Scaysbrook to race Supersport TT
Reigning Pikes Peak International Hill Climb champion Rennie Scaysbrook will make his debut at this year’s Isle of Man TT Races fuelled by Monster Energy, riding for the highly experienced PRF Racing team.
The Australian will ride a GSX-R600 Suzuki and will contest both of the four-lap Monster Energy Supersport races held this June.
Son of former racer and highly regarded competitor and journalist Jim Scaysbrook, who himself competed at the TT in 1978 as team-mate to Mike Hailwood on an NCR Ducati and again in 1980 and 1984, Rennie has recently established himself as one of the best competitors in the challenging Pikes Peak competition.
The 37-year old immediately impressed on his debut in 2016 when he finished in a stunning second place on the 12.42-mile course, which is comprised of some 156 corners up to the Colorado Mountain’s summit of 14,115 feet.
Scaysbrook finished runner-up again in both 2017 and 2018 behind the late Carlin Dunne but, riding an Aprilia Tuono Factory, went one better last year when he posted a time of 9m44.963s during the 97th edition of Pikes Peak.
That was 14s quicker than his previous best time and broke the previous record set in 2017 by Chris Fillmore of 9m49.625s. He’s also one of just five riders to post a time under ten minutes on the famous climb.
King of the Colorado Mountain, Scaysbrook, who is Road Test editor for Cycle News in America, will now turn his attention to another mountain, specifically the 37.73-mile Mountain Course with PRF Racing who have been competing on the island since 1995.
TT organisers still hoping to stage the event
With the Isle of Man mirroring the UK’s move into a ‘delay’ phase on its response to the Coronavirus pandemic, the Island’s Health Minister, David Ashford, has moved to reassure residents and visitors that the Island is prepared to respond.
Questioned on how Coronavirus might affect the TT, Mr Ashford reiterated that no decision to cancel the event had been taken, and with several months to go until the start of TT 2020, time was on the side of the Department.
Referring to postponements and cancellations of major global sports events, Mr Ashford told Manx Radio that a decision on whether to hold the TT was not imminent, but that the situation remained under close review.
Mr Ashford further reiterated that current scientific evidence did not support the idea that visitors to a country represented the most significant threat of spreading infection.
