Challenging, enjoyable, tiring yet successful, just some of the terms that could be used to sum up the Manx Grand Prix and Classic TT for Team ILR with Frog Vehicle Developments.
Some 42 years on from his third-place debut finish in the Manx Grand Prix Junior Newcomers Race, Ian Lougher again stood on the podium in 2025 after a superb ride in the Lightweight Classic TT on the Laycock Racing TZ 250 Yamaha finishing second behind Michael Dunlop.
The result was all the more remarkable given the gremlins that affected the Yamaha in practice, and it was a testament to both the skill and hard work of Eddie Laycock's team and Lougher's invaluable feedback.
A red flag brought the first race to an early conclusion with Lougher, who was quickest in the morning's final qualifying session and third overall, and team-mate Mike Browne well in the hunt on the first lap.
The re-run two days later saw Browne and Alan Oversby crash out at the Brandywell in separate incidents, both thankfully unhurt, and it was left to Ian to bring the second Laycock Yamaha to the finish, much to the delight of the team.
Ian's second ride saw him as team-mate to John McGuinness in the Historic Senior Classic TT on the Team Winfield 500 Patons, and seventh quickest in qualifying on an unfamiliar machine was a fine performance.
Again the race was hit by the weather and reduced to two laps and early leader McGuinness was a retirement early in the second lap with a puncture.
Through Glen Helen on the second and final lap Lougher was holding fourth with Harrison seemingly in a safe third, however he began to hit problems and as Ian sped over his favourite Mountain section he had dramatically reduced the gap from 12 seconds to only five and just narrowly missed out on a second podium in fourth.
Lougher was a busy man on the island and as well as his own racing schedule he also oversaw the fortunes of newcomers Eddy Wormald and Craig Kennelly.
From the off it was obvious that Wormald was capable of a good result as he continually finished the qualifying sessions with some quick times.
Those times were no fluke as in his debut race, the Supertwin Manx GP, Wormald finished a fantastic eighth, the first newcomer home, fastest through the speed trap on every lap on the Team ILR with Frog Vehicle Developments Paton S1-R, and with a great team behind him putting him back on track from his pit stop in just over 34 seconds, the 6th fastest stop in the race.
Eddy followed this up with another eighth in the Junior Manx GP and was again the first newcomer home and fastest through the speed trap on every lap. The team also did an amazing job in the pits with a 31.071s fifth fastest stop.
Alongside these two excellent results for Eddy was a 13th place finish in the Manx Grand Prix Supersport race on his Woodworm Racing R6 Yamaha, with a fastest pit stop of the race at 44.8 secs by the Team ILR crew thrown in for good measure, and he went two places better in the Senior Manx Grand Prix two days later.
For Craig Kennelly the 2025 Manx GP was a case of learning the circuit and developing his race fitness on the Team ILR with Frog Vehicle Developments CBR600RR Honda.
In April, Craig was in hospital after a 100mph highside in Portimao, with multiple complex fractures of his pelvis and he was facing at least a month of being immobile and staring at a 3-6 month recovery period, let alone getting back on a motorcycle.
However, in May he rode for us at the North-West 200, his road race debut, and as a Newcomer he completed two Manx Grand Prix races around the physically demanding TT circuit picking up two well deserved Finisher Replicas.
- October 2025 (2)
- September 2025 (1)
- July 2025 (1)
- May 2025 (1)
- August 2024 (1)
- June 2024 (1)
- May 2024 (1)
- April 2024 (1)
- March 2024 (2)