This is the fourth year that the Le Mans 24 hour race has brought the Word Endurance Chanmpionship to a close. Moved four years ago to the end of the season finale having traded places with the Bol D Or at Magny Cours, Le Mans is the second of the 24 hour races with further …
Ireland’s premier road race has suffered from poor weather in recent years, which is a shame because racing on the closed roads between Portrush, Portstewart and Colraine is probably the best I have seen in thirty years of watching racing. William Dunlop on Guy Martin’s back wheel entering the Ballysally roundabout The partisan Irish crowd …
Endurance racing isn’t just about the racers suffering hours of discomfort, sweat and tears, the spectators go through it too and that is the whole point of 24 hour racing. The race may last a day but the preparation by the teams and those that come to watch starts long before the the flag drops …
Blue sky days on the Isle of Man means bikes and racing, we headed over for the re vamped Classic TT and Manx GP. Riding a motorbike on the circuit for the first time is a rather surreal experience, we’ve heard about it, we’ve watched the DVDs and the ITV4 coverage of the recent TT, …
We left the café on a Sunday evening in August, girls on board, with the intention of making it back to Le Mans in one hit, we had tried this before and failed miserably but what followed was a fast, never to be repeated trip. As we neared Antwerp on the ring road a …
First run in 1929 the North West 200 is classed as the biggest outdoor sporting event in Ireland. Racers ride on closed roads on a triangular circuit from Port Stewart to Colraine and back up to Port Rush. It’s a fast circuit with Martin Jessop hitting 208mph in practice last year on the approach to …
Back in the day I read a test on one of the bike magazines on the at the time new Suzuki bandit and a BMW, the exact model erased from my mind. The test was riding the bikes back from Spain after using the ferry to get there. The riders didn't stop the bikes, hot …
The Tourist Trophy races on the Isle of Man have no equal. Riders reach speeds in the region of 200mph on closed public roads over the 37.73 mile course, climbing from sea level to over 1000ft on the mountain circuit. The outright lap record holder is John McGuiness riding a Honda CBR1000RR round in 17'12'30', …
Unlike some decisions this one didn't come out of a pint of John Smiths. To be fair I am not exactly sure where it came from! Saturday 21st January sees us on the M62 in Penso's van heading to DK Breakers in Staffordshire. James had been bidding on some H1 parts, won an engine and …
With Le Mans moving from its usual springtime slot in the calendar to September, Les sets his sights on another trip, some 15 years after his last visit, his business, Short Stop Tyres ( 01704 573022 ) keeps him busy early in the year fitting tyres and fettling bikes for the summer. I could hardly let …