HERBERTSON FIRST AWAY FOR SUPERTWIN DOUBLE-HEADER

Dominic Herbertson will be the first man on the road for the Carole Nash Supertwin Races at the 2023 Isle of Man TT Races, with competitors getting two chances at glory in the class for the first time.

A new 10-race schedule, introduced to improve the offering for fans both trackside and for those tuning in live from around the world, sees a second encounter for one of the most competitive and unpredictable classes at the TT Races. And with further tweaks to the technical regulations to improve the balance of performance across the manufacturers, the Supertwins will be hotly-contested twice more.

Paton have won the last four races with Michael Rutter (2017), Michael Dunlop (2018 and 2019) and Peter Hickman (2022), and all three riders are amongst the entry for 2023, but only Dunlop remains with the favoured Italian brand as Rutter and Hickman make the switch to the new – yet unproven – Yamaha YZF-R7.

Michael Dunlop won 2018 and 2019 on the Paton, and will be on the favoured Italian brand again this year

Dunlop takes up his traditional number 6 on the MD Racing machine. Hickman, as expected, will start from number 10 on his own PHR Performance bike, whilst Rutter will start from number 2 for his regular Bathams Racing team.

Third last year, Paul Jordan follows Rutter at number 3 on the PreZ Racing Kawasaki, with Jamie Coward once more taking the number 4 plate. The KTS Racing rider only missed out on the win in 2019 by 1.2s so will certainly be amongst the pre-race favourites.

Last year's winner, Peter Hickman, has swapped to the un-proven Yamaha for this year's races

Rob Hodson (SMT Racing/KH Commercials Kawasaki) and Gary Johnson on the Dafabet Racing Kawasaki follow Coward; the duo setting off at numbers 5 and 7 respectively.

Last year’s surprise fourth place finisher, Pierre-Yves Bian, is rewarded for his fine ride with the number 8 plate on the VAS Engine Paton, ten seconds ahead of Ashcourt Racing’s Lee Johnston.

Johnston finished second last year and with more power extracted from the Aprilia RS660, he must be a considered a major contender for one, or even two of the race wins.

Stefano Bonetti, who already has three top-6 finishes in the class to his name, starts at number 11 and reverts back to Paton machinery, this time for Team ILR/Frog Property Developments.

Fellow countryman and TT debutant, Francesco Curinga, rides for the same team and will set off ten seconds behind Bonetti, whilst there’s further continental interest at number 13 with the Czech Republic’s Michal Dokoupil riding the Rocknet Aprilia.

Chris Moore (Silverstar Services/iHeat Racing Kawasaki) starts at number 14 as he makes the step up from the Manx GP with James Chawke, 11th in 2019, going at number 15 on the Carl Roberts/Emmjess Racing Kawasaki.

Southern Ireland has two great chances of success with Mike Browne (Burrows Engineering/RK Racing Paton) and Michael Sweeney on a third Team ILR/Frog Property Developments Paton heading towards Bray Hill in quick succession from their respective numbers of 16 and 17.

Frenchman Xavier Denis, who finished in a superb tenth last year, is seeded for the first time at number 18 on the PerformanX Racing Kawasaki with another top ten finisher from 2022, Michael Evans, ten seconds behind him on the Rea Racing Dyno Centre/ME Racing Kawasaki.

Craig Neve on a second Bathams Racing Yamaha T7 rounds out the seeded riders and, as with all the other solo races, starts at number 20.