Jack to the power of 10

Entering and finishing one TT is a massive challenge. This guy’s planning to complete all 10!

The Isle of Man TT is one of the ultimate human endeavours and the sacrifices made by privateers in particular as they go chase their dreams is huge, but one rider with an ambition and a challenge bigger than most is Michael ‘Jack’ Russell, a 44-year-old RAF serviceman from Oxfordshire. He’s competing in all 10 races at this year’s event – and is determined to enter the record books by finishing each and every one of them!

Jack, as he is known, has been racing on the island for almost two decades, winning the Senior Manx Grand Prix in 2009. Competing in all four solo classes isn’t unusual for the top riders, but Russell’s desire to make a little bit of history, and to extend his racing career, has seen him add the Sidecar TTs to his repertoire in recent years.

He’s made that little bit of history in the last two years by entering all classes, but so far he hasn’t quite managed a 100% finishing record. Last year he entered all 10 races (two for each class) but retired from the second Sidecar and Supersport TTs with small technical issues.

Mike had his first outing driving a sidecar in late 2018 and had the idea of entering the lot at the 2020 TT races. Covid ultimately put paid to that, although in all likelihood it wouldn’t have happened anyway. The ACU, organisers of the races, had rules in place limiting the number of laps a competitor could do in a day, so they vetoed the idea at first.

However, a new TT format was brought in for 2022, with the races spread out over more days. He was allowed to enter all eight races (he finished seven) and when a second Superstock and Supertwin race was added for 2023, he rewrote his own entry in the history books by starting all 10.

As challenging as the racing is, one of the toughest things for Russell and his Fraser Evans Tyre Recycling Team are the costs and the logistics involved in coming to the TT with four solo motorcycles and a sidecar outfit. Sponsor Grant Evans leads a team of four mechanics who, like the various friends and family who help, volunteer their time to be part of the challenge.

Unlike the top stars, who warm up by racing at big events like British superbikes and the North West 200, the privateer’s budget barely extends to even the TT. The first time he rode his bikes this year was heading down Bray Hill on Monday. Talking of the bikes, Jack isn’t tied to any manufacturer and, as Grant says, they need to run whatever they can pick up.

His hotchpotch of bikes include a Kawasaki ZX-10R superbike, a well-sorted superstock BMW S 1000 RR, a 636cc Kawasaki ZX-6R for the two Monster Energy Supersport outings and an Aprilia RS 660, which he’ll race in the Metzeler and Entire Cover Insurance Supertwin TTs. The LCR sidecar outfit, which is passengered by Vicky Cooke, runs a Suzuki GSX-R600 motor. As far as commonality of parts goes, there’s more or less none.

As a result, Michael’s engines remain largely standard. They’re tuned for reliability first and outright performance second, with the focus very much on finishing the 10 races.

“We're not tuning them to the inch of their life to get that extra tenth of a second on the lap,” says Grant. “We're just trying to finish. Nine times out of ten, every time we've ever failed, it's been for a 10p part that breaks. The first year, it was a bolt that sheared off. There was no way you could have predicted it. 

Last year, it was an exhaust on the Kawasaki and a fuel pump on the sidecar. Again, you couldn't predict it like that. It's such a demanding place – you could take a brand new bike out of the crate, run it round there, you'll break something at the speeds these guys run at.”

Keeping the bikes running and making sure the right bike is ready at the right time, especially during the hectic evening qualifying sessions, is a challenge. Grant’s company supplies a suitably large artic and awning for the team to work from and tries to second guess what his rider will need when he comes into the pitlane. While the rider is ultimately the one laying it all on the line at the TT they could not go racing without their team, and for the Russell Racing team they’re all bought into the idea of racing across all five categories.

“I would say it's the challenge of it,” Grant concludes.

“Realistically with our budgets, although Mike is a good enough rider, we're not going to be up with the top boys and ever winning the TT, so it's our little part of history with the TT. He’s the first one to start all ten races and the first one to finish eight races last year. Now we just want to finish them all. It's a great craic. Even if you're not on a bike, this place is an absolute emotional roller coaster. When you've got your highs, it's high. When it's low, oh, it's awful.”

While ‘just finishing’ sounds simple enough, the endurance of completing just one TT – especially the six-lap superbike races – is in itself a huge achievement, so what was Jack’s reason for wanting to jump in a sidecar and do 10 in a week?

He told us:

“I got involved with sidecars a couple of years ago and I thought to myself, ‘well, that gives us another opportunity to race around the TT course.’ Also, I'm getting a bit older now. With solos, you've probably got another five years of competitive racing but you look at sidecar racing and there are racers in their 60s.

My hope is to keep racing around the TT course, so that’s how sidecars got involved. Then I spoke to the ACU but they originally said no, because you couldn't do so many races or laps in a day. Then they changed the schedule for 2022, which actually allowed it. They discussed it as a committee and came back and said yes. I was very pleased to say that we got that opportunity.

“We came close in ‘22 to doing the eight, and then they changed it to 10 races last year, so I thought, well, you know what, we'll keep that momentum rolling. 

“This year we invested to try and make ourselves look a little bit more professional. Fraser Evans came on with the truck and the trailer, and we look the part, but it is difficult. It's took its toll out of me this year because we thought everything was in place, but even though everything is there, you've still got to refresh it all.

We spent loads of money on the bikes and it just wiped the budget out before we came here. We arrived without any money for the tyre bill, but it looks like we’ve picked up a sponsor for that, which is brilliant.”

Michael Russell’s best results at the TT have come in the Supertwin (previously known as Lightweight) class, scoring 10th in last year’s second Carole Nash Supertwin TT, with a career-best seventh in the 2015 Lightweight. Lookout for him on the number 34 Aprilia RS 660 in the Metzeler and Entire Cover Insurance Supertwin TTs. He’s also running 34 in the 1000cc classes, 52 in the two Monster Energy Supersport TTs and 22 on his sidecar outfit.