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Bimota Racing at IOMTT with American Brandon Cretu

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Italy’s favorite boutique brand will be back at the Isle of Man TT races this year, with a two rider team that includes American Brandon Cretu.

Cretu and his teammate Ben Wylie will campaign for Bimota at the big four road races (North West 200, Isle of Man TT, Ulster Grand Prix, and Macau GP) on-board the Bimota BB3 superbike.

This is not the first time that Cretu and Wylie have raced together, having shared a pit while at the Wylie Racing team during the 2011 and 2012 Isle of Man TT races.

Though the Bimota BB3 was ruled ineligible for FIM events, the international road racing scene has no hang-ups letting the S1000RR-powered superbikes lineup on the starting grid.

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Columns

Trackside Tuesday: A 2014 Photo Retrospective – Part 2

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I’m going to start the 2nd and final part of my 2014 photo retrospective with the image above of Marc Marquez. Taken at Woodcote during Sunday mornings warm up for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

Woodcote was one of the most exhilarating sections of track I shot last year. The sensation of speed as the riders came past, back wheel sliding, only feet away was indescribable.

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Team Mugen Confirms 2015 IOMTT Entry with Shinden Yon

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A bit of a formality, since rider John McGuinness already spilled the beans in December last year, but Team Mugen has confirmed its entry into the 2015 Isle of Man TT.

Mugen will have a new bike at the contest, named the Shinden Yon, “Yon” being “four” in Japanese, and the bike being the company’s fourth TT racer — like its lap times, Mugen’s engineers are very consitent with their naming conventions.

Little is known about the Shinden Yon, and Mugen is saying only that the machine is “newly developed to improve over last year’s model.”

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Racing

IOMTT Looking for Race Promoter for International Series

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The Isle of Man government is looking for an independent promoter that wishes to organize and commercialize the Isle of Man TT and Classic TT races, as well as develop a new global Isle of Man TT styled series.

This international “TT Series” would have road racing rounds that take place around the world, with the season culminating at the Isle of Man TT.

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IOMTT: Michael Dunlop Will Ride for Milwaukee Yamaha

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With the surprise move of BMW Motorrad working with TAS Racing and Guy Martin, the questions have been flying, yet again, about who Michael Dunlop will be racing with this upcoming Isle of Man TT.

The nephew of Joey Dunlop has come into his own now as a racer, taking many of the race victories in the 2013 and 2014 seasons, and with a good ride underneath him, a sweep of the TT races is not outside the realm of possibilities.

Again we get a late answer, as we have news today that Michael Dunlop has signed with the Milwaukee Yamaha team for the 2015 Isle of Man TT.

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Columns

Trackside Tuesday : A 2014 Photo Retrospective – Part 1

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As the countdown to the new season gathers momentum I thought I’d have a look back at some of my favourite photographs from 2014.

The image above of Scott Redding was taken as he came in for a tire change during qualifying at Le Mans. Sometimes the riders will disappear to the back of the garage during qualifying.

If you’re lucky they will stay on the bike while the crew get to work. If they do, it provides a great opportunity for a portrait as was the case here.

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Racing

Video: Guy Martin’s Passion For Life

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You can’t talk about the Isle of Man TT without talking about Guy Martin. The affable rider can be an enigma at times, both on and off the track.

Immensely popular, Martin is surprisingly mercurial with his fans. Supremely talented on a motorbike, the Lincolnshire man has surprisingly never won an Isle of Man TT race.

Britain’s Channel 4 has put together a great short documentary on Martin, which should start help marinate the juices for this summer’s Isle of Man TT race fortnight.

British A&R readers should be able to click over to an even longer video on what makes Guy Martin tick, while us “colonials” will have to suffice with a seven-minute YouTube clip.

Whichever version you watch, it’s a pretty candid and well done insight into one of the TT’s more mysterious riders. Enjoy!

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Racing

Video Preview the 2015 Isle of Man TT

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We are six months away from the start of the 2015 Isle of Man TT, which for fans and media seems like an eternal amount of time, but for the organizers and competitors, the waiving of the green flag must surely seem like the event is rapidly approaching.

The off-season posturing is already in full-swing, with Michael Dunlop and BMW Motorrad seemingly parting ways, despite a very productive 2014 season. Instead Guy Martin will be on the German brand, perhaps giving him his best shot at a TT race win ever.

No one can count out John McGuinness, of course, as he looks to top Joey Dunlop’s outright TT race-win record. McPint is a contender in every class he enters, though his best hopes are surely in the electric class, where Team Mugen is the outfit to beat.

The electric bikes will be looking to lap 120 mph on the Isle this year, which is proper fast — no matter what standard you use — and puts those top competitors will be in supersport-pace territory.

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Video: Kawasaki at the Isle of Man TT

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Kawasaki had a good outing at the 2014 Isle of Man TT, scoring a win in the Sidecar class (Dave Molyneux), a podium in the Superstock class (Dean Harrison), and a clean sweep of the Lightweight TT (Dean Harrison, James Hillier, and James Cowton).

Team Green’s results may not displace the dominance by Honda at the Isle of Man, though Big Red’s TT reign is certainly under fire, as BMW, Kawasaki, Suzuki, and Yamaha are all looking for a piece of the Manx pie.

Recapping its fortnight at the Isle of Man TT, Kawasaki has put together a nice video about its riders. We have roughly a year to wait until the next TT, so we will have to rely on videos like these to manage our appetite until then.

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Arai Launches Joey Dunlop Replica Helmet for Classic TT

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You can’t talk about old school TT racing without mentioning the name Joey Dunlop. The outright record-holder for the most TT race wins at the Isle of Man TT, Joey Dunlop is an absolute icon at the Manx island, and road racing in general. He is quite simply the King of the Mountain.

So to help celebrate this year’s Classic TT, Arai will produce 300 units of its RX7-GP helmet in Joey Dunlop’s livery from 1985. Arai is calling the helmet the most authentic limited edition Joey Dunlop replica helmet ever produced, and it’s using the actual design and sponsors from 1985 season. Additionally, Linda Dunlop, Joey’s widow, will be signing each of the 300 exclusive helmets being produced.

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ACU Announces Changes to Isle of Man TT Sidecar Regs – Supersport Rules, Three-Cylidner Engines Now Allowed

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The sidecar class at the Isle of Man TT is about to get a pretty big change, as the ACU has announced a shift in the sporting regulations for sidecars. Already opening up the engine spec for the 2014 Isle of Man TT, the governing body has once again modified what the three-wheelers can use for their engines.

Applying the solo-class Supersport engine specs to the sidecar class, teams will have more strict guidelines on what they can and cannot modify for their machines, but they will also have greater flexibility in what engines they base their racing operation upon.

Since the Isle of Man TT Supersport class allows for 675cc three-cylinder sport bikes to compete, Sidecar class entrants can now make use of power plants from the Triumph Daytona 675 and MV Agusta F3 sport bikes.

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