As per 2013, this year's Classic Racer Magazine Classic TT Lap of Honour is
set to be one of the highlights of the Classic TT presented by Bennetts, and
with the entry packed with both legendary riders and iconic, and exotic,
machinery to match it promises to be something very special indeed.
Taking place on August Bank Holiday Monday (25th August), this year's lap of
honour is a celebration of some of the UK's finest ever road racers, plus some
overseas talent of the highest order, and the line-up includes a combined - and
staggering - total of no less than 90 TT victories and 205 TT podiums.
18 former TT winners will be on the grid, the majority of whom will be
mounted on the machines that helped them stand on the top step of the podium,
and everyone on the island will once again witness a tremendous spectacle. Over
130 riders will take to the Mountain Course, a selection of which can be seen
below:
John McGuinness (England)
The current King of Mountain,
McGuinness has now taken an incredible 21 TT wins whilst he's also achieved more
podiums - 42 - than any other rider. The outright lap record holder, who will be
racing in the 500cc Classic TT, will ride his own 250cc Honda, a replica of the
machine upon which he won his first TT race in 1999.
Phil Read
(England)
One of only two riders to win World titles in the 125cc,
250cc and 500cc categories, Read won 52 GPs and stood on the podium 121 times
during his phenomenal career, the latter the fifth highest total of all time.
The 8-times World Champion will ride the 500cc RG Suzuki that he campaigned
during the 1976 500cc World Championship for Team Classic
Suzuki.
Chas Mortimer (England)
One of the finest
road racers of the 1970s, Mortimer could ride - and win - on all classes of
machinery although his greatest success came in the 125cc, 250cc and 350cc
categories. An 8 times TT winner, Mortimer will ride a 350cc Yamaha in the
Classic TT Lap of Honour.
Brian Reid (Northern
Ireland)
Twice World Formula Two Champion, Reid was a road racer of
the highest calibre right up until his retirement in 1994 and with 5 TT wins and
10 podiums, he's still rightly revered amongst the racing fraternity. One of the
famed 'Dromara Destroyers', Reid will ride a 500cc RG Suzuki for Team Classic
Suzuki similar to what he raced in the 1980s.
Steve Plater (England)
A former British Champion and
multiple winner at the North West 200 and Macau, injury meant Plater only
competed at the TT for three years but he certainly made it count with two wins,
three podiums and 13 silver replicas from his 13 finishes. A former BSB
front-runner, Plater, who won the 2009 Senior TT, will line up on one of the
iconic Honda RC45 machines.
Charlie Williams (England)
One of Britain's finest road
racers in the 1970s and 80s, Williams was primarily a 250cc and 350cc expert
although he also enjoyed strong results on 500cc and F1 machines. A nine times
TT winner, Williams took 21 podiums in total and became one of the few riders to
win two TT races in a day when he took the Junior and F2 races in 1980. As well
as taking part in the Lap of Honour, Williams will also be having his first race
on the Mountain Course in 30 years when he contests the 500cc Classic
TT.
Graeme Crosby (New Zealand)
Another rider to have a
brief, but spectacular TT career, Crosby finished in fourth place at his first
attempt in 1979 and he was immediately snapped up the factory Suzuki team. The
next two years saw him rack up three wins, four podiums and become World F1
Champion in both 1980 and 1981. He was also only 0.8s adrift of the outright lap
record when winning the 1981 Classic TT and will be on board an identical XR69
Suzuki to what he rode that day.
Phillip McCallen (Northern Ireland)
McCallen was very
much the man to beat in the big bike classes at the TT during the 1990s and won
11 race wins during his career, including four in 1996 and three in 1997. The
Northern Irishman will take part in the parade on board one of his race winning
RC45 Honda's.
Rob McElnea (England)
Like Crosby, McElnea only contested
the TT for three years but his record is an almost exact replica with three wins
and four podiums coming in two of those years, 1983 and 1984. The works Suzuki
rider notched up Senior and Classic race wins before he embarked on a successful
Grand Prix and then BSB managerial career. He'll also be Suzuki XR69 mounted for
the lap of honour.
Mick Grant (England)
A multiple British Champion, Grant
rode for the factory Kawasaki, Honda and Suzuki teams during his career, winning
no less than seven TTs, also taking the outright lap record along the way. The
Yorkshire rider will contest the parade lap on board an MV Agusta, a move away
from the machines he's more synonymous with
Carl Fogarty (England)
Four times World Superbike
Champion - and seven times World Champion in total - Fogarty needs little
introduction to road race fans with the Blackburn rider having made his name at
the Isle of Man TT before sweeping all before him on the World scene. Fogarty
won three TT races in 1989 and 1990, including a Formula One-Senior double at
the latter, and took seven podiums in total, firmly recognising the part the
island played in his success.
Ian Simpson (Scotland)
Scots ace Simpson was born into a
racing family with his father Bill - who will also take part in the lap of
honour - a former race winner. Ian was just 17 when he first tackled the
Mountain Course at the 1987 Manx Grand Prix and he went on to become one of the
best road racers of his generation with multiple wins at both the TT and North
West 200. A complete all-rounder, he was also a multiple British Champion until
injury cut short his career when still at the peak of his profession.
Brian Morrison (Scotland)
Another rider from the
generation of flying Scots in the 1980s and 90s, Morrison, like Simpson, was a
multiple British Champion with his crowning moment at the TT coming in 1988 when
he won the Production C race. A year later, he became the second man ever to lap
the Mountain Course at more than 120mph moments after Steve Hislop had achieved
the feat and although he called time on his TT career in 1991, he did so with
seven podiums to his name.
Steve Parrish (England)
A former British Champion,
Parrish rode for the Heron Suzuki team in the 1970s before switching to Yamaha
in the 1980s, with his best TT coming in 1984 when he finished fourth in the
Production race and eighth in the Senior. He went on to manage the official
Loctite Yamaha team before forging a successful career within the media.
Con Law (Northern Ireland)
A road racer of the highest
order, Law won the Manx Grand Prix in 1979 before moving on to the TT and he
soon claimed wins in the Junior races of 1982 and 1983 riding the Waddon and EMC
machines. He also took second in the 1983 Senior Classic on a 500 Yamaha but
injuries sustained in a short circuit crash at Brands Hatch later that year
ultimately meant his glory days were behind him.
Dave Roper
(USA)
The first American to have ever won a TT, Classic race
exponent Roper took the 1984 500cc Historic race and will be back on the island
riding a 500cc G50 Matchless for Team Obsolete.
Neil Hodgson (England)
Although he never raced at the TT,
Hodgson had considerable success at Oliver's Mount, Scarborough and Aberdare
Park before going on to become 125cc British Champion. That led to a three-year
spell in GPs although he's best remembered for his time in the British and World
Superbike Championships winning them in 2000 and 2003 respectively. Spent
several years in the American Superbike Championship and retired due to injury
in 2010, now having a successful media career.
Other star riders taking
part in the Lap of Honour include 1985 Production TT winner Mat Oxley, Bill
Simpson, Ian Richards, Malcolm Wheeler, Denis McCullough, Steve Linsdell, Glen
English, Nigel Rollason and Gary Carswell.
Many of these stars will also be attending the Classic TT VIP Hospitality
events and RST Heroes Dinner. You can join them at these events and tickets can
be purchased from www.iomtt.com or
by phoning 00 44 (0)1624 640 000.
Photocaption: Picture by Dave Kneen at manxphotosonline shows John
McGuinness (4), Mick Grant (10), Steve Plater (34) and Philip McCallen at the
Creg Ny Baa during the 2013 Classic Racer Lap of Honour.
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