The ones to watch
Who else could fight for 2018 TT dominance?
The absence of Bruce Anstey and John McGuinness, who have won 35 TTs races between them over the past two decades, from TT 2018 opens a door for riders who have been standing on the threshold of a big bike Mountain course victory. Gary Johnson, James Hillier, Conor Cummins and William Dunlop were part of the Young Guns campaign initiated by the TT organisers ahead of the centenary TT back in 2007. Now in their thirties, they have all enjoyed some TT success with Johnson standing on the top step of two Supersport TTs (in 2011 and 2014) and Hillier winning the Lightweight race in 2013.
James Hillier
Hillier has a preference for Kawasaki machinery and 2018 will be his ninth year in a row with Peter Extance’s Bournemouth squad. The Ringwood rider’s TT progression has been a slow burn. He claimed his first podium finish in a superbike race in 2015, seven years after his 2008 debut. 2015 was the year the 32-year-old made his greatest impact on the Mountain course, setting his fastest lap of 132.414mph, finishing runner-up in the Senior and third in the Superbike races.
That performance seemed to herald Hillier’s arrival amongst the TT elite but the Kawasaki rider has not lapped any faster since 2015.
Conor Cummins
Unlike Hillier, Conor Cummins’ TT career has been a succession of musical chairs between teams and manufacturers since his 2006 debut. After just one year the Ramsey man was a regular top ten finisher in almost every class. In 2009 he finished second in the Senior on a McAdoo Kawasaki before disaster struck in the same event a year later when he suffered terrible injuries after crashing off the circuit at The Verandah.
The 31-year-old battled his way back to take Superbike and Senior podiums on the Honda Racing Fireblade in 2014. Now riding with the Padgett’s Honda squad for a third season, Cummins will be hoping to benefit from working with a team that gave Bruce Anstey’s career a new lease of life.
Gary Johnson
Johnson has already proven he can win on the Mountain course. The Lincolnshire man will ride a RAF/Briggs ZX-10RR Kawasaki in the superbike races in 2018 plus his own Triumph 675 in the Supersport events.
Johnson finished on the podium of the 2009 Senior and 2011 Superbike TTs but he has a huge 27 second deficit to get on terms with the Michael Dunlop’s superbike pace.
William Dunlop
A former team-mate of Cummins at Milwaukee Yamaha, William Dunlop’s TT career over recent years has been hampered by crashes and injuries. Elder brother to Michael, William has won races at the North West 200 and Ulster Grand Prix but has been unable to make a breakthrough at the TT since his debut in 2006. In fact, the Ballymoney man has not stood on the podium of one of the big bike TT races since 2014 and his best superbike race result is a 5th place in the 2015 Superbike TT on a Tyco BMW S1000RR. For 2018 the 32-year-old will have a brace of R1 and R6 Yamahas at his disposal in Temple Golf Club and Caffrey liveries. Dunlop has enjoyed most success in the Supersport class, claiming three rostrum finishes and it is probably the 600cc races that offer his best hope of success this time around.
Michael Rutter
If any of these former ‘Young Guns’ are concerned time may be running out for more TT wins, they will find some consolation in Michael Rutter’s 2017 Lightweight TT victory on a Paton. It was the 46-year-old’s fifth TT win and he moved into the event’s top ten fastest ever rider list with a lap of 131.709mph on the SMT/Bathams BMW during the Senior. It is 20 years since the evergreen Rutter won his first TT, the 1998 Junior TT, and 24 since he made his debut on the Mountain Course. Who knows what he’ll achieve in 2018?
Lee Johnston
After several seasons on BMWs, Johnston is switching to Honda power for 2018 and joins Ian Hutchinson in the official Honda Racing squad. Now fully recovered from the injuries he suffered in last season’s practice crash at Greeba Castle, the 29-year-old will also race a Padgett’s Honda in the Supersport races. Johnston will be hoping for a return to the form he enjoyed in 2015, when he finished on the Superstock TT podium and won at the NW200 and UGP.
Josh Brookes
John McGuinness’s absence from TT 2018 leaves Josh Brookes to fly the flag for Norton by himself. The latest Aprilia-engined V4 superbike remains an unknown quantity and the former BSB champion is still making up ground after missing the 2015 and 2016 TTs. The Australian will have plenty of track time on the McAMS Superstock and 600cc Yamahas and with his best lap time within a smidgeon of 131mph, a Norton podium finish is not out of the question.
Dan Kneen
2017 provided a breakthrough season for Manxman Kneen as he claimed his first TT podium in the Superstock race. The 30-yearold also secured a berth in the Tyco BMW team after putting in good performances during a trial with the squad at the Ulster Grand Prix. Kneen is familiar with the S1000RR after spending 2017 riding for the Penz13.com outfit. Most of the pressure at the TT will be on the Braddan man’s new Tyco teammate, Michael Dunlop, perhaps allowing Kneen to operate under the radar. But he will also have to find half a minute a lap to get on the Irishman’s superbike pace.
Dean Harrison
Bradford’s Harrison is the rider who, along with Peter Hickman, has made the most consistent TT progress in recent seasons. Now in his third year with Silicone Kawasaki, the winner of the 2014 Lightweight race took two third places in the Superbike and Senior races last season. He was also one of only a very few riders who improved their lap times in the iffy conditions of 2017. The 29-year-old is now the eighth fastest TT rider with a speed of 132.019mph to add to his title of the ‘Fastest Road Racer in the World’ after setting a new record speed at the Ulster Grand Prix.