WIZNORTON RACING RETURN WITH ROTARY POWER

WizNorton Racing will return to the Manx Grand Prix later this month, bringing their distinctive sound and smoke as they field Shaun Anderson and Gary Vines in the RST Classic Superbike and Carole Nash Classic Senior Races respectively.

Anderson will campaign the team’s 588cc rotary Norton which will run in the black and gold JPS colours made famous in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s by the likes of Trevor Nation and Robert Dunlop.

The bike has been ridden previously at the Classic TT by Australian ace Josh Brookes. Despite being forced to retire in both 2017 and 2018, he lapped at an impressive 122.926mph as he ran inside the top ten on each occasion.

That fell just short of the quickest ever lap by the Norton rotary, which stands at 123.50mph and was set by Steve Hislop on his way to winning the 1992 Senior after his memorable and titanic battle with Carl Fogarty.

Bettering that mark will again be the team’s aim with Anderson having previously ridden the bike at the four-hour Classic Endurance meeting at Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium. Having joined the 130mph club at this year’s TT, Anderson will certainly be aiming for a top ten finish, something he achieved in last year’s Classic Superbike Race when riding the Wilcock Consulting Kawasaki.

Vines, meanwhile, will line up in the Classic Senior Race on a single-rotor DKW W-2000 machine which the team debuted in the race twelve months ago. Problems kept the bike down the order in last year’s race, but a lap of almost 94mph showed its potential and Vines will be looking to improve upon that and be the first 350cc machine to finish the four-lap race.