Legends from the world of motorcycle racing will join the Centenary TT celebrations, it has been confirmed.
TT greats Jim Redman, Carl Fogarty, Mick Grant and John Surtees will be joined by short circuit stars including Kevin Schwantz, Nori Haga and former World Superbike Champion Neil Hodgson to mark 100 years of racing.
The Dunlop TT Lap of Honour will be a tribute to the men and machines that made the TT great, boasting the best turnout of former TT stars ever.
Within the 108 solo riders selected for the lap on Monday, June 4, are riders who, between them, boast an amazing 74 TT wins and innumerable rostrums. And the sidecar boys, and girls for that matter, have a total of 7 wins from just 29 outfits accepted.
With a record entry to handle in the Centenary year, and the obvious disappointment for those who failed to get a ride this year, the organisers have had a thankless task with selection, but have focused on quality over quantity.
It isn’t just the star riders that will make this year’s TT special – the line up of genuine ex-TT machinery will be without equal in the Lap of Honour’s history. A measure of the respect that Honda Motor Company Japan have for the TT is the line up of bikes shipped from the factory museum for the event.
Jim Redman, who travels from South Africa to take part, Swiss Luigi Taveri, Stuart Graham and Irish heroes Tommy Robb and Ralph Bryans are being reunited with Honda factory machinery on which they enjoyed TT success.
From Holland, former Yamaha factory mechanic Ferry Brouwer is providing no less than 11 of his priceless Yamaha collection to riders like Michelle (Mike) Duff, from Canada, Rod Gould, Chas Mortimer and Aussie Kel Carruthers.
The nostalgia continues on Friday, June 8, with the Motor Cycle News TT Centenary Parade of Champions.
In a field of TT champions which is, without doubt, the best ever assembled, there are 144 first place trophies shared by a field of just 39 former TT stars. The entry – Carl Fogarty, through to Mick Grant and John Surtees – reads like a who’s who of TT racing.
Adding a little international flavour and joining them on the lap will be former World Champion Kevin Schwantz and WSB stars Nori Haga and Neil Hodgson.
If the solo list for the Parade of Champions looks impressive how about 30 wins from just three sidecars in the three wheeler parade? Mick Boddice with nine, Rob Fisher with 10 and Dave Molyneux with 11 – although it could be more by the time Friday comes. It will make a stirring sight as they lap together.
Commenting on the line up for the TT Lap of Honour and Parade of Champions, Chairman of the TT Steering Committee and Tourism and Leisure Minister Adrian Earnshaw MHK said:
‘Without doubt, the Centenary of the TT is a chance for us to immerse ourselves in the glittering history of the event.’
‘The line up of riders and machines taking part in this years Dunlop Lap of Honour and MCN Parade of Champions is unsurpassed and will roll back the years for our older fans, whilst perhaps help to educate some of our younger fans.’