THE Isle of Man TT is less than a month away, and now the Supertwins TT has joined the Superbike and Supersport TTs in having its starting order confirmed ahead of the 2022 edition.
The Supertwins TT has been present on the TT schedule since 2012, and in that time the capacity limit for the bikes has been stable at 650cc.
For 2022, though, the limit is raised to 700cc, meaning bike such as the Yamaha R7 and Aprilia RS 660 can take part in the race, alongside the established machines: Kawasaki Ninja 650 and Paton S1R.
Michael Dunlop remains the lap record holder for the Supertwins TT, with the 122.750mph lap he set back in 2018. A year later, Dunlop’s closest challenger was Jamie Coward, who will be first into the Supertwins TT for 2022 on his KTS Racing Kawasaki.
Stefano Bonetti, who has previously ridden the Paton in the Supertwins class, will be racing the Aprilia RS 660 for Speed Motor this year, and will be the second Supertwins rider down Bray Hill, followed by Lee Johnston on the RS 660 of Ashcourt Racing.
Number four for the Supertwins will be Michael Rutter on the ILR Paton, ahead of Dominic Herbertson on CC Engineering Kawasaki.
Michael Dunlop will run his familiar number six on the Paton of his own MD Racing outfit, while 10 seconds behind the lap record holder will be Gary Johnson on the Dafabet Racing Kawasaki.
There is currently not a number nine, but eighth away will be Paul Jordan on the PreZ Racing Kawasaki, while Peter Hickman will be the 10th starter, as usual, although the #10 has not yet confirmed his machinery choice for the Supertwins.
Number 11 will be Rob Hodson on the second Dafabet Racing Kawasaki, ahead of #12 James Hind for ILR/Mark Coverdale Paton and #13, KBS Kawasaki’s Michael Sweeney. Adam McLean (#14 McAdoo Kawasaki) and Julian Trummer (#15 WH Racing Kawasaki) complete the top 15 on the Supertwins start, while CBG Contractors Kawasaki’s James Chawke will be the 16th Supertwins starter.
Number 17 will be Brian McCormack on the JT Performance by Global Robots Aprilia, ahead of #18 Michael Evans (Heattech Racing Kawasaki), #19 John Barton (Wemoto Kawasaki) and #20 Michael Russell (Fraser Evans Tyre Recycling Aprilia).
