4:00 PM on Monday afternoon the skies darkened, the rain clouds moved in and within minutes, the speakers in the paddock blasted out the news that the evenings practice was canceled. Not unexpected but not what was hoped for.
Tuesday morning was bright, sunny and cool and we headed up to the former Jurby Airfield and current Motordrome for some early morning testing. The Jurby course is a short course where the teams can get some time in and make adjustments without having to worry about riding the entire TT Mountain course.
We went up hoping to get a few photos of the new 2020 S1000RR. TT veteran Michael Rutter was supposed to be on the bike for the first time, in addition to his Superbike and Mugen Electric.
There are only five of the new RR’s on the Island. Peter Hickman and Michael Dunlop each have their Superbike and Supersport and then there is this one. Furnished courtesy of BMW Motorrad UK to Performance Bike Magazine. This is the M-Sport model, just as it came out of the crate.
Performance Bike Magazine had arranged with Michael Rutter, the TT Officials and Motorrad UK to take the bike out for a test lap on the Mountain course, immediately after the conclusion of the Monday’s official practice session.
As the side car practice ended at 8:50 PM, Michael Rutter got on to the new 2020 RR for the very first time.
I have only heard two bits of detail from his first ride:
- He absolutely loved it; and
- He hit 192 mph.
Not bad for the first time on the bike!
More to follow tomorrow.
Make Life A Ride 