doing without him as part of the team."

As well as the Motorsport Merchandise Formula 1 Race, the museum will also be supporting the 'Norton the Rotary Years' parade lap presented by the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company'. Scheduled for Monday 31st August, it will see fifteen Rotary Nortons appearing on the Mountain Course ridden by some of the original riders associated with the brand including Trevor Nation and Steve Spray as well as riders who will represent some of the other great names who rode the bikes including John McGuinness representing Hislop on the 588 NRS Norton. All of the bikes will also be on display throughout the four days of the Classic TT festival.

Commenting at the team launch at the MCN London Motorcycle show yesterday William said:

"With my father's history on the bike this was too good an opportunity to turn down. It was his favourite bike as it was a real challenge to ride and the Isle of Man will be a great place to race it. The Classic TT is now my favourite meeting of the year so I'm particularly excited to be on the Rotary Norton."

Ace Cafe London is privileged to announce the Spring 2015 opening of premises in Switzerland, Ace Cafe Luzern!

Located in the centre of Switzerland, surrounded by some great “twisty” roads, and in keeping with the Ace heritage and tradition of being a home and destination for all who share a passion for speed, thrills and rock n’ roll, the entirely newly built Ace Cafe Luzern will soon be hosting ride-ins, drive-ins, ride-outs and drive-outs, along with a host of meets, gigs and special events.

Ace Cafe Luzern
Sonnmatthof 2
6023 Rothenburg
Luzern
Switzerland

www.acecafeluzern.ch

For more information about what's on at the Ace, check out the scrolling calendar at: www.ace-cafe-london.com