MCN enter Lightweight TT with Norton

The British Motorcycle Manufacturing Academy in partnership with Norton will be returning to the Isle of Man TT this year to compete in highly competitive Lightweight class with MCN’s very own Senior Road Tester Adam ‘Chad’ Child in the hot seat. The project will once again be primarily run by the BMMA students on the apprenticeship program run at Norton’s Donington Park headquarters. The team had a baptism of fire at last year’s TT when they competed against the words best road racers for the first time. Their job was made ten times harder as the team had to work long hours to rebuild the bike after Chad had an unscheduled interaction with the scenery on the Mountain section at the end of practice week.

The bike showed promise in the race, but unfortunately the team was forced to retire on the second lap due to a mechanical problem. Since last year’s TT the BMMA team, which comprises students all aged under 21, have made huge strides, gaining valuable experience competing in the prestigious Scarborough Gold Cup, scoring a creditable 7th position at the bike’s first outing on the undulating track.

Norton Head of Design and Executive Director, Simon Skinner, commented: “The young team were thrown in at the deep end last year and learnt so much, nothing beats live racing and it doesn’t come much harder than the TT. Chad is back on board working closely the students who are gaining from his TT and road racing experience. The young team is growing in confidence, and has the potential to surprise a few people this year.”

This will be Chad’s fifth TT, and his second with the BMMA team. “I messed up last year, it was my fault, I just took my eye off the ball for a second and crashed. The bike was going well until then. The lads worked their socks off, to get me out for the race, and I’m desperate to reward all their hard work with a good result this year. It’s a hugely interesting and rewarding project working with the students and I’m looking forward to another year.”

This year’s Isle of Man TT kicks off with practice on Saturday May 28, with racing taking place from Saturday June 4 through to Friday June 10.

The full IOM TT practice and race schedule is available on the official TT website.

 

Photo: Martyn Parnell