Countdown begins to season opener for Honda TT Legends
Four of the biggest names from the Isle of Man TT fuelled by Monster Energy will be getting their season off to a gruelling start on Saturday.
With only just over a month to go until the start of the 2013 TT Michael Rutter, Simon Andrews, Michael Dunlop and John McGuinness will be anxious to make the most of every opportunity to get bike time on track.
Even still the Honda TT Legends team will probably be glad when this weekend is over as they face the challenge of spending 24 hours in the saddle between them.
19-time TT winner John McGuinness is expecting results: ‘
We’ve got some new electronics on the bike and a few different people in the team – some really strong and experienced riders – so it’s all good…hopefully we can bring the bike home safe, standing on the steps'.
For the two Michaels the Bol d’Or is their first taste of endurance racing and Magny Cours makes for a tough introduction.
Under the expert guidance of team boss Neil Tuxworth, himself a former TT rider, three of the foursome will be competing against some of the most experienced endurance racers in the world.
Three-time TT winner Michael Dunlop’s not phased by the scale of the challenge, remarking in his laid-back manner that, ‘I’d love to race, it’d be great to have a 24-hour race on the CV but we’ll see what happens’.
Another TT star making his first appearance at a major endurance race is Milwaukee Yamaha's Conor Cummins. The Ramsey Rocket will be riding for the Maco Yamaha team onboard their R1 racer.
Rutter’s years of experience of racing at every level maybe make him a bit less sanguine about the task at hand: ‘It’s daunting to know that you’ve got to do 24 hours, especially through the night as I’ve never been out in the dark before. It’s all completely new but to be honest yesterday’s free practice was really good’.
When the racing is done in Magny Cours the focus will turn to the roads and the Isle of Man TT, practice for which gets underway on Saturday 25th May.
The race starts at 15:00 on Saturday 20th April.