Ending months of speculation following Ilmor’s launch in Estoril, Mike Janes was officially announced today as the Ilmor MotoGP team manager by team owner, Mario Illien. Selected for his talent and experience, Janes was a natural candidate having built himself a formidable reputation working within motorsport over the past 15 years. Commenting on the appointment Illien said: “I’m delighted that Mike has joined the team, I think he has a wealth of experience to bring and I’m looking forward to seeing him in action. I know that there have been a lot of rumours surrounding this appointment and as a team, we did not want to rush in to making a quick decision that we might later live to regret I’m a great believer in patience and timing – the team is my priority and I want to make sure that the internal infrastructure is a good as it possibly can be.” Janes has a predominantly Formula One background and his promotion from principal engineer at Cosworth encompassing names such as Williams, Jaguar then Red Bull Racing, to Ilmor team manager provides him, as with Illien the exciting challenge of making the move from success on four wheels to produce the same results on two. Commenting on his new role Janes said: “During my 15 years in motorsport I have worked alongside some of the most prominent personalities in the industry – I have had my fair share of challenges both on and off the track and I can honestly say that I’m taking on this role with relish. I have admired Mario’s work for years and when the opportunity to work with him on such a bold and exciting project came up, I had no hesitation in accepting the challenge. “I want to make the most out of the remainder of the winter season and really prepare for what will be a very interesting world championship next year. As a sport I think MotoGP has a lot to offer motorsport fans and I’m really enjoying the prospect of applying my knowledge from a different motoring discipline to this equally fast paced world.” Janes was thrown in at the deep end as he officially started working for Ilmor last week during the test in Jerez, however understandably, the announcement of his appointment was postponed due to Ilmor test rider Jeremy McWilliams’ crash on Thursday afternoon. McWilliams suffered a fracture to his left femur and had a suspected fracture to his collarbone. McWilliams had an operation over the weekend to pin the fracture in his leg and is expecting to be back at home by the end of this week. Despite the incident, reports overall in terms of the bike were generally positive. Test riders McWilliams and Pitt were chosen not only for their talent but also reputable communication skills, both riders provided comprehensive feedback during the test enabling the team’s mechanics and designers to iron out earlier teething problems and push forward towards the holy grail of the perfect set-up for the 2007 season. The team are confident that the data accumulated has left them in a strong position to make necessary changes ahead of the next official test and with the latest addition of team manager Mike Janes on the scene the mood amid the team remains buoyant and determined looking towards a competitive start for the 2007 race season. It is anticipated that the 2007 Ilmor rider line-up will be announced later this week.

The TT Races – 100 hundred years of Road Racing on the Isle of Man A hundred years on and thrill seekers still venture to the Isle of Man every summer for the same reason the gentlemen of 1907 did, the Tourist Trophy more commonly known as the Isle of Man TT. It was the spirit of competition and advancement that brought the original TT competition to the Island as racing on the highways and byways of Britain was impossible, forbidden by Act of Parliament and by the introduction in 1903 of a 20mph speed limit. The Secretary of the Automobile Club of Great Britain and Ireland, Sir Julian Orde, set off in February 1904 for the Isle of Man because he had a fairly shrewd idea that the Manx authorities would adopt a more conciliatory attitude automobile racing on public roads. He was right. The Highways (Light Locomotive) Act 1904 gave permission in the Isle of Man for the 52.15 mile “Highlands” course for the 1904 Gordon Bennett Car Trial, the British trial for the fledging European car racing championships. It was not until the following year that a trial race for the motorbikes was to be introduced the day after the Gordon Bennett Car Trial. The inability of the bikes to complete the steep climbs of the mountain section led to the race being redirected and it didn’t return to the Mountains until 1911. The new route ran from Douglas south to Castletown and then north to Ballacraine along the A3 primary road, returning to the start at Douglas via Colby and Glen Vine along the current TT Course in the reverse direction. The event was won by J.S. Campbell in a respectable 4 hours, 9 minutes and 36 seconds. The new race was proposed by the Editor of “The Motor-Cycle” Magazine at the annual dinner of the Auto-Cycle Club held in London on the 17th January 1907. The races were run in two classes with single-cylinder machines to average 90 mpg and twin-cylinder machines to average 75 mpg. This was done to emphasise the road touring nature of the motor-cycles. The organisers also insisted there were regulations for saddles, pedals, mudguards and exhaust silencers. The 1911 Isle of Man Tourist Trophy races took place for the first time over the “Snaefell Mountain Course”. The Auto Cycle Union (ACU), organisers of the race, announced an extension to the course with the reintroduction of the Mountain Course setting a four lap (150mile) Junior course and a five lap (189 mile) race for the Senior race. By now crowds were accommodated in Grandstands to watch the American bike manufacturer Indian take the first three places. The following year British pride was restored by the Yorkshire based two-stroke bike, Scott and in the Junior 350cc race by the Douglas’ taking first and second. The race meeting was close to being cancelled due to several manufactures threatening to boycott the race having struggled the year before on the Mountain course with the single gear bikes. It was during the early years that the Mountain Circuit was little more than a cart and horse track which included the odd gate between fields. It was the duty of the first rider round in the morning to open all the gates along the way, with the last rider responsible in shutting them. The 1914 TT was the last race before the outbreak of World War I; the meeting was not to be held again till after the War in 1920. Cyril Williams competing in the Junior race on an AJS valiantly pushed his AJS over the finish line in first place having broken down five miles previously. It was in 1921 that a young Stanley Woods first made the ferry trip over from Ireland to the Isle of Man as a one of the thousands of spectators now attending. The following year a seventeen year old Stanley Woods would enter his first ever TT. During the 1920s the road conditions began to improve and with this so did lap speeds. In 1920 the lap record was 55.62 mph and by the outbreak of World War 2 this rose to over 90 mph. The 1922 TT will be remembered for two things, Tom Sheard winning the 350cc race on the dominant AJS, the first ever Manxman to win at the TT and the seventeen year old Stanley Woods attaining fifth position on a Cotton with a time of 3hrs 50min 33secs despite having to contend with a broken exhaust pipe and a pit fire that set both man and machine ablaze. The 1923 competition saw the introduction of the first Sidecar race won by Freddie Dixon and passenger Walter Perry. In the Junior 350cc Stanley Woods was to record his first of ten TT victories, the last one being in 1939. By 1938 the lap speed record had reached 91mph, a record held by Harold Daniell for a further 12 years. Following a break of eight years the Isle of Man TT returned after the War in 1947, with Harold Daniell winning at a much slower speed than his previous record due to the poorer quality of petrol, setting speeds of 82mph. It was in 1949 that the TT first became a venue for the Motorcycle World Championships. It was also the last time the two great pre-war riders, Harold Daniell on a Norton and Freddie Frith on a Velocette were to be seen ridding at the TT, both winning the Senior and Junior races respectively. The 1950’s and the World Championship status brought along the world’s top riders to the TT. The decade was notable for the emergence of Italian manufacturers Mondial, MV Augusta and Gilera and their riders Carlo Ubbiali and Tarquinio Provini, Geoff Duke and Bob McIntyre. Bill Lomas and Ken Kavanagh on the Moto Guzzi’s were also prominent. Three years after Harold Daniell’s lap record was set, Geoff Duke set his own on the way to winning his first International TT on a Norton, reaching 93.33mph in the Senior class. In the same year, the 125cc category was introduced. In 1957, the Scotsman Bob McIntyre became the first rider ever to lap the Mountain circuit at 100mph, much to the annoyance of Geoff Duke who came agonisingly close the previous year, achieving 99.97mph. The late fifties and early sixties are known as the golden era of the TT, with riders like John Surtees, Mike Hailwood, Giacomo Agostini, Phil Read and Jim Redman competing in entertaining battles with machine and each other. This era is also notable for the first appearance of the Japanese bike company, Honda. In 1961, Mike Hailwood won his first of 14 TT’s whilst becoming the first rider to finish with three wins in a week – 125, 250 on a Honda and the Senior race on a Norton. Hailwood would later go on to win five consecutive Senior titles, the first three on a Norton the latter two on Hondas. The battle between Giacomo Agostini on the MV and Hailwood on a Honda in the 1967 Senior TT is considered by many as the greatest ever race on the Island. Between 1965 and 1972 Agostini managed 11 race wins of his own, while in 1967 Hailwood set another lap record at 108.77mph, which would stand for a further 11 years. The record was to stand until 1975 when Hailwood’s absolute lap record was broken by Mike Grant on a two-stroke triple Kawasaki, raising it to 109.80mph. The following year saw the end of the Isle of Man’s association with the British Grand Prix but the TT’s introduction to the skills and talents of the now legendary Joey Dunlop. It was not long before Joey’s talents came to the fore. In 1977 he won the Jubilee Classic race, the first of an astounding 26. This same year saw the first Sidecar duo to exceed the 100mph mark, George O’Dell and Kenny Arthur taking their Yamaha round at 102.80mph. Also the American GP star, Pat Hennen, managed the first sub-twenty minute lap on board a 500 Suzuki in the Senior TT. Mike Hailwood after an 11 year absence returned to the TT in winning form in 1978 which he matched in his final race in 1979, with his 14th and final TT. The eighties were dominated by one man – Joey Dunlop. He recorded the first 115mph plus lap in 1980, and in 1983 won the first of six consecutive Formula One TT’s on the dominant Honda machines. Injuries sustained in a race at Brands Hatch prevented Dunlop from defending his title for the seventh consecutive time in 1989, a race won by Steve Hislop who broke Joey’s lap speed record, pushing it to 121.34mph. The arrival of World Superbike Champion Carl Fogarty to the 1992 TT saw the beginning of many epic races between Carl and Steve Hislop. 1992 was also the year Joey Dunlop equalled Mike Hailwood’s record of 14 TT wins by winning on his 125 Honda. A Norton, ridden by Hislop, was their first TT win since Hailwood’s 1961 victory. At the tender age of 48 Joey Dunlop recorded his 26th and final TT win at the start of the new millennium. For only the third time the TT races was cancelled in 2001, due to concerns over Foot and Mouth epidemic that was destroying the UK’s mainland. 2004 was marked by the a hat trick of wins for a John McGuinness, who last year reached average speeds of 129.4mph on the way to his 11th TT victory and new lap record and race records. The Centenary year looks set for more drama and exhilarating speeds from the likes of McGuiness being challenged hard by a host of up and coming riders, including newcomers from BSB. With a Centenary of racing on the Mountain Course itself fast approaching in 2011, it will not be long before we are celebrating a double century of the world’s most exciting road race.

The annual AMA Dunlop tire test started this morning at Daytona International Speedway, in Daytona Beach, Florida. Teams and riders present and planning to test are: American Honda with Miguel Duhamel and Jake Zemke; Erion Honda with Josh Hayes and Aaron Gobert; Rockwall Honda with Ryan Andrews and Ryan Elleby; Corona Extra Racing Honda with James Ellison and Gary Mason; Kawasaki with Jamie Hacking, Roger Hayden and veteran Japanese rider Akira Yanagawa; Yoshimura Suzuki with Ben Spies and Mat Mladin; Michael Jordan Motorsports Suzuki with Aaron Yates and Jake Holden; Yamaha/Graves Yamaha’s Eric Bostrom, Jason DiSalvo, Ben Bostrom and Josh Herrin; Celtic Racing Yamaha with Chaz Davies. Testing started shortly after 9:00 a.m. local time and is expected to continue through Wednesday afternoon. The local weather forecast is favorable with mild temperatures and little chance of precipitation expected over the three days. The biggest news so far is that Yoshimura Suzuki’s newest rider Tommy Hayden and the team’s 2007 GSX-R1000 Superbikes are not at the test Monday morning. Hayden is scheduled to have surgery on his fractured right wrist and possibly his broken foot at the hands of Dr. Arthur Ting today in Fremont, California, according to Hayden’s mother Rose Hayden. Tommy Hayden’s injuries are the result of a third-gear, 120 mph highside crash he suffered while testing his 2007 GSX-R1000 Superbike at Sepang, in Malaysia. The Superbikes Yoshimura Suzuki tested in Malaysia have not returned from overseas yet and were not available for testing Monday at Daytona. In the meantime, Mladin started the test on his 2006-spec Superbike (which still wears the number-one plate, much to the displeasure of 2006 AMA Superbike Champion Spies), and Spies used the time to do his first shakedown of his 2007 GSX-R1000 Superstock bike. Yoshimura Suzuki is expecting its 2007 machinery to be available on Tuesday morning. Other 2007 machinery at the test: American Honda has one 2007 Formula Xtreme CBR600RR; Erion Honda has one 2007 CBR600RR in Supersport trim; Roger Hayden and Hacking each have a 2007 ZX-6R; Eric Bostrom and DiSalvo each have a 2007 Yamaha YZF-R1 Superbike, and Ben Bostrom has a 2007 Yamaha YZF-R1 Superstock bike; and Michael Jordan Motorsports Suzuki is hoping to complete one 2007 Suzuki GSX-R1000 Superstock machine Monday morning at the track for Yates and Holden to ride. Yates, meanwhile, is riding a 2006 GSX-R1000 Superstock bike. Kawasaki’s Yanagawa is present at the test to help the team get through its share of Dunlop’s new tires and to evaluate new parts for its ZX-10R Superbike. Yanagawa, a Superbike and MotoGP veteran, tested with Kawasaki’s AMA factory team in 2006 and raced a ZX-10R in the All-Japan Superbike Championship last season.

It turns out that Tommy Hayden broke the scaphoid bone in his right wrist when he crashed while testing a 2007 Suzuki GSX-R1000 at Sepang November 16. Hayden said he crashed at the top of third gear with no warning. Indications are that the bike suffered a mechanical problem. The newly discovered wrist problem means Hayden will not attend the Dunlop tire test at Daytona this coming week. Update: Speaking at Daytona International Speedway Monday morning, Yoshimura Suzuki Team Manager Don Sakakura said there was no evidence that a mechanical failure caused Tommy Hayden to crash while testing in Malaysia.

FIRST PERSON/OPINION Via e-mail: I would like to thank Gordon Lunde Sr. Of the Wegman Benefit Fund for his assistance to me and my family during my healing process. I contacted Gordon after my injuries that were sustained when I hit a tire-lined Armco barrier at Nelson Ledges Road Course in Northeastern Ohio during the WERA National Challenge Series in September. After surgeries to repair both of my broken legs, I was unable to work and needed some assistance with the influx of bills that I was receiving. Gordon and the Wegman fund stepped up and helped us out. It is much appreciated. So, thank you Gordon Lunde Sr. for your years of dedication to this worthwhile cause. Reuben Frankenfield Mooresville, Indiana Editorial Note: Gordon Lunde is retiring and closing up the Wegman Benefit Fund after 20 years of service. The new Red Flag Fund has been established to continue the work of the Wegman Benefit Fund. For more information on the Red Flag Fund go to ~http://www.redflagfund.org/~.

Repsol Honda World Champion Nicky Hayden underwent a successful operation on his injured right shoulder at the Freemont Clinic, California on Thursday. The surgery repaired an undisplaced fracture through the right greater tuberosity (shoulder bone), an injury sustained at the Grand Prix of Portugal this year. During the procedure, performed by Dr Art Ting, some bone was shaved off the injured shoulder bone to encourage improved healing of the fracture, and the rotator cuff was repaired. At the same time the metal plate on the 25-year-old American’s right collarbone was replaced with a smaller plate. The metal plate, a legacy of a Supermoto crash in 2004, was bent at Estoril and scans on Wednesday showed that the fall had in fact re-fractured his previously broken collarbone. The newly crowned World Champion is expected to wear a sling for two weeks following the successful operation but will be able to resume some cardiovascular training within a week. If his recovery goes to plan Hayden’s expected to be fully fit in time for the first MotoGP test of 2007 which begins at the Sepang circuit on January 22, 2007. Speaking at the Freemont Clinic after the operation Nicky Hayden said: “I actually feel pretty good already. I’ll be off bikes for a while but Aldon Baker, my trainer, is going to get me back doing some cardio work next week and I’m definitely looking forward to that. It’s obviously been a great year all round and I’m glad I’ve had the shoulder fixed because it means I can now begin to prepare for the defence of this title. I’d like to thank Dr Ting and the staff at Freemont, and all the fans who’ve given me great support this year. See you all in 2007!”

Road racer Rolando Quintero, 35, remains hospitalized and unresponsive two weeks after crashing during a STTARS SuperMoto race on the Horsethief Mile course at Willow Springs Raceway November 19. Quintero is in Intensive Care at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills, California. Quintero finished third in the 1996 WERA National Challenge Series 125cc Grand Prix Championship before moving up to compete in the AMA 250cc Grand Prix Series. Quintero and his long-time girlfriend Liz Esperza have two children, son Michael, age 9, and daughter Tefani, 1. According to family friend Ben Solis, Quintero did not have insurance and his family is facing severe financial hardship during his hospitalization. Solis hopes to organize some sort of fund-raiser for the Quintero family, and details will be posted as they become available.