Coventry MotoFest gets a taste for two wheels

Coventry came alive to the sound of engines and the smell of burning rubber over the weekend, as the Coventry MotoFest roared back into action for 2016, turning the city’s ring road circuit into a petrolhead’s dream.

It was a first appearance on the ring road circuit for motorbikes, with the headline acts provided by Team Classic Suzuki, which ran two iconic bikes on the circuit and one on display. A Suzuki RGV500 ridden by Kevin Schwantz in the 500cc World Championship wowed the crowds on the first day of the festival, as Team Classic Suzuki’s Nathan Colombi roared the iconic two stroke machine around the ring road circuit.

For the second day the Team Classic Suzuki XR69 took to the circuit, a fitting and timely appearance given Michael Dunlop’s triumph and new lap record 24 hours earlier in the Isle of Man TT, RST Superbike race.

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With the TT legend set to ride the XR69 in the Classic TT in two months time, the bike itself enjoyed a road circuit warm-up as it was put through its paces on Coventry’s ring road, thrilling the fans gathered on the viewing galleries for its track appearance.

An ex-Barry Sheene RG500 bike also proved a big draw for the crowds, taking pride of place on the Team Classic Suzuki stand in the Greyfriars Green display area, which also hosted a Bennetts Suzuki GSX-R1000 British Super Bike championship race bike and an original Eagle motorcycle, first manufactured in Coventry in the 1930s.

James Noble, Coventry Motofest Festival Director, said: “It’s been our biggest and best ever Coventry Motofest, with around 125,000 visitors over the two days enjoying all the action on the main ring road circuit and the festival activities.

“We had bikes on the circuit for the first time and they proved a popular attraction. The Team Classic Suzuki bikes in particular provided one of the highlights of the weekend’s action. For next year we plan to expand the bike section of the programme even more as we look forward to staging another even bigger and better event to again showcase the city’s incredible motoring heritage.”

Images: Darren Skidmore

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