Category: IOM TT - Manx Grand Prix

1. PIERFRANCESCO CHILI SET FOR 2016 CLASSIC TT RACES

   Posted on 11:00am Friday 12th Aug 2016

   Classic TT, presented by Bennetts, with the Italian attending the festival for three days.

   The ever-smiling Chili was extremely popular with the UK fans during his impressive career and will no doubt receive a great reception when he visits the island later this month. It promises to be a busy visit as he will be meeting the fans at the Paddock Carnival Chat Show on Friday 26th, attending the RST Legends Dinner on Sunday 28th and putting in an appearance at the Grandstand on Saturday’s opening Classic TT Race day. He will also be heading to the VMCC’s Festival of Jurby on Sunday 28th August where he will complete some demonstration laps on-board his former Suzuki World Superbike GSXR 750, now owned and maintained by Team Classic Suzuki.

   Now 52, Chili had an illustrious racing career that spanned over 20 years. His first major success came in 1985 when he won the 125cc European Championship. He immediately moved into the 500cc World Championship, spending a year with Suzuki before joining Honda for five years. His best year came in 1989 when, riding the NSR500cc machine, he came sixth overall, also winning that year’s Italian Grand Prix.

   Between 1991 and 1993, he contested the 250cc World Championship, riding factory Aprilias in 1991 and 1992 and then a works Yamaha in 1993, taking third overall in 1992, which included three race victories. In his eight-year GP career, he won a total of five Grand Prix races and took eleven podiums.

   However, it is probably his World Superbike Championship career that established him as such a favourite with the UK fans and, after a brief retirement in 1994, he was an ever present in WSB between 1995 and 2006, riding works Ducati and Suzuki machinery as well as competing for privateer teams.

   His best years came in 1998 and 2000 when he finished fourth overall for Ducati Corse and Alstare Suzuki respectively. He finished in the top eight of the Championship every year between 1995 and 2004.

   He claimed a total of 17 wins and 61 podiums in a World Superbike Championship career that took in 278 races before retiring at the end of the 2006 season.

   Commenting on his visit to the Isle of Man, Francesco Chili said:

   “The Isle of Man has an incredible history and I’m really looking forward to finally getting the chance to see the iconic circuit and meet some of the great TT riders and legends of road racing who I have huge respect for and find out more about this famous place. It’s gping to be a lot of fun and a great chance to meet some road racing fans.”

   Classic TT Grandstand tickets are available for Friday’s final qualifying session priced at £5. All prior qualifying sessions are free for the main Grandstand. There are also race day tickets available for both Classic TT race days on Saturday 27th and Monday 29th August as well as VIP and Platinum hospitality tickets. To purchase tickets go to iomtt.com or phone Duke Marketing on (00 44) 1624 640 011.

2. RUTTER AND DONALD FORM STRONG CLASSIC TT LINE-UP FOR RIPLEY LAND RACING

   Posted on 12:00pm Friday 29th Jul 2016

   Michael Rutter and Cameron Donald have joined forces to form a formidable looking line-up for Ripley Land Racing at the 2016 Classic TT presented by Bennetts, with Rutter hoping to make it two wins in a row in the Okells Junior Classic TT Race.

   The Bridgnorth rider will again campaign the 350cc Drixton Honda that he took to victory last year, when he also set the fastest lap of the race at 102.356mph, and he’ll be joined in the four lap race by Donald who took second in the inaugural Okells 350cc Race in 2013. Donald was also the first and only rider to lap the mountain course on a standard frame AJS 7R and was the first GP1 bike over the line. The Australian makes his first return to the event since then and will again be on board the team’s 350cc AJS 7R.

   In addition, Rutter will also ride Ian Garbutt’s MkII 500cc Seeley G50 Matchless in the Bennetts Senior Race, having ridden the machine for last two years. Rutter broke the 500cc single cylinder record in his first year on the bike in 2014 with a stunning lap of 109.102 mph and was leading the race and on course for a fairytale victory until a minor problem on the third lap caused him to retire on the Mountain Mile.

   Problems on the opening lap last year saw him lap at just 60.975mph but he gamely carried on and lapped in excess of 106mph before retiring on the final lap.

   Both Rutter and Donald will be amongst the favourites for victory in their respective races, further highlighting the credibility and importance of the Classic TT whilst Ripley Land Racing’s intentions are clear to see.

   Team owners Ian and Janet Garbutt are staunch supporters of the Classic TT, having been likewise at the Classic Manx Grand Prix before that, and with two of the two finest Mountain Course riders on their books, they’ve a superb chance of adding to their already impressive track record, which includes two victories with the recently retired Chris Palmer.

   Speaking about his team’s chances at the Classic TT, Team Owner Ian Garbutt commented:

   “We are really looking forward to the Classic TT with two riders on board who are able to get the very best out of a classic racing machine. The quality of both the machines and riders across the Classic TT continues to rise but we believe that we have what it takes to contest for places on the podium in both the Senior and Junior Races.”

   Classic TT Grandstand tickets are available for Friday’s final qualifying session priced at £5. All prior qualifying sessions are free for the main Grandstand. There are also race day tickets available for both Classic TT race days on Saturday 27th and Monday 29th August as well as VIP and Platinum hospitality tickets. To purchase tickets go to iomtt.com or phone Duke Marketing on (00 44) 1624 640011.

    

3. CLASSIC RACING LEGEND BILL SWALLOW SET FOR PATON RIDE AT 2016 CLASSIC TT

   Posted on 10:00am Wednesday 27th Jul 2016

   Veteran racer Bill Swallow will again be back on the grid at this year’s Classic TT presented by Bennetts, with the Huddersfield rider contesting both the Bennetts Senior Classic TT and Okells Junior Classic TT Races.

   The 66-year old will campaign a 500cc Paton in the Senior Race under the Gleve Racing banner with the machine owned by John Poyner and Steve Robinson. Gleve Racing, owned by Glyn and Steve Robinson are high precision engineers in Holmfirth, West Yorkshire and although Glyn has now emigrated to New Zealand, he’s still preparing machines for Bill’s son Chris who has performed giant killing feats on a 600cc Ducati against bikes twice the capacity in Post-Classic races down under.

   Swallow’s relationship with the Robinson’s goes back to the 1980’s when Glyn built Bill his first racing Ducati, a bevel drive machine in a home-made frame with the geometry of a Velo-Norton special which they won the National Twins Championship on first time out in 1987.

   Fellow Yorkshireman Poyner, also a Ducati enthusiast and with his own engineering business in Leeds, sponsored Swallow back then and has stayed with him and his racing efforts ever since, from travelling round Ireland and Europe with an Aermacchi or Velocette, to being a key member of the Brian Richards and Dick Linton teams that Swallow subsequently rode for. 

   Swallow’s second bike this year is that same 350cc Aermacchi that was last raced at the Manx Grand Prix in 1989, when he started riding for Linton after his Senior win on Fred Walmsley`s Seeley.

   If, for whatever reason, the Aermacchi is not ready, Gleve have a brand new Honda K4 for Swallow to use and, ironically, Bill won his first Classic Manx Grand Prix race on Trevor White`s K4 Honda in 1986.

   “I’m 66 now, and sort of retired to help my son Chris, so I have no aspirations to be mixing it with the young tearaways, but experience may still count for something,” says Swallow

   “I was aged 50 when I lapped at more than 108mph on a 499 Manx Norton and it took 15 years, a lot of development of bikes, a lot of course improvement and employing TT stars to beat it, and then only by a few seconds.”

   “I’ve put together an ultra-short stroke motor for the Aermacchi to supplement my original 1968 long stroke engine. The fairing on the Aermacchi is beautifully narrow and aerodynamic and based on the one designed and made by my old mechanic Trevor White and which I used in the 1978 Manx, so we are hoping that the bike, although not as fast as the Hondas and MVs, will keep gathering speed!”

   Classic TT Grandstand tickets are available for Friday’s final qualifying session priced at £5.  All prior qualifying sessions are free for the main Grandstand.  There are also race day tickets available for both Classic TT race days on Saturday 27th and Monday 29th August as well as VIP and Platinum hospitality tickets. To purchase tickets go to iomtt.com or phone Duke Marketing on (00 44) 1624 640011.

4. CUMMINS JOINS McGUINNESS AT TEAM WINFIELD FOR CLASSIC TT

   Posted on 9:00am Friday 22nd Jul 2016

   One of the most successful Classic teams in recent years, Team Winfield, will again take to the Mountain Course in 2016, continuing with a strong two-man line up for the Classic TT Races presented by Bennetts.

   The team will concentrate their efforts this year on the Bennetts Senior Classic TT race with Honda Racing team-mates John McGuinness and Conor Cummins piloting Roger Winfield’s rapid 500cc Patons.

   It’s the fourth year in a row that 23-time Isle of Man TT Race winner McGuinness has campaigned the Italian machine and both he and the team will be hoping for a change in fortune having yet to complete a race since the combination came together at the inaugural Classic TT in 2013.

   The Morecambe Missile has shown his pace in practice, with his best lap to date coming in 2014 at 112.031mph, unofficially a class lap record, but on each occasion he’s been denied the victory he craves for.

   However, there’s no doubt that the combination of McGuinness’s skill and talent and Winfield’s engineering expertise is one to be feared and they will come into this year’s event as one of the pre-race favourites again. If it all comes together on race day, McGuinness and the Paton will take some beating.

   Cummins, meanwhile, will get his first taste of the 500cc Paton with the Manxman taking over the seat usually filled by Ryan Farquhar. With the Dungannon rider continuing his recuperation following the serious injuries he sustained at the North West 200, the Ramsey Rocket has a superb chance of taking victory around his favourite Mountain Course despite only having one previous outing at the Classic TT in 2013.

   Riding the Dunnell Nortons, he was out of luck in the 500cc race but took a solid seventh in the Okells 350cc Classic TT before going on to claim an excellent second place on the Team Classic Suzuki in the Motorsport Merchandise Formula 1 Classic TT.

   Farquhar took the Paton to victory in the 500cc Classic Manx Grand Prix on no less than five occasions between 2007 and 2012 and both McGuinness and Cummins will be keen to give Winfield his maiden victory at the Classic TT.

   Speaking about this year’s Classic TT, team owner Roger Winfield said:

   “We had some terrible luck with John at the Classic TT and we hope this year will see an end to that and we can enjoy watching him complete four fast laps. There is no doubt that if he crosses the finish line, he is going to be among the leading riders and his times in practice previously make him unofficially the fastest rider ever in this class.”

   He continued:

   “We are delighted to welcome Conor back to the team. He has ridden with us at the Island Classic in Australia for the past few seasons and always done a great job. This will be his first ride on the Paton for us and there is no doubt he has the speed to be one of the favourites for victory come the race.”

   Classic TT Grandstand tickets are available for Friday’s final qualifying session priced at £5. All prior qualifying sessions are free for the main Grandstand. There are also race day tickets available for both Classic TT race days on Saturday 27th and Monday 29th as well as VIP and Platinum hospitality tickets. To purchase tickets go to iomtt.com or phone Duke Marketing on (00 44) 1624 640011.

   

5. NEW ZEALAND ROAD RACE LEGEND GRAEME CROSBY RETURNS TO THE CLASSIC TT

   Posted on 10:00am Friday 15th Jul 2016

   Isle of Man TT legend Graeme Crosby will return to the island later this year as one of the special guests at the 2016 Classic TT presented by Bennetts.

   The New Zealander will be riding his original factory XR69 1000cc Suzuki now owned by Team Classic Suzuki, which took him to so much success in the early 1980s both on the roads and the short circuits.

   Croz, as he’s affectionately known, will also be meeting the fans and taking an active part in the Festival of Jurby, which takes place on Sunday August 28th, between the two race days, as well as taking to the Mountain Course again for Monday’s Classic Racer Magazine Lap of Honour.

   Crosby made his debut at the Isle of Man TT Races in 1979 where he made an immediate impact, taking a brilliant fourth on the Moriwaki Kawasaki in the Formula One race. A strong season in the UK saw him snapped up by the works Heron Suzuki for the following two seasons where he enjoyed some of his greatest success.

   Riding the iconic XR69 Suzuki, Crosby won both the 1980 and 1981 World Formula One Championships and took the bike to victory in the 1981 Formula One and Classic TT races, the latter seeing him lap just eight tenths of a second outside the outright lap record. He also rode an RG500 Suzuki to victory in the 1980 Senior TT giving him a career total of three TT wins.

   Crosby’s short TT career only lasted three years - from 1979 to 1981 - but in that time he took three wins, a second and a fourth from his seven races. Indeed, had he competed more on the Mountain Course, it’s fair to say he would have won numerous more races as he battled with the likes of Joey Dunlop, Ron Haslam, Mick Grant and Charlie Williams.

   In 1982, Crosby joined Marlboro Yamaha, managed by ten-time TT winner Giacomo Agostini, as he concentrated on his GP career and he ended the year in second overall. However, disillusioned by the politics within the sport, he quit at the end of the year at the age of just 27, although he continued to have occasional outings over the next few years including the Transatlantic Trophy and Suzuka 8-Hours.

   Although a GP win ultimately eluded him, Crosby had a highly successful career and, in addition to his Isle of Man TT race wins, he had the unique honour of also winning the prestigious Daytona 200 and Imola 200 races as well as the Suzuka 8-Hours. He also gave Heron Suzuki British Championship success in the 500cc and Formula One categories.

   Speaking about the Classic TT, Graeme commented:

   “I’ve only missed one Classic TT since it was introduced and it is one of my favourite events of the year. I really enjoy the Classic racing scene and am actively involved in supporting riders by building classic race bikes. I’m looking forward to catching up with all the fans on the Isle of Man once more as well as getting a run out on the XR69 with Team Classic Suzuki.”

   Classic TT Grandstand tickets are available for Friday’s final qualifying session priced at £5. All prior qualifying sessions are free for the main Grandstand. There are also race day tickets available for both Classic TT race days on Saturday 27th and Monday 29th as well as VIP and Platinum hospitality tickets. To purchase tickets go to iomtt.com or phone Duke Marketing on (00 44) 1624 640011.