STEVE PLATER SCORES ANOTHER FOURTH PLACE Steve Plater took the Padgett’s Honda Fireblade to a strong fourth place in the Royal London 360 Superstock TT at the Isle of Man TT festival on Tuesday evening his second fourth place of the day. Following his four lap outing for HM Plant Honda in the Relentless Supersport TT earlier in the day, Plater had a welcome rest prior to climbing on board the Padgett’s Honda Superstock bike for a further four laps of the TT course at 6.30pm. He had posted the fastest time of the week in practice for the class and was hopeful of a strong result. Just before taking his place on the start line he said: “Padgett’s have made a big effort for this race and they have three bikes running, Ian Hutchinson, John McGuinness and me. I am riding Steve Brogan’s bike and he is lying second in the National Superstock championship at the moment so it’s a strong package. “Clive Padgett has done a good job to get us all out here and he is feeling more nervous than I am at the moment! I need to start the race a little better, in the last two races I have taken a while to get going and I need to address that situation and see if I can do a little bit better in this race.” As the Superstock TT got underway Plater was in seventh place at the end of the first lap and made steady progress during lap two to move up to fifth place. There was nothing between the top few riders with the two leaders covered by less than a second and less than 10 seconds covering the top seven riders. At the scheduled pit stop for refuelling and tyres, Plater was only a couple of seconds behind his teammate John McGuinness on time and by the time they reached Glen Helen on lap three he had reeled him in and was running in fourth place. Although he was only 11 seconds down on third place he was unable to catch Keith Amor on the Wilson Craig Honda and at the chequered flag had to settle for fourth place once again. Despite missing out on a podium finish Plater did post his fastest lap of the week in the class with a scorching time of 17m 38.40s 128.333mph bettering his times in practice and shaving over 11 seconds from his lap time. “I was really happy with the first half of the race and thought that I may even have a chance of finishing on the podium,” said the Woodhall Spa star. “I got settled into the race really early on which set me up well and I’m happy with the way I’ve ridden and I’ve learnt even more about the course. But I couldn’t keep quite the same pace after the pit stop which allowed the front runners to edge away and leave me just outside a podium finish.” It was a good day for Honda as Hutchinson took his second win of the day with Guy Martin second and Keith Amor third, Plater was fourth followed by John McGuinness in fifth. The finishing order was exactly the same as in the Supersport race earlier in the day! Plater returns to action today Wednesday when he takes part in the second Supersport race which will run over four laps of the 37.73-mile course and is set to start at 10.45am. More, from a press release issued by Uel Duncan Racing: Solid day at the TT for Johnson Gary Johnson had another strong day of racing at the Isle of Man TT Races on Tuesday when he took 7th and 8th in the four-lap Superstock and Supersport races. The Supersport race was first on the agenda for Gary although, like many other riders, practice time had been limited due to extra time being spent on the 1000cc Superbike machine. A relatively steady opening lap of 121.905mph put him down in 12th place after gear selector problems but the second lap saw him a lot happier with the 600cc Honda and this could be seen with a lap speed of 124.538mph, which was good enough to move him up to 9th at half race distance. Here he remained until the fourth and final lap when race leader Bruce Anstey was forced out and he was able to cross the line in 8th place for another silver replica, whilst he was also only 5.13 seconds adrift of seventh placed Ian Lougher. With the Superstock race getting underway at 6.30pm, Gary was able to have a bit of a rest inbetween but he was soon setting off down Glencrutchery Road once more and with the pace hotter than ever before, a lap of 127.227mph saw him occupy 8th at the end of the first lap. Circulating with 15-times TT winner John McGuinness for the majority of the race, Gary improved his pace to 127.604mph on his second lap and moved up to 7th, a position he maintained for the remaining two laps. It ensured his 100% finishing record for the week and also earned him another bronze replica. Speaking later, Gary said, “I rode the wheels of the little 600 but we were just lacking a bit of top speed but I still lapped well in the 124’s so it wasn’t all bad. I had a problem with the gear selector though on the opening lap and had to do the entire Sulby Bridge to Ramsey Hairpin section in fourth gear. John (McGuinness) caught and passed me and just left me so I reckon I must have lost about 10-15 seconds in that section alone. It cleared itself after Ramsey but then came back again on the second lap so I just had to ride as hard as I could – I was flat on the tank and tucked in for all I was worth to try and maximise the speed! It was a hard race and I was pretty tired afterwards but I was all ready to go for the Superstock race later in the evening and it was a pretty trouble free ride. John caught me again but I stuck with him this time for the rest of the race. I don’t think either of us had the bikes working as well as we would have liked but I brought the bike home and three finishes in the top 8 from the first three races isn’t too bad going. I’m hoping for a bit more from the last two races though and it would be great to end the week on the podium so that’s what I’ll be aiming for” Gary’s next race is the second 4-lap Supersport race, which starts at 10.45am on Wednesday. More, from a press release issued by John McGuinness’ publicist: Two fifths for McGuinness on TT day two Morecambe’s John McGuinness took a brace of fifths in the Supersport and Superstock races on Tuesday, the second day of the 2009 Isle of Man TT Races. The HM Plant Honda rider’s first outing came in the 4-lap Supersport race and an opening lap of 124.135mph saw him slot into fifth place. Having overhauled Gary Johnson on the road, he increased his pace to 124.774mph on lap two to maintain his position although a lap later he was relegated to sixth by teammate Steve Plater. However, the combination of a 125mph+ lap and race leader Bruce Anstey retiring on the fourth lap saw John move back up to fifth at the chequered flag. Later in the day he was out in the Superstock race on his British Championship Padgetts Honda and the race started brilliantly for John as a new lap record of 128.538mph saw him hold on to first place at the end of the first 37.73 miles. However, he soon ran into problems with the rear tyre and after a couple of major slides he had to ease off and ride at a pace that was more comfortable. Although he was still lapping in the 126-127mph bracket the record-breaking 129mph+ laps of the race leaders meant he had to again settle for fifth place at the conclusion of the four laps. Speaking afterwards, it was a slightly disappointed John that said: “It’s been a hard day today and whilst a couple of fifths aren’t too bad, I was definitely hoping for a bit more, especially in the Superstock race. It’s the bike I’m riding all year and the race started perfectly when I slotted onto ‘P1′ but I knew on the second lap that any chance of winning was over. I had a couple of slides at Quarter Bridge and Braddan Bridge and then a major one at Greeba Bridge when my feet were off the pegs and everything. I really thought I was off. After that, I just had to ride at a safe pace and brought the bike home in fifth. The pace in today’s races has been phenomenal and fair play to the boys at the front but I’ll be gunning for them in the final two races this week!” John will be back out in action at 10.45am on Wednesday when he will be competing in the second 4-lap Supersport race. More, from a press release issued by Tim Reeves’ publicist: Reeves in confident mood for second sidecar TT Tim Reeves goes into Wednesday’s second 3-lap Sidecar TT in confident mood after recording his best ever lap of the Mountain Course during Tuesday afternoon’s practice session. Tim and passenger Patrick Farrance posted a lap of 19m55.54s, a speed of 113.612mph, almost 1mph quicker than their previous best lap set during Monday’s race and the first time they’ve have lapped in under 20 minutes. After the engine problems that affected them during Monday’s opener, the LCR Suzuki subsequently spent most of Monday evening being dyno tested and with the engine mapping corrected, they were able to find an extra 9bhp. Back out in practice on Tuesday, the improvements could clearly be seen with their first sub-20 minute lap and hopes are high heading into Wednesday’s race. Speaking on Tuesday evening, Tim said: “That’s a bit more like it. We spent a lot of time on the dyno trying to sort the power of the engine out and were up until 2am on Tuesday morning but it was worth it as we’ve definitely moved in the right direction. Tuesday’s practice lap felt really good and we probably lost 5-10 seconds when we went through some yellow flags so to do a sub-20 minute lap after that has put me in a lot better mood for the second race. We’ve worked really hard to get a result here at the TT this year and it would be great for everyone connected with the team if we could get another podium – fingers crossed!” More, from a press release issued by Hydrex Honda: DOUBLE TT PODIUM SUCCESS FOR MARTIN Hydrex Honda’s Guy Martin had another brilliant day of racing at the Isle of Man TT Races when he took two hard-fought second places in Tuesday’s Supersport and Superstock races. For a while it looked like the latter would give him, and the team, their first ever TT win in what was truly a superb race, but he had to give second best to Ian Hutchinson, his fellow Honda rider also pipping him to first spot in the earlier Supersport race. In each race he was also comfortably inside the old class lap records. Despite only putting in a handful of laps on the 600cc Supersport bike during practice week, Guy was on the pace immediately and, having been in second at Glen Helen, 9 miles in to the course, he took over the lead of the race at the end of the opening lap with a speed of 125.375mph. Half way round the second lap he was overhauled by both Bruce Anstey and Ian Hutchinson, the former reclaiming his lap record, but it later transpired that Guy had to contend with water being thrown out by the machine. Nevertheless, he never slackened his pace and with a final lap of 125.729mph, he secured second place only 6.81seconds behind fellow Honda rider Hutchinson. With the Superstock race held much later in the day, at 6.30pm, conditions were a lot cooler and an opening lap of 128.247mph saw Guy slot in to fourth. The race was just warming up and for the next two laps, there was very little to choose between Guy and Hutchinson, the advantages minimal. When Hutchinson had problems at the pit stop Guy took a 3-second lead but Hutchinson was charging, the gap down to just 0.05seconds as they started their final lap. He then smashed the lap record with a near 130mph lap and Guy had to settle for second once more, his third podium of the week and his 8th at the TT in total 8.77 seconds adrift on this occasion. Talking later, Guy said: “I’m totally over the moon with today’s runner-up spots and I couldn’t have ridden any harder. Fair play to Hutchy, particularly in the Superstock race, he just rode that little bit better than me on the day. We had a few problems in the Supersport race when the bike started throwing water at me and I didn’t think we’d make it to the end but the performance of the bike didn’t tail off at all and I set my best lap on the final lap so I was well chuffed with second.” “It was a similar story in the Superstock race but, for some reason, I was a bit slow on the first run to Glen Helen and gave myself a bit of work to do. I pushed as hard as I could and managed to get in to the lead but my pit boards were constantly saying ‘+0′ and although I caught a few backmarkers in some awkward places on the last lap, Hutchy had the same so no excuses. I’m enjoying the week though and feel like I’m riding well so will continue to keep chipping away.” Team boss Shaun Muir added, “The Superstock race was simply sensational and we’ve got no arguments with the result, Guy just lost out to the better man on the day some days you just have to hold your hands up to that. We thought we had a major problem with the Supersport bike but it’s turned out to be just a radiator cap so we’ll be well in the hunt again tomorrow. Guy’s taken two more podiums and has broken both of the class lap records so we can’t complain too much and certainly can’t criticise anything. The approach and endeavour has been first class and with 3 podiums from 3 races, I’ve never seen Guy’s confidence so high so let’s hope that he gets to stand on the top step of the box in one of the final two races.” Guy’s next outing will be tomorrow morning with the second 4-lap Supersport race due to start at 10.45am. More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki Press Office: Bruce Anstey is now the fastest ever rider around the Isle of Man TT Circuit on a Supersport machine after recording a lap of 126.549mph on his GSX-R600 Suzuki in the Relentless Supersport race yesterday. Unfortunately, both Anstey and the Relentless Suzuki team suffered cruel luck in the same race, when a broken rectifier cable forced a retirement at Brandywell after 146 miles of racing. He was less than five miles away from TT win number eight and win number 16 for the TAS Racing team. In Tuesday night’s Superstock race, Anstey retired at the end of the opening lap after struggling with machine settings. Bruce Anstey: “My GSX-R600 was faultless in the Supersport race until it stopped on the last lap. I’d settled into my rhythm early on and was comfortably in the lead when I got caught up with other riders on the last two laps, but I had the race in the bag. I just felt the bike starting to cut out at the Bungalow and it eventually stopped at Brandywell. I will be doing my best to win the second Supersport race tomorrow.” Philip Neill – Team Principal: “What can we say; it just wasn’t our day today at the TT. You need a lot of luck around here with the nature of the races and today we didn’t have any. What is pleasing was watching Bruce recording the fastest lap on our Relentless Suzuki GSX-R600. He was leading comfortably in the Relentless Supersport race, but due to a minor failure with a broken wire on the last lap, we lost out on the win. “In the Superstock class, Bruce never quite found the set-up he required on his GSX-R1000 and we all know if he is not fully confident, he will not race. This is the first time TAS Racing has been beaten in the Superstock class at the TT, but we still have tomorrow’s Supersport race and Friday’s Senior Superbike TT to make our mark on this year’s event.” More, from a press release issued by Steve Plater’s publicist: STEVE PLATER NETS FOURTH PLACE IN JUNIOR TT Steve Plater is nothing if not consistent with his results at the Isle of Man TT festival. He rode a sensible race to seal fourth place in today’s Junior TT for HM Plant Honda, his third in as many races. The weather played its part in the results as rain left parts of the circuit drenched while other sections were bone dry. The officials delayed the start until the rain cleared and after a long delay which left the riders kicking their heels for over three hours the race finally got underway at 2pm. Being a relative newcomer to the TT course Plater was a little nervous as to how the damp conditions would affect his performance and said: “I think everybody is a little nervous as to how wet it is between Appledene through to Ballaugh and I think we will see some very different lines. But we will just have to suck it and see and approach it with a bit of caution.” As the race finally got underway the times at the first check point at Glen Helen reflected the wet conditions with sector times down considerably. Plater went through the sector fairly quickly but was more cautious than some of the more experienced riders and was eighth fastest through Glen Helen and also Ramsey check point. But he made up ground on the mountain where the rain had not affected the roads and completed the lap in seventh position. As he began the second lap the Woodhall Spa ace was still cautious on the approach to Glen Helen and lost time, dropping back to ninth but by the time he came in for his refuelling stop at the end of the lap he was up to sixth place. Lap three saw him move up to fourth and begin to reel in Conor Cummins on time and on the final lap Plater was up to full speed and completed the race in fourth place, just three seconds away from Cummins who was third and five seconds behind Bruce Anstey who took second. The final lap saw Plater claim the fastest lap of the race with a time of 18m 03.3s 125.384mph and it was also announced that he has won the TT Supporters Club Trophy which is awarded to the rider posting the fastest aggregate time in the two Supersport 600 races. “It was very wet out there and a lot of flies as well so I wasn’t willing to push any harder. The conditions did get better as time went on but it didn’t dry completely so we had to proceed with caution through the wet bits. “I am a bit disappointed as I was only three seconds away from third and five seconds from second place.” Steve sees further action in his final race of the week, the high profile Senior TT on Friday starting at 1.15pm More, from a press release issued by Metzeler: FRUSTRATION OVER FOR ANSTEY WITH SECOND PLACE FOR METZELER IN SUPERSPORT TT RACE June 10th, 2009, Isle of Man, UK Metzeler shod Bruce Anstey finished his first race of the TT, taking second place to runaway leader Michael Dunlop during mixed conditions, at the Isle of Man today. The Kiwi, aboard his Relentless Suzuki by TAS GSXR600, used his head, racing skills and consistent Metzeler tyres to overcome the extremely wet conditions, found on a quarter of the TT course, to finish his first race of the TT Festival in a commendable second place. Relentless Suzuki by TAS rider, Bruce Anstey, commented; “It was soaking wet at Glen Helen on the first lap but it did get dryer. I was so glad when I crossed the line. The bike ran really well today and the tyres worked perfectly to the end. Michael had pulled a gap at the start and it wasn’t possible to pull it back. I’m happy with second and now we’ve finally got some luck on our side I’ll be looking to go one better on Friday.” Third place went to another Metzeler rider, Conor Cummins, who achieved his first ever TT podium on his McAdoo Kawasaki Supersport machine. The Manxman wasn’t expecting to do so well in the Supersport race as it’s such a fiercely contested class but was over the moon with his maiden TT podium. McAdoo Kawasaki rider, Conor Cummins; “Conditions were tricky, it was hit and miss all over the place. The tyres worked brilliantly. I’ve been trying to get on the podium for four years and to achieve it is a dream come true.” In the early stages of the race Metzeler rider Guy Martin (Hydrex Honda) was also in the running but he retired his Supersport mount in the pits at the end of lap three with mechanical problems. Gianmarco Spigolon, Metzeler’s UK General Manager , commented, “Relentless Suzuki by TAS has finally shaken off their demons and Metzeler have two riders on the podium in the Supersport race. It’s great to see Anstey where he belongs and to give Conor his maiden TT podium is great for Metzeler. We look forward to him achieving more in the future. The Metzeler tyres provide excellent consistency in difficult conditions and have definitely helped today, the proof is on the podium.” For more information on Metzeler’s new RACETEC which features Interact™ structure and compound technology, please visit our website at: www.metzelermoto.com Relentless Supersport TT 2 result 1 Michael Dunlop (Street Sweep/Marlow Construction Yamaha) 2 Bruce Anstey (Relentless Suzuki by TAS) 3 Conor Cummins (McAdoo Kawasaki Racing) More, from a press release issued by Ryan Farquhar’s publicist: Top seven for Farquhar in Supersport TT Races Ryan Farquhar finished sixth and seventh in the two Supersport races, held on Tuesday and Wednesday, at the Isle of Man TT races. Tuesday’s races also saw Ryan set his best ever lap on both the 1000cc and 600cc machine and went some way to ease the disappointment of retiring from Tuesday evening’s Superstock race. In the first Supersport race on Tuesday morning, Ryan completed the first lap in fourth place with a lap in excess of 124mph although by lap 2 he had been relegated to sixth. He kept pushing hard and with a final lap of 124.568mph, his fastest ever on a 600, he maintained the position all the way to the end of the four laps in what was the fastest 600cc race seen at the TT. Later in the evening, Ryan was back out in the Superstock race and with a personal best lap of the Mountain Course, 127.651mph, he completed the first lap in sixth place. However, just as he had hoped to climb up the leaderboard, he ran out of petrol at Cronk ny Mona towards the end of the second lap. Wednesday’s 4-lap Supersport race was delayed by 3 and a quarter hours due to rain on the west part of the circuit and when it did get underway at 2pm, the roads were still very wet. A strong start by Ryan saw him slot into second at the first timing point although the changes he had made to the machine after Tuesday weren’t working as he would have liked and he was down in fifth at the end of the first lap. He slipped back to ninth on the second lap but he managed to work his way back up to 7th at the end of the race for another top-seven finish. Speaking later Ryan said: “It’s been a tough few days and although not the results I was looking for, I’m pleased to have got a couple of finishes under my belt. We changed the mapping of the 600cc engine but didn’t have time to put it in the dyno and we’d gone slightly the wrong way. It was really damp through Glen Helen and I had a few slides and one minute there was grip, the next there wasn’t so it was really tricky. I rode as hard as I could but when the track dried up I knew I’d slip back so I just brought the back home.” “I’m not sure why we ran out of fuel in the Superstock race as we were running the same bike and the same tank as last year. I did go slightly faster than 2008 but it started to run out at Creg ny Baa and although I rolled off, it cut out totally at Hillberry so it was a disappointing end as I felt strong out there. We’ve got a new engine in for the Senior race so let’s hope the week finishes on a high note.” Ryan’s final race comes on Friday where he will be back out on the Alf’s Motorcycles Kawasaki in the 6-lap Senior. More, from a press release issued by Alpinestars: ALPINESTARS BRINGS AST TECHNOLOGY TO THE ISLE OF MAN TO TEST WITH MISSION MOTORS. The 2009 Isle of Man TTXGP will provide a unique glimpse into the future of the motorcycle, as the first major electric motorcycle race takes place during one of the most historic events in motorcycle racing. Alpinestars will be present at the TTXGP bridging tradition and technology. The Isle of Man TT is the most challenging motorcycle race in the world. It is a treacherous sprint along a 37-mile public road course that snakes through the mountains, villages and historic terrain of the small British Isle. For over 100 years, amateurs and professionals alike have made the pilgrimage to the island to test the bounds of their bike, body and the forces of nature. The annual TT (Tourist Trophy) race is steeped in history and tradition and 2009 will introduce a unique intersection of past and future. On Friday June 12th, the roar of internal combustion echoing through the villages and mountains will be replaced by the whine of electric motors as 17 high- performance electric motorcycles take on the Isle. While many an Alpinestars-armored rider have taken to the challenging landscape of the “Jewel of the Irish Sea,” over the years, the 2009 TT will provide Alpinestars a unique opportunity to gather data through the Advanced Safety Technology (AST) rider-mounted telemetry system. Mission Motors rider Tom Montano will be wearing a custom Alpinestars race suit, which will house the sophisticated Alpinestars AST pack. The pack is linked to unobtrusive sensors within the arms, legs and torso of the suit, which will record data via an arsenal of sensitive tools that include: – A suite of tri axis acceleration sensors -A central logging unit the same as used on Formula 1 Cars – A data processing sub unit for analogue inputs (formula 1 spec) – Two Military Specification GPS units – Inertial Motion Unit (3 axis accel. / 3 axis gyro / 3 axis Earth Magnetic Field sensor) – Interface / display board Alpinestars has been testing and developing the AST system for five years now, with a roster of world-class motorcycle racers. The likes of Kenny Roberts Jr., Casey Stoner, Daniel Pedrosa and Nicky Hayden have all worn the AST system at legendary race circuits around the world. Given the extreme conditions of the Isle of Man circuit, it has been a valuable source of data and Alpinestars has gathered data at past TTs. This year however will be even more valuable with the addition of the TTXGP electric race. In addition to a 600CC internal combustion bike, Montano will be piloting the Mission Motors Mission One electric motorcycle while competing in the TTXGP. This will be a unique opportunity for Alpinestars technicians to compare and contrast the telemetry and data readings between a traditional gas-powered motorcycle and a state of the art electric motorcycle. With vibration and mechanical movement significantly reduced, in theory the electric Mission One could possibly provide a purer data stream. Either way, this opportunity will afford an interesting analysis between an electric and an internal combustion powered motorcycle. Since its inception, the AST system has been developed as the brain of a sophisticate rider-mounted airbag deployment system that Alpinestars is currently developing. With hundreds of laps worth of data collected, Alpinestars’ technicians have been able to gather invaluable information about how the airbag system will be deployed as well as what it takes to protect a rider in the event of an accident. The AST system is currently being developed first for track/race use and the complete airbag system will be used in open competition within 2009. As with all of Alpinestars industry leading protective product, the airbag deployment system has been under testing and development in the extreme race environment first, before it is adapted to “street” use.