The Valvoline Racing by Padgett’s Motorcycles team is set to race a Honda RC213V-S at the 2016 Isle of Man TT Races fuelled by Monster Energy.
The team has confirmed that the New Zealand rider Bruce Anstey will have a race prepared version of the GB£138,000 ‘Moto-GP’ replica road bike for the RST Superbike and PokerStars Senior TT races. Anstey has yet to test the machine but he will practice on it along with the superbike spec Fireblade that he rode to victory last year.
Anstey is convinced the compact V4 will be well suited to the Mountain course. “The RCV should be an absolute weapon because it has loads of power but it feels as nimble as a 600,” he said. “It should be stable too as it’s over 2″ longer than a Fireblade but is still really small and compact. I am really looking forward to seeing how it handles through the quick corners because it will be able to turn so fast.”
Valvoline Racing by Padgetts Motorcycles team boss Clive Padgett said that the idea for the incredible venture to race a production version of Marc Marquez’s Grand Prix bike on the 37 ¾ mile Mountain course originally came from a customer:
“I was having a few pints of Guinness with a customer who had just bought an RCV from us and he said wouldn’t it be great to see one of them going down Bray Hill. That planted the seed in my head and it has been germinating ever since,” he said. “The TT is all about pioneering innovation and I really wanted to do something different. I see this as being in the spirit of what Mr. Honda did when he first came to the TT with his race bikes in 1959. I think this will bring even more global attention to the TT this year and that can only be a good thing. I am really giddy about it all. I might be over 50 now but inside I am still a 19 year old racer!”
Preparing the RC213V-S for the rigours of the world’s toughest motorcycle race has been a huge challenge for the squad. “It has been a very difficult project to pull together,” he admits. “We have had to beef the bike up for the TT course and we can’t get anything off the shelf so everything has had to be made bespoke. Things like the wheels, the K-Tech forks, the rear shocks, the brakes and the radiator guards have all had to be specially made.”
The RCV’s standard package produces a ‘mere’ 159bhp but with the GB£10,000 race kit fitted, which includes a titanium exhaust and a bespoke ECU, the V4 delivers over 200bhp. “I love Bruce to bits and I wanted to give him the best motorcycle in the world to ride. That’s what this bike is all about,” concluded Padgett.
