Audience figures released on the 2013 Isle of Man TT races are showing a significant increase on last year's statistics with television, radio, print media coverage and the on-line audience all experiencing double digit growth year on year.

TV4 has reported that the North One TV shows are nearly 20% up overall on last year's viewers with well over six million people watching this year's programmes, an increase of almost a million on the 2012 audience.

The most watched show was Monday's Monster Energy Supersport 1 show with an average of 684,000 and a peak of 725,000 - about three times the slot average and benchmark audience share.

This year also saw next day highlights programmes screened in the USA via Discovery Velocity and with further international markets also reporting increased viewing figures, the worldwide TV audience is also expected to increase significantly by year end.

Neil Duncanson, Chief Executive, North One TV commented:

"The TT Races is now one of ITV's key sports properties and their executives are really pleased with this year's audience figures. Although it is still early days, our international partners are also reporting growth which bodes well for future distribution."

The official iomtt.com website, run by Duke Marketing, is reporting growth across a number of key international territories with a significant increase in the number of users tracking the event through live timing as well as an overall year on year increase in the number of unique users.

Over the two weeks of practice and racing over 1,000,000 unique users visited the official Isle of Man TT website www.iomtt.com creating 7.6 million page views. This compares positively with same period in 2012, which saw just under 800,000 users. The website's live timing service, TT Live was seen by around 200,000 fans across the world.

Social media proved very popular with the total number of people following the official Isle of Man TT facebook page growing to over 140,000 during the race period and twitter users up to nearly 40,000. Approximately 750,000 people saw messages posted to the official facebook page - a near doubling on TT 2012's figures while the new new online TT shop (shop.iomtt.com) also saw notable growth.

Across the various online platforms a strong trend towards the growth of a global fanbase continued. Britain and America continue to be the largest sources for online fans but countries such as Brazil, India, Japan, Poland, Italy are contributing an ever-increasing number of a fans.

The new Isle of Man TT Races App, created by Agency Mobile, was downloaded 73,000 times across the race fortnight and was the most downloaded sports app on iTunes during the event and the second highest grossing sports app. There were a total of 1.4 million active 'sessions' with 13,000 active daily users.

As well as providing live timing, the app also offered access to the Manx Radio TT commentary, further boosting the number of people listening to the live race commentary. This year there were 1.86 million successful connections to the various digital services provided by Manx Radio via iomtt.com and the TT Races App. These listeners are in addition to the audience who listened live via the dedicated 1368AM service and FM broadcasts available on the Island.

Mannin Media, producers of the TT races official programme reported that the programme sales, through on-line and retail outlets, were up a total of 9.5% year-on-year, the highest circulation since the Centenary TT races in 2007. This year also saw the introduction of Mannin's 'digital TT review magazine which is now available for I-pad, android and Kindle tablets.

Laurence Skelly, Political Member, Isle of Man Tourism, commented: "The TT Races now provides a real profile and platform for the Isle of Man worldwide as well as generating visitors to the Isle of Man. We are able to use the different media channels that we have to promote our Island's culture and heritage as well as building a worldwide fanbase for the TT Races and generate incremental commercial revenue."

Motorcycle Live is back at The NEC, Birmingham from 23 November to 1 December 2013 and this year the show boasts no less than 29 manufacturers, all showcasing the very latest machinery, some of which will have never been seen before in the UK.

From sports bikes to scooters, tourers to trikes, crusiers to customs and adventure to motocross machines, there is something on display at Motorcycle Live to suit every rider. The world’s leading manufacturers – including Aprilia, BMW, Ducati, Harley-Davidson, Honda, Kawasaki, KTM, Piaggio, Royal Enfield, Suzuki, Vespa, Victory and Yamaha, as well as UK-based firms CCM, Norton and Triumph – will all be present.

Specialist brands such as AJP, Metisse, Morgan, Moto Guzzi, Watsonian Squire, WK Bikes, Quadzilla and electric motorcycle marques Kuberg and Zero will all appear, while Herald Motor Company, Indian Motorcycles, Lifan and ShineRay will make their Motorcycle Live debut. Alongside the manufacturers there’ll be over 150 other exhibitors and retail stands offering the very best in kit, accessories and motorcycle-related products and services.

If that’s not enough to keep visitors busy, the ‘live’ in Motorcycle Live certainly will. With 16 features – including eight FREE opportunities to ride – motorcycle fans of all ages will be kept entertained. New features for 2013 include ‘Behind Bars - The Movie’ – which gives an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the lives of top racers – and the Crank’d live action show that threatens to rip the roof off The NEC! For a full list of features, click here.

There will of course also be a daily dose of famous biking faces and racing stars from MotoGP, World Superbike, British Superbike and the Isle of Man TT, all taking part in fan meet-and-greets and on-stage game shows and Q&As with racers-turned-broadcasters Steve Parrish and James Whitham.

Advance tickets for Motorcycle Live 2013 are just £17 per adult, £11 for Seniors and £7 for children aged 6-16* (kids under five accompanied by a paying adult go free).

To book you tickets, call 0844 581 2345 or visit www.motorcyclelive.co.uk

If you have been parking in Belfast last week, you may have had a questionnaire placed on your bike from Roads Service – Proposed Provision of Free On-Street Parking Facilities For Motorcycles.

The survey is intended to access the parking needs of riders in Belfast with the hope to improve motorcycle parking facilities in Belfast city centre. The intention then is to carry out a pilot project by converting some existing on-street Pay and Display parking bays, at a number of locations throughout Belfast City centre, to allow motorcycles and scooters to park free of charge and without time limit.

At present we can only take the purpose and the aim of the survey at face value as a positive move for riders, as one rider commented on the Right To Ride website:

“This is a very welcomed proposal and I applaud Roads Service for considering it at least.Dedicated FREE motorcycle parking without time limits is a great concept considering the limited spaces that motorcyclists currently are able to occupy in Belfast and riders would be able to park without any worries of receiving a parking ticket. The recent changes made to the Met College traffic island used by bikers have made it more awkward for riders who use it, with more limited access and space for parking. It appears that riders were not considered when they planned the changes in any case so alternative areas would be great.

Anyway I would encourage anyone who received the questionnaire to complete and return it so they receive some feedback at least and show we have a presence and an interest that they meet riders needs for parking in Belfast.”

It would be nice if there was the provision of some sort of locking facility, not necessarily individual ground anchors but the likes of a locking rail.

If you missed the survey don’t despair as Roads Service will be carrying out more on–street surveys in the near future, to obtain as representative a response as possible from the most frequent motorcycle parkers in Belfast city centre.

We have been promised some hard copies of the questionnaire which we will make available and an electronic copy which can be printed out!

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The memories of your experiences may be remembered in your mind, however with a professional photograph from SK-Art, these moments may be shared (and showed off) with everyone...

Owner Susan's expertise has been highlighted in the press and with a private exhibition which Pirelli UK supported. An extensive portfolio is on the website, which captures the spirit of Motorcycling.

A free consultation is offered where Susan will visit with a portfolio sampling a selection of her work.

Susan will be hosting her 3rd Wheels and Motion Exhibition at the end of 2013 (Date to be confirmed) with samples of her work.

At Rivington Barn each Sunday, covering various events and available for private commissions.

www.SK-Art.co.uk

The Pata Honda team will compete for the first time in Turkey in this weekend’s 11th round World Superbike championship event at Istanbul Park with a weekend schedule that runs an hour earlier than other SBK events.

The 5.338km Hermann Tilke-designed circuit, which was completed just over eight years ago, lies on the Asian side of Istanbul and, for the Pata Honda team and riders, it will be a first racing visit to the Turkish city.

The team will be without regular rider Jonathan Rea, who broke his left femur after crashing on another rider’s oil on 1 September at the Nürburgring in Germany. The 26-year-old underwent surgery that evening and is optimistic about a relatively quick rehabilitation for his injury.

Rea will be replaced at Istanbul Park by Italian rider Michel Fabrizio, who has been competing in the 2013 World Superbike championship with another team. The 28-year-old from Rome currently lies in eighth place in the 2013 championship standings with one podium finish in the opening round at Phillip Island in Australia.

Fabrizio joins Pata Honda’s Leon Haslam who continues his own rehabilitation from a broken leg sustained in a practice crash at Assen in The Netherlands in April. The 30-year-old British rider has been getting back up to speed over the last few races and will be looking to improve on his season’s best result of seventh last time out at the Nürburgring.

Leon Haslam

I’m really excited about going to race in Istanbul, even though some of the other Superbike riders have ridden there before. I’ve seen a few of the GP races there on video and it looks pretty awesome, but I won’t really know how it is until I get out there on the bike on Friday morning. We made some more progress last time in Germany but, although I was hanging on to the back of the leading group in race two, we still had some issues. But I do feel like I’m finally in a position – both physically and with the bike – to be fighting for podiums again. We need a few more things to fall into place for that to happen, but we’re nearly there.

Michel Fabrizio

I am very happy to come back to the Honda CBR after my earlier experience with the DFX Honda Team. To race with the Ten Kate boys in the Pata Honda team is a real honour for me and, of course, I will do my best to get Jonathan’s machine near to the front. I would also like to take this opportunity to wish Jonathan a fast recovery from his injury and I would like to thank the whole Honda Superbike team for their hard work to fix the bike in time for me to race in Istanbul.

Michel Fabrizio – career details

2002: 125cc GP World Championship

2003: FIM Superstock 1000 champion (Suzuki)

2004: MotoGP World Championship (10 races – Honda), World Supersport championship (two races – Honda)

2005: World Supersport championship (Honda) – 5th

2006: World Superbike championship (Honda) – 11th

2007: World Superbike championship (Honda) – 11th

2008: World Superbike championship (Ducati) – 8th

2009: World Superbike championship (Ducati) – 3rd

2010: World Superbike championship (Ducati) – 8th

2011: World Superbike championship (Suzuki) – 12th

2012: World Superbike championship (BMW) – 11th

2013: World Superbike championship (Aprilia) – current position 8th

2013 World Superbike championship, round 11

Intercity Istanbul Park, Turkey – weekend schedule (local times – GMT+3)

Friday 13 September

11.45-13.15 Free practice

15.30-16.15 Qualifying 1

Saturday 14 September

08.45-09.30 Qualifying 2

11.30-12.15 Free practice

14.00-15.14 Superpole 1

14.21-15.33 Superpole 2

14.40-15.50 Superpole 3

Sunday 15 September

08.20-08.35 Warm-up

11.00 Race 1 (19 laps 95.226km)

14.30 Race 2 (19 laps 95.226km)