The ex-works Norton NRS588 that Steve Hislop rode in winning the 1992 Isle of Man TT Races Senior TT will return to the Island later this month to appear in the Classic Racer Magazine Classic TT Lap of Honour.
The parade lap, which takes place on Monday 25 August, is part of the Classic TT Races presented by Bennetts that includes a tribute lap to road racing legend Joey Dunlop and the Bennetts 500cc, Motorsport Merchandise Formula 1 and F2 and the Okells 350cc Classic TT Races. Â
The 1992 Senior TT is widely recognised as the greatest race in the TT’s history. It saw Hislop swap the lead with Carl Fogarty throughout the six-lap race before the Scot eventually won just 4.4 seconds ahead of the Blackburn rider. Fogarty had the consolation of setting the outright lap record with 122.61mph, a record that was only broken seven year’s later, but Hislop also set the race record with 121.8mph.
Coincidentally, Fogarty has confirmed he will be attending the 2014 Classic TT to ride a Honda RC30 in the ‘Joey Dunlop Road Racing Legend – The Rivals’ Parade Lap’ sponsored by the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company and also a Ducati in the Classic Racer Magazine Classic TT Lap of Honour.
Having won the Newcomers Manx Grand Prix in 1985, the Blackburn racer and seven-times world champion was a star turn at the Isle of Man TT Races between 1986 and 1992 taking three wins and seven podiums as well as the outright lap record in 1992, his speed of 122.61mph remaining unbroken for seven years.
Returning to the subject of Hislop’s ex-works Norton NRS588, it will be ridden in the parade by James Hewings, director of the National Motorcycle Museum in Birmingham where the bike is currently on display. He said:
“It will be an incredible honour to ride the bike on the circuit that it is most associated with. We are keen that some of the museum’s most valued machines are seen by fans in the appropriate context of live displays rather than just at the museum itself and we are delighted to be associated with the Isle of Man Classic TT event.”
Tickets are now on sale and selling fast for the 2014 Classic TT Races.