Paulo Gonçalves, racing on motorbike no. 8, has passed away from a fall sustained 276 kilometres into today’s special. The organisers received an alert at 10:08 and dispatched a medical helicopter that reached the biker at 10:16 and found him unconscious after going into cardiac arrest. Following resuscitation efforts in situ, the competitor was taken by helicopter to Layla Hospital, where he was sadly pronounced dead.
40-year-old Paulo Gonçalves was taking part in his 13th Dakar. He made his debut in 2006 and had finished four times in the top 10, including an impressive performance as runner-up to Marc Coma in 2015. Paulo Gonçalves, the 2013 cross-country rallies world champion, was sitting in 46th place overall after stage 6 of the 2020 Dakar.
The entire Dakar caravan would like to extend its sincere condolences to his friends and family.
Welcome to 2020 and the countdown to the start of the 2020 Road Racing Season. The winter break is now half over so I thought I would put together a quick post of some of the rumours (and facts) that have surfaced over the last couple of months.
If the news and gossip continues to come in at a similar I will need to do another one of these before April because there is a lot of interesting news to get through, unfortunately once you get past the positive and exciting stuff there is some really devastating news out there too, but more on that in a minute.
Happy New Year 2020 : May it be a great one for you all, and all of yours!
The 2020 Isle of Man TT Schedule has been released and we have all the important dates and times to help you plan your trip, or if you can’t make it to the island at least you will know what time to tune into Manx Radio to ensure you don’t miss a thing.
Peter Hickman at the Isle of Man TT Races
Two things of note though. The first may actually benefit you if you are heading over for practice week from Dublin – the first scheduled practices are now on the Sunday of Practice week. Traditionally the first day of practice was Saturday, however the first 2020 session will now be on Sunday 31st May afternoon – so if you are on that Dublin sailing think sharp – get off the boat and you will hopefully catch some Sunday qualifying.
Secondly – and sadly – there will be no TT Zero qualifying or racing in 2020 and 2021. The class has been dropped for two years, allegedly to ‘allow development’. TT Zero has been running for a decade and the electric machines from Mugen are responsible for a 121.824mph lap. I get that the entry is low and also that the Mugen will win, but still, TT Zero showed innovation and look at that lap time! I fully understand that many argue passionately that a TT Zero win shouldn’t really be counted as a TT win. I am all for opinions, but that opinion is one I’ll just have to disagree with. It may ‘only‘ be 1 lap – but that one lap is potentially 120+mph and considering the lap size of 37 miles then it really isn’t to be sniffed at. That one lap is still more than most full length Irish and Northern Irish National races. Hopefully come 2022 more teams will be in the field, on the track and ready to race!
Finally – this schedule is subject to change and given the weather we have had over the last couple of years this schedule will change. At the time make sure to follow :
And of course don’t forget the TBNI Road Racing Calendar – that will keep you up to date with all the Irish / Northern Ireland and Manx Road Racing Schedules.
The 2019 Road Racing Season is now over (with the exception of Macau).
You will notice a bit of a change in the site content over the coming winter months – with more ‘tech’ content. Just go with it, you might even like it – and be safe in the knowledge that when the bikes are back on the roads all the important info will still be here.
If you have no interest in anything that else that the site has to offer I won’t hold that against you either – just bookmark or save the site to your favourites and I will see you again in April 2020!
In the meantime make sure you subscribe to the TBNI Road Racing Calendar – as always it is free, keep up to date and already is starting to get the 2020 dates added to it. If you haven’t already subscribed have a read and get that sorted.
The 2019 East Coast Racing Festival concludes the 2019 Irish Road Racing Season.
Unfortunately I couldn’t get anywhere near Killalane due to a mechanical incident with my bike – well some a**e left a massive screw on the M1 motorway near Dublin and ruined my chances of getting anywhere near the racing. So thanks for that you inconsiderate t**t!
However well done to all involved in the event. If you would like a decent recap of the event check out the
Just like for the 2019 TT Races the weather did its upmost to put a dampener on things for the Classic TT and Manx Grand Prix over the 2019 Festival of Motorcycling.
Just like for the 2019 TT Races the weather did its upmost to put a dampener on things for the Classic TT and Manx Grand Prix over the 2019 Festival of Motorcycling.
The Bruce Anstey comeback is complete as the Flying Kiwi takes the Lightweight Classic TT #TeamPagetts#LoveTT – I keep on saying but honestly, what a guy. Inspirational. ? pic.twitter.com/AP7jwpnhyS
Let’s cut to the chase here – thanks to Peter Hickman – the Ulster Grand Prix is once again the Fasted Road Race in the World! Well done Peter Hickman and your amazing 136.415 mph lap!
2019 Ulster Grand Prix : The World’s Fastest Road Race : Credit @ulstergrandprix Twitter
Thursday 8th August 2019 : Thursday Evening Race Session :
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