Taynuilt rider tears up the track at the Isle of Man TT
TAYNUILT’S Robert Wilson has just returned from competing at the Isle of Man 2016 TT races. This was his sixth year competing at the event riding a 600cc supersport Yamaha R6 for Stoddarts of Oban.
At the TT this year Robert was placed 15th and 18th in the two supersport 600cc races which had 79 starters. The race was held over four laps (150 miles) which he completed in one hour and 15 minutes. This includes a pit stop to refuel the bike after two laps. This year, he recorded his fastest ever time round the 37.37-mile course in 18 minutes, 32 seconds which is an average speed of over 122mph. He received two bronze replicas for these results.
They Taynuilt rider also entered the Southern 100 post TT races at the Billown Circuit and finished third in the 600cc race and seventh in the 1000cc race riding his 600cc bike which was the first placed 600cc bike to finish.
Pre-season testing took a slight misfortune as Robert broke his collar bone in a motocross accident eight weeks before the TT. Doctors advised that he would not be fit in time to compete this year. However, he healed quicker than expected and, through daily visits to the gym to speed up his recovery, he was fit enough to attend.
Thank
Robert would like to thank all his sponsors, Stoddarts of Oban motorcycles, Billy Robertson, MacNiven Electrics, Highland Drywall Tools, Sinclair Plant & Contracting, MacKenzie Welding and Scott Wilson.
The TT, or Tourist Trophy, was first held in 1907. It is 37.75 miles long ran on public roads which, for two weeks every year close to become a racetrack.
There are five main classes for motorbikes – Superbike, Senior, Superstock, Supersport and Lightweight. The big races take up to six laps, which amounts to a staggering 226.5 miles in a little over and hour and three- quarters. The key stat for a TT rider is the average speed they can record over a lap. The fastest ever was set this year by Michael Dunlop at over 133mph.
The course has 264 corners and is lined by very hard objects such as stone walls and telegraph poles.