Tyco BMW has confirmed that rider William Dunlop has been ruled out of the rest of this year's Isle of Man TT races fuelled by Monster Energy following a crash at Laurel Bank during yesterday's Superstock qualifying session.

William was happy with his BMW Motorrad S1000RR machine and was on course for an impressive lap time before the incident, but most importantly William was not seriously injured.

He has sustained a broken rib and severe bruising and although very disappointed to be losing him from the remainder of the event, Tyco BMW team manager Philip Neill said:

"It's a cruel blow for William and obviously for the team at what is effectively the biggest road racing event of the year for us all. We had high hopes for William in our first year here at the TT with BMW Motorrad, but we are relieved that he is relatively unscathed, having crashed at a very unforgiving part of the circuit."

www.tycobmw.com

Hi guys, what excellent timing cos...

We were riding home at the end of a 2 week trip that took in Sussex, Bruges, Ostend, Cheshire and Cornwall. 

Woke up on the last morning away and checked my emails to find, I had won 2 free breakfasts at Woodleigh Coach House Cafe which was just 30 minutes down the road... RESULT!

Food good, staff friendly and we were set up for a 250 mile ride home - YUM!!!

Thanks The Biker Guide

Dave Owen - winner of two Big breakfasts @ the Woodleigh Coach House Cafe

The Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) is warning people to be aware of the changes that will take effect today (8 June) as the paper counterpart for the driving licence is scrapped.

As was the case with the abolition of the paper tax disc last October, the IAM fear many people are still confused or unaware of the implications of the scrapping of the paper counterpart today.

The counterpart was introduced alongside the photo card driving licence in 1998 to include details such as any endorsements and which category of vehicles you are entitled to drive.

However this information will now be stored electronically and any updates will not be shown on any written documentation you will have. These details can only be obtained via the DVLA driver record system, and be checked online or in writing by post.

As of 8 June the paper counterpart, or an old-style paper driving licence cannot be relied upon to carry correct or-up-to-date information about endorsements or categories of vehicle someone can drive.

The counterpart will carry no legal status, and the DVLA recommends you destroy it after 8 June.

What is also changing is the procedure if you have to surrender your driving licence to a court in the event of an endorsement. The court will take your photocard and if you include the paper counterpart with your submission, the photocard will be returned to you but the counterpart will not. You will be expected to pay your fine in the normal way however.

Another change is how to provide proof of your driving record to an employer or car hire firm, as your photocard or paper licence will not be enough in itself any more. You will need to access the DVLA’s Share Driving Licence service for this (reference 1 again).

You will be expected to access the details yourself and print those off for submission to a car hire firm or employer. Or you can call the DVLA and give a third party permission to check your driving record verbally.

If you are hiring a vehicle, it is important to check with the car hire firm beforehand what information they need. Other than downloading the information as detailed above, you can also obtain a special code from www.gov.uk which allows the hire firm access to your record for 72 hours to make the necessary checks. This applies to both holders of photocard and paper licences.

Sarah Sillars, IAM chief executive officer, said: “People are not aware of how many of the current procedures are changing. Similar to the abolition of the tax disc, they assume much of what has happened before will continue.

“The onus is very much on the individual to obtain the information they need beforehand. So we very much hope people will not be caught unawares, especially if they don’t want a nasty surprise when arriving to collect their car at the start of their holiday.”

Reference 1


www.iam.org.uk

Bruce Anstey got the 2015 Isle of Man TT Races, fuelled by Monster Energy, up and running in superb style on Sunday afternoon when he swept to a hugely popular victory in the RST Superbike race.

The Kiwi overhauled early race leader Ian Hutchinson at the beginning of the fifth lap and took his 10th TT win - and first in the Superbike class - by 10.9s with James Hillier taking third after Michael Dunlop crashed out on the final lap.

After a three-minute delay, the race got underway at 2.03pm and Hutchinson who led at Glen Helen by just 0.2s from Anstey with Hillier in third just half a second further back. However, one of the pre-race favourites Guy Martin was already out having stopped at Ballagarey.

By Ramsey though, Hillier had taken over at the front with his advantage over Anstey half a second with Hutchinson back in third but only a further half a second adrift. However, an opening lap of 130.959mph gave Hutchinson the lead after the run over the Mountain with his lead over Anstey 1.2s as Hillier slotted into third. Dunlop moved up to fourth with John McGuinness in fifth and Gary Johnson sixth.

Second time round and Hutchinson eked out his lead at each of the commentary points and with a near identical lap, 130.901mph, the gap over Anstey was up to 4.4s as the riders came in for their first pit stop. Hillier maintained station in third, four seconds down on Anstey, and he'd also caught McGuinness on the road, the 21-times winner still in fifth behind Dunlop. Johnson was holding onto sixth from Conor Cummins and William Dunlop.

The gap between the leaders remained practically the same all the way round lap three, Hutchinson's lead now 4.79s. Dunlop was up to third, thirteen seconds in arrears with Hillier only two seconds behind. McGuinness was now joined by Honda team-mate Cummins in the top six.

Anstey was getting firmly into his stride now and all the way round the fourth lap, he reeled Hutchinson in and with a lap of 131.333mph, he was just 0.2s behind coming into the second pit stop and his Valvoline Racing by Padgetts team turned the deficit into an advantage and he was two and a half seconds clear at Glen Helen.

The 45-year old was now circulating on the roads in close company with McGuinness, Hillier and Dunlop and he pulled a few tenths out at each commentary point. Anstey was getting more and more secure at the front and all eyes fell on Dunlop who was putting in a final lap charge.

Anstey's lead was up to 5.5s at Ballaugh on the final lap and with a final, flying lap of 131.797mph, he crossed the line a more comfortable 10.9s clear of Hutchinson who was back on a TT podium for the first time since 2010.

However, Dunlop's final lap charge ended at the Nook when he crashed out after tangling with a slower rider and so Hillier took third, his first Superbike TT podium. McGuinness, William Dunlop and Michael Rutter completed the top six but the incident at the Nook brought the red flag out and no other riders completed the full race distance.

Following the Dunlop incident, which resulted in the red flag, seventh place onwards was taken from the end of the fifth lap and so Dan Kneen, Peter Hickman, Lee Johnston and David Johnson completed the top ten.

Gary Johnson also crashed out on the last lap at Guthries but was reported as OK and will be fit for tomorrow's races. Andy Lawson was taken by airmed to Nobles with neck and arm injuries after an accident at Guthries while Scott Wilson, who was the other rider involved in the accident at the Nook was also taken by airmed to Nobles and was reported to have a broken clavicle.

Bruce Anstey congratulated by his team, partner team manager Clive Padgett and team members

IN SUPERSTOCK 1000 LORENZO SAVADORI, FINISHING SECOND, CONFIRMS HIS LEADERSHIP AND THAT OF THE APRILIA RSV4

Portimão, 7 June 2015 – Leon Haslam finished the Portuguese weekend brilliantly riding his Aprilia RSV4 RF to third place in Race 2. Leon's podium is the just reward for the hard work done by Aprilia Racing - Red Devils and the determination of the English rider, still struggling with rib pain from his accident at Imola.   

In the first race Haslam was comfortably managing fourth place before the rains came in the fifteenth lap and forced all the riders to change tyres. Coming back out of pit lane, Leon had a bad slide in turn 5, slipping on the treacherous asphalt. He got back on the bike and finished in twelfth place.

Starting Race 2 with severe pain in his side, aggravated by the crash in Race 1, Leon struggled for the first few laps and then found a good race pace. The English rider moved steadily up into third position and he was gaining on Giugliano who was in second place when the chequered flag came out.

Leon Haslam: “I made a bad mistake in Race 1 sliding on the wet asphalt and making my ribs worse. In the second race, on the other hand, I lost too much time at the beginning, missing a couple of gear changes, and losing touch with the leading group. In the middle section of the race I had a good pace and was able to move up a few positions to third place. When I had started catching up Giugliano I began to lose my feeling with the front. I was about a second behind but the race was over at that point. Getting onto the podium was important both for me and for the team considering how hard the guys worked this weekend.”

The two Portuguese races did not bring the results Jordi Torres had hoped for, despite the leap of quality demonstrated during the practice sessions. In the first race the Spanish rookie didn't get off to the best of starts so he was forced to make up positions. The rain toward the end of the race complicated matters: In fact, Jordi had never before ridden the RSV4 on the wet and he settled for finishing the race without taking any pointless risks.

His start in Race 2 was good, as was the way he managed the middle part of the race. Only an abrupt loss of grip kept Jordi from a fifth place finish which was well within his reach.

Jordi Torres: “This was a difficult weekend, but we made a lot of progress. The RSV4 works well here. We were able to improve even compared to yesterday with a small change we made before the races. In Race 1 I didn't start well. I was lacking confidence at the beginning. Then I set my pace until I was in about sixth place. Unfortunately the rain ruined everything. It was my first time riding the RSV4 in the wet and I was careful not to crash and ruin everything. In Race two I got off the line more aggressively and at mid-race I had the pace to defend sixth place well. But in the final laps I had a sudden loss of grip at the rear tyre. I didn't take any risks and I settled for bringing home some important points. Unfortunately during practice on a new track it isn't easy to make a good assessment of performance over race distance.”

SUPERSTOCK 1000: APRILIA AND SAVADORI STILL FIRMLY IN THE LEAD IN THE CHAMPIONSHIP

With his second place finish at Portimão, Lorenzo Savadori and the Team Nuova M2 Racing Aprilia RSV4 confirmed that they are in grand form. Thanks to a shortened race, Lorenzo managed his second place finish which allows him to keep a firm grip on the championship lead just three races from the end of the season.  

Kevin Calia made his nth top-10 finish, seventh under the chequered flag and now ninth in the rider standings.

The Manufacturer standings are also dominated by Aprilia who, thanks to the RSV4's positive streak (on the podium every race since the beginning of the season), now has a 25 point advantage over BMW in second place and Ducati in third.