Category: IOM TT - Manx Grand Prix

1. McGuinness continues with Jackson Racing for third successive year

   Posted on 9:30am Tuesday 7th Mar 2017

   Honda Racing’s John McGuinness will continue his association with Jackson Racing in 2017 with the Preston-based team again supplying the Morecambe Missile with Honda machinery for the Supersport 600cc races.
    
   The deal sees McGuinness continue to be mounted on a CBR600RR Honda for the Supersport races at both the North West 200 and Isle of Man TT where he’ll be alongside the team’s full time rider Lee Johnston. Run by brothers Alan and Andy, it will be the third successive year the 23-times TT winner has ridden for the Jackson Racing concern and he’s keen to build on the success already achieved.
    
   More associated with success in the 1000cc races, McGuinness’s recent efforts on the Supersport machine have gone relatively unnoticed but 2016 proved he’s riding as well as ever on the 600. Indeed, a lap of 126.329mph in last year’s opening Supersport TT race was his quickest in the class since 2013 and helped him secure an excellent fifth place at the chequered flag. The year before had seen him secure seventh and eighth place finishes around the Mountain Course.
    
   Meanwhile, the North West 200 has seen McGuinness claim top ten finishes in both the races in 2015 and 2016, his best being a seventh in the second race of 2015. His eighth place finish in the opening Supersport race of 2016 around the Triangle was only five seconds adrift of a podium place.
    
   One of McGuinness' personal sponsors, BetVictor, will be adding their support to Jackson Racing in 2017 and the 44-year old will form part of a strong two-man line up with Ulsterman Johnston having already been announced as Jackson Racing’s full time rider for 2017. He’ll ride Hondas in the Superbike, Supersport and Superstock classes at all of the International road races.
    
   John McGuinness: “I’m delighted to be riding for Jackson Racing once more in the Supersport class as the two year’s we’ve had together so far have been excellent. Everyone knows the 600cc races are some of the most competitive around but I’ve been riding as well as ever in the class, which has been borne out in both my speeds and results. You’d be hard pushed to find two more enthusiastic people than Alan and Andy and in both 2015 and 2016 they’ve given me a bike that has been faultless.”
    
   “My fifth place in last year’s first Supersport race at the TT was one of my most pleasing results of the week and if you’re lapping at more than 126mph on a 600, you’re not hanging around! That shows the strength of the bike and I’m extremely confident we’re going to have another strong year. I’m really looking forward to riding for the team again and working with Lee.”
    
   Alan Jackson: “It’s great to have secured the services of John for a third successive year and the whole team is looking forward to working with him once more. The two year’s we’ve had together have been thoroughly enjoyable and we’re confident we can again supply John with machinery to get the results everyone knows he’s capable of. We’ve done some more development work on the engine, which should help even further, and the combination of John and Lee is a formidable team. They get on really well and with the master and the young gun on board, we’re looking forward to an excellent 2017.”
    
   “Most teams say each year that they have the best rider line up but this has never been truer for Jackson Racing. We’re in a really strong position to challenge for great results with the combination of both Lee and John on the Ten Kate-prepared machines.”
    
   The team’s preparations get underway later this week with their first pre-season tests taking place at Monteblanco, Spain.

2. Michael Dunlop set to race new GSX-R1000 with Bennetts Suzuki

   Posted on 10:00am Wednesday 22nd Feb 2017

   Michael Dunlop is set to race the all-new GSX-R1000 in 2017, the 13-time Isle of Man TT winner signing for the new-look Bennetts Suzuki team for the forthcoming season.
   
   Dunlop will race the new machine at the 2017 Isle of Man TT Races fuelled by Monster Energy as well as the North West 200, the Southern 100 and the Ulster Grand Prix road races. The Northern Irishman will also contest the opening round of the MCE British Superbike championship at Donington Park in April.
   
   The 2016 Superbike and Senior TT winner and current out-right lap-record holder will get his first ride on the new GSX-R1000 he will race this season at a shakedown test at the team’s Mallory Park base today [Wednesday], before heading to Spain for tests at Cartagena and Almeria.
   
   Dunlop said,
   
   "I was chatting with Steve [Hicken - team manager] for a while, and obviously we’ve worked together a lot before. With the new bike coming it’s been a bit different and we had to gather up exactly what was happening. We just needed to see what was going to be able to happen and to see where we were both going to be at this time. I know Steve and I know Stuart though, as people, and I know they can take a new bike and get it right. This is a good team and there’s a good link with Yoshimura. It’s going to be interesting this year. I’ve been helping the team build my own bikes and it’ll be good to have a run around at Mallory for a shakedown before we go to Spain.”
   
   Bennetts Suzuki team manager, Steve Hicken, added,
   
   "We've known Michael for a long time and always wanted to work with him again this year, so we're really pleased we've been able to put a deal together. We've made good progress already with the development of the new GSX-R1000, and we know the potential is there with the bike. With a proven winner like Michael onboard, there's no reason we can't be winning races right away. That's got to be the aim."
   
   The Bennetts Suzuki team will now head to Cartagena for the first of two preseason tests, before the first official BSB test at Donington Park on 22 March.

3. Mugen confirms McGuinness and Martin for 2017 Isle of Man TT Races Campaign

   Posted on 12:00pm Wednesday 15th Feb 2017

   Japanese based Mugen, which has won the last three SES TT Zero Races, has confirmed a two strong rider line up for the 2017 Isle of Man TT Races fuelled by Monster Energy.

   M-TEC Company President, Mr Tomoyuki HASHIMOTO, confirmed that 23-time TT winner John McGuinness is back with TEAM MUGEN for 2017, and this year will be partnered by Guy Martin, who is also team-mate to McGuinness in the Honda Racing team at this year’s TT.  

   After missing out on a hat-trick of victories in 2016 with a freak incident that shut down his machine in the middle of the race through no fault of his own, McGuinness will undoubtedly return with even more determination to recapture the TT Zero crown in 2017.

   After a one year sabbatical from the TT while he concentrated on other challenges, Martin returns to the island with a renewed focus as well as an element of unfinished business at the TT as he targets his first race win.

   Both riders will fly to Tokyo in April where they will meet up with their 2017 TT Zero machines, SHINDEN ROKU (SHINDEN 6), and the dedicated team behind the machine that is aiming to break the land-mark 120mph barrier for the first time in the class. The team is the current lap record holder for the class with McGuinness’s lap of 119.279mph (18:58.743), which he set in winning the 2015 Race.

   Having been an integral part of the Mugen Shinden project since the start of the programme in 2012, for John McGuinness it will be like returning to family, and for Guy Martin it will be an introduction to the battery-powered bike that he hopes will take him to his first TT Zero victory.

   SHINDEN ROKU has been extensively developed from the 2016 race-winning machine, (SHINDEN GO) and will be unveiled at the 2017 Tokyo Motorcycle Show at Tokyo Big Sight in March, 2017.

   

4. Bennetts renews TT deal and confirms headline sponsorship of the Classic TT Races

   Posted on 1:05pm Monday 6th Feb 2017

   Bennetts has renewed its status as an official sponsor of the Isle of Man TT Races and agreed terms with the Isle of Man Government to remain the title sponsor of the Classic TT Races. The leading motorcycle insurance specialist will be the official exclusive insurance category partner for both events.
   
   The brand originally became involved with the TT Races in 2007 and stepped up to take the title sponsorship of the Classic TT Races which will continue to be known as 'The Classic TT Races presented by Bennetts’, in 2014. The company will also retain title sponsorship of the Bennetts Lightweight TT and Bennetts Senior Classic TT Races.
   
   The sponsorship is part of the company’s strategy to bring the motorcycling community and industry together and the brand’s commitment to enhance its classic bike insurance cover.
   
   Bennetts is an established insurer in the motorcycle industry and provides quotes on motorcycles from the 1900’s onwards at Bennetts.co.uk or directly from the Bennetts specialist call centre.
   
   The Classic TT races take place over the Bank Holiday weekend in August, 25th – 28th with four races held over the famous 37 ¾ mile TT Mountain Course as well as the VMCC Festival of Jurby on Sunday 27th August with parade laps featuring some of the world’s most iconic Classic machines and additional activity including period events, exhibitions of exotic racing motorcycles and legendary riders autograph sessions which all add up to an incredible celebration of motorcycling nostalgia.
   
   As well as the title sponsorship, Bennetts also has naming rights to the blue riband  ‘Bennetts Senior Classic TT Race’ which opens up the race schedule on the morning of Saturday 26th August. The 2016 Bennetts Senior TT Race saw John McGuinness memorably end his Classic TT duck with victory on a team Winfield Paton from Dean Harrison with Maria Costello claiming the final podium place.
   
   Many of the leading road racing names are due to appear at the Classic TT Races in 2017 including John McGuinness, Michael Dunlop, Bruce Anstey, Michael Rutter, Conor Cummins, William Dunlop, Cameron Donald, James Hillier, Peter Hickman and Gary Johnson.
   
   They will be riding priceless machines from iconic historic marques such as Matchless, Norton, MV Agusta, BSA, Moto Guzzi, Ducati, Vincent, AJS and Aermacchi as well as the established Japanese manufacturers, Honda, Kawasaki and Suzuki. The event will also feature a number of memorable parades including notably an appearance by Michael Dunlop riding a Kay family replica of the MV Agusta that Bob McIntyre rode to complete the first 100mph lap of the Mountain Course sixty years ago.
   
   Vince Chaney, Managing Director, Bennetts said:
   
   “The increased profile of the Isle of Man TT Races and Classic TT Races gives Bennetts an important platform to promote our services to the Motorcycling community and is an integral part of our annual communications programme. Bennetts is a motorcycle insurance specialist with over 85 years of heritage and we are able to provide high quality comprehensive support and cover for many different machines. The TT represents a great way of speaking to our existing customers as well as reaching new motorcyclists."
   
   "This year we will focus our efforts on using our exclusive partnership with the Isle of Man TT and Classic TT to deliver exciting money can’t buy experiences for our customers on the island. We will also provide a behind the scenes look at the events via our social media and BikeSocial platforms for those who can’t be there."
   
   Rob Callister, MHK, Political Member, Isle of Man Government Department of Economic Development for Tourism and Motorsport commented:
   
   "We are really pleased to have retained the support of Bennetts across both events which is a major endorsement of the continued strength and appeal of the TT Races and Classic TT. The company has been a long term partner for us on the Isle of Man and they are an important contributor to the growing success and rising popularity of both events."

5. Radcliffe's Racing confirm two year deal with Jamie Coward

   Posted on 12:00pm Thursday 26th Jan 2017

   Castletown based Butchers Radcliffe’s formally launched its team at the Castletown Civic Centre on Saturday night. The team has confirmed that it is supporting Jamie Coward at the 2017 Isle of Man TT Races fuelled by Monster Energy as well as the other major road races.

   Coward, a 25-year-old bricklayer from Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire finished runner-up in last year’s TT Privateers’ Championship and is a well-respected competitor on the pure road courses.

   He made his Mountain Course debut in the 2010 Manx Grand Prix meeting, finishing fourth in the Newcomers A race which he followed up with a fine fourth place in the Junior MGP the following year.

   He first appeared at the TT debut in 2013 and has a fastest lap of 126.54, which he achieved in the 2016 PokerStars Senior TT race. He has a career highest placed finish of 7th from last year’s Bennetts Lightweight TT and also recorded a pair of 12th placed finishes in the Monster Energy Supersport Races in 2016. His only Mountain Course podium came in the 2013 500cc Classic TT Race and he has achieved nine top twenty finishes in his TT career to date.

   The Radcliffe Racing team, run by Chris Lennon, has secured ex-PTR high-spec CBR600 Honda for the two Monster Energy Supersport races and a 2015 superstock spec BMW S1000RR which they will run in the RST Superbike and PokerStars Senior TT Races as well as Monday’s RL360 Quantum Superstock Race. The team also has backing from IEG (International Energy Group) and Motul Oils.

   Coward has signed a two-year deal with the team and the 2017 campaign will include the TT Races, post-TT and Southern 100 at the Billown circuit as well as the North West 200 and Ulster Grand Prix in Northern Ireland and the four meetings at Oliver’s Mount in Scarborough.

   Billown is very much the local course for the Radclffe’s Racing team and Coward will no doubt be looking to improve on last year’s races and bring the laurel wreaths home to the Malew Street-based shop, a few hundred yards away from the start and finish straight.

   As a warm-up to the NW200, Coward will also contest a round of the British championships (BSB). Lennon, who sponsored Chris Palmer in his latter years, has a good team around him and is particularly thankful to spannerman Dave Clarke and John ‘Pee Wee’ Preston.

   Commenting on the season ahead, Chris Lennon, team boss of Radcliffe’s Racing, said:

   “We’re delighted to have signed Jamie and with a two year deal we think that we can help him to break into the top ten at the TT given his consistent top twenty results on the island. He’s a really talented rider with a proven track record around the Mountain Course and he’s definitely ready to make the next step up.”

   He continued:

   “I feel the team has the passion for what we are doing and we all have the same goal of winning races. We are really keen to talk to potential partners and sponsors who share our vision.”

   Jamie Coward said:

   “Having known Chris for a number of years I was thrilled when he approached me to ride for Radcliffe’s Racing. When he told me about the team he had put together and the plans they had for 2017 and 2018 I knew it was a great opportunity for me to further my road racing career. I can’t thank him enough and I hope I can repay his faith by getting good results on the bikes he and the team have lined up.”