Street-legal Honda RC213V-S GP bike will race in IOMTT 2016 with legendary Bruce Anstey in the hot seat.
In a landmark move, the Honda RC213V-S road-going GP bike special will be competing in this year’s edition of the Isle of Man TT race (IOMTT 2016). The GP bike will be piloted by IOMTT and road racing legend Bruce Anstey in both the Superbike TT and Senior TT races.
This is perhaps the closest we will ever get in seeing an actual modern Grand Prix race bike being raced in the famed road race. Grand Prix motorcycle racing has stopped racing at the infamous road race following numerous injuries and fatalities, forcing the FIM to call off its sanctioning of the race since 1976.
Though the bike Bruce Anstey will ride isn’t the same as the factory-spec Honda RC213V that Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa currently race with in MotoGP, this is still a MotoGP bike of sorts and it will be the first of its kind to tackle the infamous road race.
Bruce Anstey will race for the Valvoline Racing by Padgett’s Motorcycles Team, which is an outfit with a proven track record at the Isle of Man. The Honda RC213V-S was specially prepared by the team and it benefits from the race event’s much ‘looser’ homologation rules compared to MotoGP or WSBK.
Team boss Clive Padgetts did admit that preparation work for Anstey’s Honda RC213V-S race bike was difficult. He states, “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.”
Just to refresh your memory, Honda’s street-legal MotoGP special features a race kit that sees its 999cc V4 mill able to produce 210hp. The kit also gives the bike a race-ready weight of roughly 177kg.
Whilst the race-prepared Honda RC213V-S would not guarantee a race win, we remind you that Bruce Anstey is a serious contender in the world of road racing, especially at the IOMTT. In last year’s edition, the legendary Kiwi, aged 47 this year, bagged a total of four podiums and won the Superbike TT race too.
Anstey could barely contain his excitement on the endeavour and even said, “The RCV should be an absolute weapon because it has loads of power but it feels as nimble as a 600. It should be stable too as it’s over 2 inches 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.”
The video below should give you an idea of what the Padgetts Honda RC213V-S will be up against in the famed island road racing course.
Sources: Asphaltandrubber / AutoEvolution
