Category: IOM TT - Manx Grand Prix

1. ELECTRIC BIKES PREPARE FOR SES TT ZERO RACE

   Posted on 12:00pm Tuesday 7th Jun 2016

   The zero emission electric bikes are preparing for today’s SES TT Zero at the 2016 Isle of Man TT Races fuelled by Monster Energy and the Mugen outfit, winners of the SES TT Zero in 2014 and 2015 with John McGuinness, will again be the team to beat.

   The Japanese based team and Morecambe rider John McGuinness shattered their own lap record with a time of 119.279 (18:58.743) and already speculation is turning to the first 120mph lap in the class. McGuinness’s closest challenger is expected to be teammate Bruce Anstey and the New Zealander will be looking to improve on his own runner up spot in last year’s race.

   However the Mugen pair can expect close competition from a number of teams in this year’s SES TT Zero Race including Victory Racing. William Dunlop will be representing the American based team who will campaign their all-new Victory RR machine and the team managed to clock an impressive 115mph in qualifying.

   Belgian outfit Sarolea returns with a two-man outfit with Bradford’s Dean Harrison joining Northern Ireland rider Lee Johnston, who finished on the podium in last year’s race, for their third year of competing in the race. The team finished an agonising 0.4 seconds off the podium in their debut year in 2014 and broke the 100mph barrier in 2015 with a lap of 106.510mph. This year’s effort will see them run their new SP7 machine, which has been under wraps so far in qualifying, in two different colours.

   Timothee Monet completes the international flavour of the field with the French rider on the Lito for the TMR team.

   The battle of the University teams is expected to be a race within a race with perennial challengers Nottingham University running two riders – Rob Barber, the 2009 TTxGP winner and Daley Mathison – on their UoN Electric 1 machines while Matthew Rees will ride for debut outfit University of Bath, whose engineering team are behind the Odin machine. Shaun Anderson is competing for the Custom Build team from Kingston University while South African Allan Venter is representing Brunel.

   As a tribute to Michael Czysz, the electric motorcycle pioneer whose MotoCzysz outfit won four consecutive races between 2010 and 2013, all of the competing bikes will wear a MotoCzysz decal.

   The SES TT Zero will get underway at 4.10pm (GMT). You can follow all the action via live timing on iomtt.com

2. HUTCHY AT THE DOUBLE IN RECORD BREAKING RL360 QUANTUM SUPERSTOCK RACE

   Posted on 5:00pm Monday 6th Jun 2016

   Ian Hutchinson made it two wins in a day when he smashed the lap and race records in Monday afternoon’s RL360 Quantum Superstock TT race, the Tyco BMW rider leading from start to finish to take victory by 27 seconds. 

   With an opening lap of 133.098mph, it was the Bingley rider’s 13th TT race win as Dean Harrison and James Hillier battled all the way for the runner up position, Harrison clinching it by just one second.

   As he had done earlier in the morning, Hutchinson blazed a trail from the off and he was again leading at Glen Helen on the opening lap, his advantage over Michael Dunlop two seconds with Gary Johnson a similar distance behind in third. It was close behind the leading trio with Michael Rutter, Peter Hickman and Hillier separated by just three-quarters of a second.

   It was clear Hutchinson was putting in a remarkable lap and so it proved as he flashed across the line at a speed of 133.098mph, faster than he’d done in Saturday’s RST Superbike race. The gap to Dunlop had grown to 15.9s but the Ulsterman was in trouble, pulling into the pits with a broken gear lever. Hillier had moved up to third with Harrison, Johnson and Lee Johnston now the top six.

   Hutchinson was by now leading on the road and with Dunlop out, retiring in the pits, his advantage over Hillier shot up to 24s at Glen Helen and he continued to increase his lead throughout the lap. Indeed, with a second lap of 132.93mph, the gap to Hillier had grown to 32.7s with the Kawasaki rider enjoying a six second lead over Harrison.

   Johnston was now fourth ahead of Rutter and Gary Johnson as Bruce Anstey and Peter Hickman also retired. Meanwhile, 12th placed Ivan Lintin picked up a pit-lane speeding penalty dropping him down the order.

   With a commanding lead, Hutchinson could control the race from the front and that’s exactly what he did over the next two laps with his final lap being over 129mph.

   However, the battle for second and third was raging between Hillier and Harrison with just over a second dividing them on the third lap while there was also a four-way battle going on for fourth between John McGuinness – who again gained time at the pit stop - Johnston, Johnson and Rutter.

   Harrison had now overtaken Rutter on the road and the pair of them both lapped at over 131mph on their final laps which enabled Dean to take second and Rutter fourth, Hillier just missing out on second by 1.9s. Rutter got the better of Johnson for fourth by 3.2s and with Johnston retiring at Sulby Crossroads, McGuinness took sixth.

   Conor Cummins, William Dunlop, Steve Mercer and David Johnson rounded out the top ten, having missed out in the morning’s race.

   Hutchinson has now moved to the top of the race for the Joey Dunlop Championship with 70 points and with Dunlop retiring, Harrison movea up to second on 47 points with Dunlop remaining on 45 in third.

   Meanwhile, Dan Hegarty was again the top privateer in an excellent 11th place. Horst Saiger was the second privateer home in 13th overall with Jamie Coward third and 14th overall.

   Hegarty leads the overall privateers table on 50pts followed by Coward on 47 and Saiger 46.

3. NEW LIVE TEXT TRANSCRIPT SERVICE AVAILABLE VIA IOMTT.COM FOR DEAF AND HARD OF HEARING

   Posted on 10:00am Saturday 4th Jun 2016

   This year the Isle of Man TT Races will become more accessible to deaf, deafened and hard of hearing people.

   Available now, TT fans around the world will have access to a live text transcript of the race commentary via the TTLive service on the iomtt.com website.

   The Manx Deaf society has arranged stenographers to provide subtitle text for the Vauxhall Radio TT commentary on all four race days which is accessible on any smart phone, tablet or PC with an internet connection.

   Duke and RL360 have sponsored the ground-breaking new service.

   Natalie Hall, RL360°’s Director of Marketing, said:

   “RL360° is extremely proud to be linked to this pioneering project. The TT is a global event and, as such, should be as accessible as possible to all. As the longest running race sponsor at the event, RL360° is fully behind the work the Manx Deaf Society is doing.”

   Adam Duke from Duke worked with the Palantypist team at www.mycleartext.com to develop the live subtitling system which is now integrated into the TTLive service.

   Adam commented:

   “Duke is delighted to partner with the Manx Deaf Society and create this transformative new service which will improve accessibility of this great event and benefit all followers of the TT. We can't wait for TT fans world-wide to enjoy the racing using the new system."

   In addition to the new TT Live system, on Senior Race Day a British Sign Language interpreter will provide signed commentary of the racing action at the TT Grandstand. Members of the Isle of Man Deaf community will enjoy VIP Grandstand seating thanks to sponsorship by Process 42 Limited. David Ronan will also take the group on a tour of the tower.

   Ian Buxton, Chair of Manx Deaf Society said:

   "If you take away the scoring and the commentary at a football match any fan would lose interest very quickly. Now imagine watching the TT with no sound and no commentary to explain what is happening. It is pretty hard to follow with hearing, impossible without, until now. Like many things on the Isle of Man, D/deaf TT idea grew more legs than expected!

   We don’t think that there has been a major motor racing event with simultaneous BSL and subtitle support before. This could be a world first for the Isle of Man.

   A donation button has been added on the commentary box for fans of the TT to send Manx Deaf Society a donation to help with the costs of providing the expert BSL Interpreter and Palantypist support to make this happen for everyone."

4. REEVES/FARRANCE MOVE TO TOP OF SURE SIDECAR QUALIFYING LEADERBOARD

   Posted on 1:00pm Friday 3rd Jun 2016

   Tim Reeves and Patrick Farrance upped the ante in qualifying for the two Sure Mobile Formula Two sidecar races with a best lap of 114.83mph to send them to the top of the leaderboard.

   17-times TT winner Dave Molyneux, with Dan Sayle in the chair, wasn’t too far behind with another 114mph plus lap as Ben and Tom Birchall also put themselves in contention.

   Keen to make up for lost time, with only one lap under their belt in earlier outings, Molyneux/Sayle headed off towards Bray Hill first followed by Tim Reeves/Patrick Farrance, Ben and Tom Birchall, Ian and Carl Bell and Alan Founds/Aki Aalto. John Holden/Andy Winkle, meanwhile, set off further down the field.

   Molyneux reached the Grandstand first with a speed of 114.10mph but Reeves had halved the starting deficit of ten seconds and his lap of 114.73mph was the fastest lap of the week as well as being a new personal best, albeit unofficially.

   The Bells were again showing well with a lap of 112.46mph whilst Holden eventually got away at the rear of the field, using the session to run in a new engine and scrub in some new tyres.

   On the second lap, Reeves had overhauled Molyneux on the road and the Kent driver’s pace could be seen at the end of the lap as he went quicker still with a lap of 114.83mph. Molyneux was also in the 114mph bracket again.

   The Birchalls meanwhile had had a slow first lap but they were clearly bedding something in as second time around, they lapped in excess of 113mph to prove they will be in contention in Saturday’s first race day.

   Gary Bryan/Jamie Winn posted their best lap of the week at 111.14 while Peter Founds/Jevan Walmsley put in two laps of 110mph with Steve and Matty Ramsden, Dwight Beare/Ben Binns and Tony Baker/Fiona Baker-Milligan all above 109mph.

   Manfred Wechserberger, passenger to Michael Grabmuller, fell out of the sidecar at Ballaugh but was assessed at the scene and reported to be uninjured.

   

5. Conor Cummins to contest Supersport and Superstock classes at the Isle of Man TT Races with Padgetts Honda

   Posted on 12:00pm Friday 20th May 2016

   Padgetts Honda has announced that Conor Cummins will ride for the Batley based outfit on Valvoline by Padgetts liveried bikes at the 2016 Isle of Man TT Races fuelled by Monster Energy. He will compete for the team in the two Monster Energy Supersport Races and the RL360 Quantum Superstock class. 

   The Manxman will continue to campaign his Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade SP in the RST Superbike and PokerStars Senior TT races with the Honda Racing factory team.

   “I’m absolutely thrilled to have Conor on board,” said team manager Clive Padgett. “When it looked like it might come about I didn’t have to think twice. He’s the perfect addition to the team.  We’re currently building his bikes and look forward to getting to the TT.”

   Conor Cummins said:

   “I’ve known Clive Padgett for many years. He actually sold me my first ever race bike, a second hand RS125 and I’ve always been impressed with the way that the team prepares the bikes. They have a record that’s second to none around the Isle of Man. I’m really excited about representing the team and it will be a real honour to ride in the famous team colours.”

   Of the last 39 TT races that the team has started around the Mountain Course they have finished in the top four on no less than 33 occasions and of those 27 were podium places with 11 wins. The team is probably most well known for Ian Hutchinson’s five wins in a week in 2010. The team has also secured numerous lap and race records including Bruce Anstey’s RST Superbike win in 2015 in a record winning time of 128.749mph (1:45.29.902).

   Honda (Europe) team management made the decision to balance the rider line-up within their two partner teams with Jackson Honda Racing focused on John McGuinness and Steve Mercer and Padgetts Honda focusing on Bruce Anstey and Conor Cummins. 

   Tickets are now on sale and selling fast for the 2016 TT Races fuelled by Monster Energy.  There is very limited availability for the Glencrutchery Road Grandstand race day tickets but there are still TT Fan Zone Grandstand tickets available at Ballacrye, Creg Ny Baa and Nobles Park during qualifying and race days. Grandstand tickets are also available by purchasing VIP or Platinum Hospitality tickets. All tickets are available from www.iomtt.com or by phoning 00 44 (0)1624 640000.