Ten things about the 2024 Isle of Man TT Races we’re so excited about!
Entire Cover Insurance is proud to be a partner of the legendary Isle of Man TT races. This unique fortnight of motorcycle road races sees the bravest racers on the planet pilot their 200+bhp superbikes around a wall lined 37.73-mile course of closed public roads. It is one of the oldest and most spectacular events in motorbike racing. We’re really excited to be the Official Insurance Partner of the 2024 Isle of Man TT races and sponsor of Supertwin TT race two.
As part of our commitment to bringing you closer to the action and delivering great behind the scenes content through our social media channels, we recently attended ‘Road to 2024’ the TT launch event which was attended by all the big name riders.
We caught up on all the gossip and checked out the biggest stories. Here’s the 10 things we think are going to be great this year (and this is just the racing!)…
McGuinness leads off big bike races
TT legend John McGuinness will run the number one plate in the 1000cc races at TT24. The 23-time TT winner, who recently celebrated his 52nd birthday, is scheduled to start his 109th TT in the RST Superbike TT and will race a Honda CBR1000RR-R Fireblade in the superbike and superstock classes.
The Honda Racing rider is realistic when it comes to his chances of adding to tally of race wins, but he still loves racing the iconic Mountain course as much as ever.
Can Dunlop do it?
The big story going into TT24 is undoubtedly ‘Can Michael Dunlop become the greatest TT racer of all time?’.
The Ballymoney rider dominated the opening races of last year’s event to leapfrog John McGuinness as the second most successful TT racer of all time, and to move to one win behind his uncle Joey Dunlop’s record of 26 wins.
Peter Hickman denied him the chance of equalling, or even surpassing, the record with wins in the last three races last year (although Dunlop did suffer a breakdown in the second Supertwin TT) and now the focus moves on to this year’s event.
As always, the quiet Dunlop didn’t give too much away on the stage or to the assembled journalists but we can be sure he’ll do all his talking on the bike.
Harrison leads Honda
The big TT news over the winter was long-time Kawasaki star Dean Harrison’s defection to lead the factory Honda Racing squad.
The Bradford rider, whose three career TT wins include the 2019 Senior, was on the podium with Dunlop and Hickman in all six of his TTs last year and, with the Fireblade commonly considered more powerful than the aging Kawasaki Ninja, hopes are high that this year’s TT could see him top the podium for the first time in five years.
Like Dunlop, he’s being a little coy when you talk to him about his chances, but he knows how to win the biggest race of all and, with the might of Honda behind him anything is possible.
Hutchy is back!
Ian Hutchinson has had a tough time since making history at the 2010 TT races.
The quietly spoken Yorkshireman won all five solo races he entered that year (the only race he didn’t compete in was the electric TT Zero) to become the first and so far only rider to have won five races in a week.
One week later he suffered a badly broken leg at Silverstone, which would see him miss the 2011 event and would hinder his competitiveness until 2015, when he would take three more wins. Further successes came in 2016 and 2017, when he took his 16th and last win in the Superstock TT, before suffering another horror crash in the Senior TT.
Still rocked by his injuries, he endured disappointing campaigns in 2018 and 2019. Covid saw the TT cancelled in 2020 and 2021, but Hutchy showed signs of getting back to his best in 2022 by finishing fourth in the Superbike TT.
His world was rocked at the start of 2023 when he suffered a stroke while training in Spain. While it would be enough to put most riders off and send them into retirement, Hutchinson had no doubts about getting back to racing again and, for 2024, he’s rejoined the Padgett’s Honda team with which he enjoyed all his success in 2010.
Now 44 years old, he told us at the launch night that he isn’t expecting to be adding to his win total this year, but wants to understand his level before hopefully being able to return faster and stronger in 2025.
Speedy Hicky remains focussed
With 13 wins across the last four TTs, including the last two Senior TTs, Peter Hickman will go into TT ‘24 expected to be one of the men to best.
He’s the fastest man ever around the 37.73-mile course, lapping at an average of 136.358mph on his FHO Racing BMW M 1000 RR, and he could surpass the legendary Mike Hailwood’s 14 wins to become the sixth most successful rider of all time at the TT.
He’s entered in all eight of this year’s solo races and is focussed and relaxed. “We’re entering eight races and idea is to win eight races but that is a mammoth task. To win one race is a mammoth task. The competition at the TT is some of the strongest as it has probably ever been.
Coming men looking to step up
The very nature of the Isle of Man TT course means that it takes riders many years to learn the circuit and to challenge the established riders, and this year sees a number of riders looking for a first win.
Chief among them is Davey Todd, who had a tough 2023 campaign after snagging a superstock podium and two fourths in 2022. This year he joins the TAS Racing BMW team for a tilt at the big bike races, while their Ducati is an interesting proposition in the two Monster Energy Supersport outings.
The Panigale V2 has been the bike to beat in short circuit supersport racing and Todd will be the first rider to campaign one under the Next Generation regulations at the TT. It’s got a 955cc V-twin engine against a field of mainly 600cc four-cylinder bikes. If it works well he stands a good chance of a first TT win.
Other men looking to take the small step up include Jamie Coward, Dom Herbertson and former British superbike champion Josh Brookes, the Australian who finished on the podium in last year’s second Supertwin TT.
Manxmen assemble
The TT races are special. Taking part is an achievement in itself, a bit like running a marathon or climbing a mountain, and they are even more special for the few local riders who enter each year.
The tall figure of Conor Cummins is the most famous of the Manx TT racers and he is desperate to take a win after coming so close so often. The 37-year-old from Ramsey has finished on the podium 12 times since making his debut in 2006, but has never managed to stand on the top step. He’s still competitive and an outside bet if the deck falls his way.
Highly rated young Nathan Harrison is another one to watch. The former Manx Grand Prix winner makes his debut with Honda Racing after missing out through injury last year, while Michael Evans is a regular top 10 in the Supertwins.
We’ll also be looking out for Ryan Cringle, the Douglas rider who debuted last year and became the fifth fastest newcomer ever in the process with a phenomenal fastest lap of over 126mph. He’s one to watch this year.
Also fast and local are the Crowe boys, Ryan and Callum, who are one of the top sidecar crews. More on them later…
Sidecar shakeup
Sidecar TTs have been something of a Burchall brothers bonanza in recent years. The Nottinghamshire siblings have won all but one sidecar outing since 2015 (they failed to finish one of the races in 2016) but they were pushed hard last year by the Peter Founds/Jevan Walmsley pairing. Having watched the Burchalls become the first crew to set a 120mph average lap earlier in the week, Founds and Walmsley repeated the feat in the second TT. Could they make the top spot this time around?
One thing is for sure, the Burchall brothers won’t be winners. Passenger Tom has retired from racing, so Frenchman Kevin Rousseau will be Ben’s left hand man this year. The aforementioned Crowe brothers will be looking to build on their third place in last year’s second 3wheeling.media Sidecar TT while there will also be plenty of interest in the first Isle of Man outing of the British and world championship winning crew of Todd Ellis and Emmanuelle Clement. What can the Anglo-French duo do on their debut? We can’t wait to find out!
International newcomer alert
Every year a select bunch of newcomers line up on the TT grid for the first time. Identified by their orange novice jackets, each debutant is specially selected and coached to ensure they are as well prepared as they can be to take on the world’s most challenging motorcycle race.
Such is the appeal of the event, it attracts riders from around the world. Multiple Croatian champion Loris Majcan is one such rider, and he’ll be entering the two 600cc Supersport TTs. German ace Patrick Hoff, a top rider in the International Road Racing Championship is another TT rookie while, closer to home, highly rated young Irish rider Kevin Keyes continues his transition to the roads with a first trip around the Mountain course.
Good luck fellas!
Supertwins wide open
There are two Supertwins TTs in 2024, the Metzeler Supertwin TT Race 1 lines up on Tuesday 4 June, while our race (that’s the Entire Cover Insurance TT Race 2, to give it the proper title) is scheduled for 2pm on Friday 7 June.
While the races feature most of the big name riders, the unique nature of these smaller capacity (650-700cc) two-cylinder machines and the different riding style they demand mean they are races which usually throw up some surprises.
Last year’s big two, Michael Dunlop and Peter Hickman, shared the wins in 2023 and are back again on board the same equipment for a rematch. Dunlop will once again ride the 650cc Italian Paton machine, which has been the most successful bike in recent years, while Hickman again campaigns his PHR Performance Yamaha R7.
Hickman was a surprise winner of the second Supertwin TT last year. The Yamaha was underdeveloped for the TT and only barely qualified for the race due to issues in practice, yet Hicky was able to take advantage of the retirements of Dunlop and Mike Browne to take the victory. With a full year’s development behind it, we expect the Yamaha to be much faster this time around. Watch out!
Browne will be back again for 2024, although he’s yet to confirm what bike he will be riding, and other names to look out for are former podium men Paul Jordan and Jamie Coward, who will be the first two riders going down Bray Hill. Pierre-Yves Bian, who became the first solo French rider to stand on a TT podium with second in last year’s second race, will go third with veteran Michael Rutter, a former winner in the class, fourth.
Rob Hodson will depart fifth, ahead of an absolutely talent packed quintet which is headed by Michael Dunlop, who wears his usual number six. Like all TT races, the Supertwin stars depart the line individually, at 10 second intervals. Josh Brookes, a podium man in last year’s second Supertwin, starts seventh on a Yamaha, ahead of Davey Todd on the Dafabet Kawasaki and fan favourite Dom Herbertson ninth on another Paton. Hickman rounds out the top 10, with the popular Lee Johnston another potential front runner on an Aprilia, provided he is able to overcome a leg injury sustained in pre-season testing.
The 2024 Isle of Man TT races are looking super exciting, and we’ve only just talked about the race action. The off-track festival is as much a part of the experience as watching the race aces flash by and the party starts on Monday 27 May, the first day of practice, and runs through to Saturday 8 June, when the headline race, the six-lap Milwaukee Senior TT, takes place.