Rising stars visit Isle of Man ahead of debuts at the 2011 TT
Wednesday 16 March 2011
TT
With just weeks to go before the start of the 2011 Isle of Man TT fuelled by Monster Energy, a group of promising young riders has visited the Isle of Man to familiarise themselves with the Mountain course.
At the weekend, five rookie solo competitors completed laps of the course with TT Rider Liaison Officers Johnny Barton and Richard ‘Milky’ Quayle.
Newcomers getting their first look at the course included Dan Frear, Lee Vernon, Daley Mathieson and Robert Wilson, while Dan Hegarty, who had originally planned to compete last year, took the chance to have a further review of the Mountain course.
From a Lincolnshire family with a strong background in racing, 25-year-old Frear has enjoyed considerable success at Oliver’s Mount, Scarborough, where he has beaten, among others, TT winners John McGuinness, Ian Lougher and Michael Dunlop in the 600cc class.
He is the 400cc lap record holder and has also finished on the podium in the highly competitive National 600cc Superstock Championship.
Vernon, 22, is well known to road racing fans having already tasted success on the roads, particularly at the Southern 100 and Oliver’s Mount, where he’s been a regular podium finisher in the 250cc class.
The Stoke-on-Trent rider won the Lee Pullan Trophy in 2010 and has also been campaigning a 675cc Triumph, on which he will make his TT debut.
Durham’s Mathieson started racing on a 125cc Honda, but has more recently been riding 250cc and 600cc Hondas at the Irish National road races. He finished fourth in the 250cc Ulster Grand Prix and will contest both Monster Energy Supersport Races at the 2011 TT.
Scotsman Wilson is another rider to have started his road racing career at Oliver’s Mount and has already enjoyed success around the woodland circuit, finishing eighth in the 2010 International Gold Cup. He made an encouraging Ulster GP debut last year, finishing inside the top 20 and lapping at just under 120mph.
Hegarty, 25, is a graduate of the Virgin Mobile R6 Cup, where he was a front runner in 2005. More recently he has been contesting the National Superstock 1000cc Championship. The Nottingham rider took numerous top 10 finishes in the series in 2008 and 2009, while injury ended his season early in 2010.
The Mike Hailwood Foundation funded the trip. Created in 1981 following the death of the legendary Hailwood in a car accident, the foundation’s aim is to maintain and develop road racing in the Isle of Man. It has already assisted more than 200 riders.
Among the current TT stars to have benefited from the support of the Mike Hailwood Foundation are Adrian Archibald, Ian Hutchinson, who won all five solo races in 2010, Davy Morgan and Steve Plater, the TT Champion in 2009.
Mike Hailwood Foundation Treasurer Adrian Earnshaw said:
“The foundation was set up in honour of one of the true legends of the TT who was much loved and highly respected.”
“By fundraising and providing assistance for promising riders to experience the course in a non-pressurised environment we are achieving our stated intention of promoting and maintaining road racing on the Isle of Man.”