roadracingdaily - Tumblr blog

[roadracingdaily]

ISLE OF MAN TT - FRIDAY PRACTICE REPORT

SUPERBIKE

Friday’s Superbike practice at the Isle Of Man TT was a hot and heavy affair with plenty of drama to keep everyone entertained.

Michael Dunlop posted his fastest time of the week with a 128.58 but that was soon eclipsed by Bruce Anstey.

Riding the Padgett’s Honda RCV213, the Flying Kiwi, on a flying lap was quickest of all through the speed trap at Sulby with a top speed of 193.4mph and an overall lap of 129.21.

Ian Hutchinson was a retirement at Governor’s on lap 1 on his Tyco BMW Superbike, and he was joined by the two Kneen brothers who were also retirees. David Johnson joined them as he retired his Norton machine later in the lap.

Newcomer Adam McLean produced a truly stunning lap of 119.06mph on lap 2 of qualifying showcasing to all how talented and promising a rider he is. What a season Adam is having. Paul Jordan was another newcomer in the mood for improvement as he increased his average lap speed to 114.88mph. Forest Dunn also impressed with  a lap of 112.64mph.

Bruce Anstey

“Everything went well, we had to make some adjustments to the rear shocks but once we did that it was very smooth and I just had to focus on hitting my lines.”

SUPERSTOCK

Ian hutchinson produced his quickest time of the week on the Tyco BMW S1000rr Superstock machine when he lapped at 129.54mph.

Michael Dunlop couldn’t quite match the time of Hutchinson, possibly some issues still persist with his Suzuki machine as it didn’t fair well at the North West 200 last month; Dunlop only managed a lap of 125.328

This proved to be an indicator as the superstock times were proving to be consistently high throughout the session.

Michael Rutter: 128.588 - BMW Dean Harrison: 128.477 - Kawasaki Peter Hickman: 127.630 - BMW Derek Sheils: 125.097 - Suzuki Michael Dunlop: 125.328 - Suzuki

SUPERSPORT

Michael Dunlop topped the supersport table with a time of 123.325 after one lap but again that was quickly superceded by Dean Harrison who went through the grandstand at 124.353

Dean Harrison - 124.353 Michael Dunlop - 123.325 Ian Hutchinson  123.191

LIGHTWEIGHT

Riding the Paton S1, Stefano Bonetti was showing some serious pace as he lapped the course at 115.69 closely followed after lap 1 by Lee Johnston and James Cowton with times of 114.734 and 114.836 respectively.

[roadracingdaily]

Armoy gets new title sponsor!

Roadside KIA is Title Sponsor of Armoy's 'Race of Legends' 2017

ARMOY Motorcycle Road Racing Club has just announced that the title sponsor of their 2017 'Race of Legends' will be Roadside KIA Coleraine.

The Coleraine based firm has also sponsored Michael Dunlop for the past three years. They are a well-established and family run car dealership which offers new Kia cars along with an ever growing selection of high quality, great value pre-loved cars. Roadside has continuously assisted the Armoy Motorcycle Road Racing Club in one way or another over the years whether it has been sponsoring a race or supplying the Clerk of the Course with his car for Bike Week.

2017 sees the ninth year for the Armoy Road Races and as the youngest national road race in Ireland, there seems to be no stopping them as year on year the visitor figures increase. Armoy Road Races are part funded by Tourism Northern Ireland and the Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council and it attracts some of the best-known names in road racing with brothers, Michael and William Dunlop, Derek Sheils and Derek McGee, but more information on who's who at Armoy in the coming weeks.

Bill Kennedy MBE, Clerk of the Course said, “2017 is set to be a good year and with Coleraine company, Roadside KIA, on board as title sponsor we are all very happy. I'm not going to make any bones about it, I wish we had this sorted a few months ago but it's all go now, given this announcement.

“We've our launch of the Armoy Road Races fairly shortly after the IoM TT has finished, so there will be a few more details to learn there on what is happening at the end of July.

“I would at this stage, on behalf of the Club and personally, like to thank David Boyd and Ian Lamont of Roadside KIA for their commitment this year to the Armoy Road Races. We've some fantastic sponsors this year, some of who, thankfully, have been with us since year one and others that are brand new to road racing.

“I look forward to working with David and Ian. They are both keen road racing enthusiasts, particularly given their kind sponsorship of Michael Dunlop.”

The Armoy Road Races are one of Northern Ireland's prime motorsport gatherings, attracting motorcycle riders both locally and internationally, and Roadside Garage's commitment to the Armoy Road Races underlines the popularity of this annual event.

David Boyd of Roadside Garages said, “I didn’t hesitate when asked to support the Armoy Road Racing Motorcycle Club and the Race of Legends 2017. Having been involved with road racing in one way or another for a number of years including the Armoy Road Races this was an easy decision.

“Roadside KIA is a local company serving the local community, this is our way of helping the wider community as well as being involved in one of the best road races there is. The Armoy Road Races and the Race of Legends epitomises all that is great about this sport.”

This year, Bike Week runs from Sunday 23rd July until Saturday 29th July and the races take place on Friday 28th July and Saturday 29th July 2017 in the legendary village of Armoy.

For more information on Armoy Road Races, visit www.amrrc.com or search for ‘AMRRC’ on Facebook or follow on twitter @ArmoyRoadRaces.

[roadracingdaily]

Guy Martin making steady progress at 2017 Isle Of Man TT

Guy Martin set his fastest lap of the 2017 Isle Of Man TT during Wednesday night’s shortened practice session.

Riding the Honda Fireblade SP2, the Lincolnshire rider posted a lap of 121.42mph 

Fan favourite, Martin has started to dial in the blade and will no doubt expect to go quicker as the week rolls on.

After John McGuinness had his crash at the North West 200 it is believed that Honda decided to switch to the same electronics system that the British Superbike riders employ to avoid any further issues.

Our website: www.roadracingdaily.com photo credit: iomtt.com

[roadracingdaily]

Bad weather halts practice at the Isle Of Man TT

FRUSTRATING QUALIFYING SESSION AT 2017 ISLE OF MAN TT RACES FUELLED BY MONSTER ENERGY AS WEATHER CLOSES IN

Isle of Man TT 2017 second qualifying session Wednesday, 31. May. 2017

The second qualifying session for the 2017 Isle of Man TT Races fuelled by Monster Energy took place on Wednesday evening although weather conditions meant it was a truncated session with riders completing just one full lap.

The original intention by Clerk of the Course Gary Thompson, anticipating the deteriorating conditions, was to run additional laps at full speed to Ramsey Hairpin before red flagging the riders and escorting them over the Mountain but low mist even curtailed that attempt to establish qualifying laps and give the riders time on the track.

In the limited session that was available Ian Hutchinson and Michael Dunlop again set the pace with the Tyco BMW of Hutchinson edging out the Bennetts Suzuki of Dunlop, 128.98mph to 127.23mph.