As was the case for many, it was a challenging Isle of Man TT for Team ILR with Frog Vehicle Developments, with the weather playing a big part.
Practice, or qualifying week as it's now known, saw our four Supertwin riders steadily improving as the week went on, with Joe Yeardsley, David Datzer, and Francesco Curinga regularly in the Top 20, with Masayuki Yamanaka quietly going about his business in his usual professional way.
In the Supersport class, James Chawke was another rider improving with every wheel turn on the CBR600RR.
Race week was again hit by the weather, with race postponements resulting in reduced laps in many cases when they eventually did get underway.
The first Supertwin race was one of those affected with the race being postponed after feedback from riders on an earlier solo warm-up lap and sidecar 'shakedown' just prior to the scheduled race start.
First to see any action was Chawke in the first Supersport race where he finished down the order after a determined ride on the Honda, and when the first Supertwin race started, some 24 hours after the first attempt, it was Yeardsley who was the best of our four riders finishing a fantastic 8th and ably backed by Francesco Curinga who was riding strongly to come home in 13th, his fast pace on the first lap being curtailed by yellow flags.
The TT's only Japanese rider this year Yamanaka-san also rode a determined race to finish 31st on the Kawasaki, a great improvement on his start position.
The big concern was for our German rider David Datzer who really had the bit between his teeth and going well when unfortunately he crashed heavily at the 11th Milestone.
First reports filtered through that David was on his feet and off to hospital where thankfully no real damage was done, but he was understandably shaken, battered, and heavily bruised.
Unfortunately, the Paton wasn't as fortunate as it caught fire and was badly damaged, but that was immaterial concerning our rider's well-being.
We were relieved when David was able to return to the team fold where he received every support, particularly from team principal Ian Lougher, Ian's wife Asa, mechanic 'Jacko', and our main sponsor Mr. Mark Coverdale.
Things didn't improve much as race week wore on, with James again struggling on the Honda in the second Supersport race, and two of our Supertwin riders unable to take part in Race 2.
David and the bike were unfit to start, as was Joe who was feeling the effects of his hand injury from his crash at Oliver's Mount in April.
Francesco went on to finish 18th in a race that was red-flagged on the second, and final lap, and Masayuki again rode well to finish his annual TT Challenge for 2024, and bring a difficult TT to a conclusion for the team.
Team ILR principal Ian Lougher:
"Well, TT 2024 has come and gone and I must say it’s not been the easiest I’ve been involved in…(I’ve slept for a week solid on our return) not for any one reason really, but of course the weather didn’t help.
We had a good practice week with all riders completing 7 laps or more without any issues.
Unfortunately, things didn’t go so smoothly in the races, David crashed in the first race at the 11th milestone after really gelling with the Paton… and loving every minute on it, thankfully he was ok, but maybe a lack of understanding of riding a twin caught him out when he lost the front end at the 4th gear corner.
Joe finishing 8th in the first twins race was a great ride for his first TT.
For Francesco and Masayuki the short races definitely didn’t suit them.
James had niggling problems on our new CBR600RR with what we think was bad fuel, which is very disappointing for him and the team, as the handling is superb.
I must say, I think the organisers did a good job in such a difficult year, and a big thank you to the marshals who did a great job, and of course all our sponsors for their continued support."
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