from TWOWHEELSBLOG
The 2013 Isle of Man Tourist Trophy is almost upon us - with the traditional ‘Practice Week’ beginning this Saturday, May 25 - and, as usual, many eyes will be on the legendary John McGuinness, the fastest man ever on the mighty Mountain Course, who will try to add more silverware to his already impressive tally of 19 TT wins. In the Superbike and Senior races, the 41 yeard old from Morecombe will race once again under the banner of the fierce Honda TT Legends team, which will also field another two ‘big names’ in Road Racing, Michael Rutter and Michael Dunlop, who already have 3 TT wins each under their belts.
Following a disappointing start to the road racing season with the cancellation of the North West 200 Superbike races, the stellar three-man TT Legends line-up is even more determined to put on a good show for the thousands of TT fans that flock to the event every year. According to the John McGuinnenes himself, the NW200 letdown will just give him further motivation to do well at the imminent race TT:
“We were all gutted not to get out on the Superbikes at the North West, so the TT is all the more important this year. As always, I’ll be a bit nervous heading in to the first practice sessions this weekend but as soon as I get on the bike and head out for the first time it will feel like home. There’s no denying that the young guns are nipping at my heels but I’ll be fighting as hard as any of them. I’ve said it before but when the sun is out there is no better place to be than the Isle of Man TT, so let’s just hope that the weather is good and we can put on a good show for the fans.”
Michael Dunlop - of the mythological Dunlop dynasty - will surely give a hard time to the ‘old’ King of the Mountain, also because he will have to defend the honor of the family: with 26 TT wins, the late and great uncle Joey is the only man to have scored more victories in Manx than McGuinness, but Michael is also quite close to his late father Robert, who won 5 times on the Isle and still is, in turn, the most successful rider in the history of the NW200. At the recent NW200, Michael was able to take a victory in the ‘mutilated’ Supersport Race before the rain came down and forced the promoters to call it a day:
“The North West was a mixed bag for me because I did get a win on the 600, but the weather was horrendous and it was a shame we didn’t get to go out on the big bikes. My machine was going well in practice and I would have been on pole for the race, so I’m looking forward to seeing what we can do at the TT. It’s my favourite road racing circuit and if the weather is good, it’ll be a pretty good show.”
Even the ‘new guy’ of the Honda TT Legends team, 40-year old Michael Rutter, boasts a pretty impressive record at the NW200 - with 13 victories, he is second alongside Joey Dunlop in terms of wins behind the 15 wins brought home by the aforementioned Robert Dunlop - but he’s got some family-related matters at the TT too: his father Toni in fact has won 7 times on the Isle of Man, and of course Michael hopes to close the gap with the parent in the TT ranking:
“After the wash-out of the North West I can’t wait to get back to the rock and have a go on the Superbikes. I know the Louth-based team means business on the roads and I’m looking forward to being back with them on the Isle of Man. My team-mates just happen to be two of my biggest rivals, but I’m sure that will make for some good racing, we just need to keep our fingers crossed for good weather.”
Last but not least, Honda TT Legend’s main man Neil Tuxworth tells us what his expectations are for the upcoming event:
“The North West 200 was hugely disappointing for everyone involved as we didn’t even get to turn a wheel on race day, so we’re looking forward to the TT even more this year. We’ll be running a three-rider line-up in the Superbike and Senior races and it’s one of the strongest line-ups we’ve ever had. McGuinness, Rutter and Dunlop are all proven winners at the TT so we have high hopes in terms of race results this year.”
