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Smiths Racing return to Isle Of Man TT with Johnson and Martin

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The Smiths Racing Team have announced that they will once again compete in the Isle Of Man TT in 2015, with Dave Johnson and Guy Martin as their riders.

Johnson will compete in the Superbike, Superstock and senior races on-board a Smiths BMW before switching to the team’s 675cc Triumph Daytona for the two, four lap Supersport events.

The Australian achieved his best-ever TT results in 2014, finishing in fourth place in the Supersport race before recording a lap of over 125.5mph.

Looking ahead to this year’s event, Johnson said:  “I’m so happy that Rebecca and Alan Smith have chosen me to ride for them at TT2015. This will be my fifth visit to the TT and after a decent year last year on the Island, I feel it’s my time to be on machinery which is capable of being at the sharp end in every race.

“The Smith family and the whole team are all close friends of mine and have the expertise, skills and resources to build extremely competitive bikes so I think we have the complete package. I’m also happy to have a team mate like Guy Martin for the Supersport TTs. I’m sure we’ll work really well together.

“I’m so grateful for this opportunity and I will do everything I can to get the best out of myself and to get the best results I possibly can for the whole Smiths team.”

Johnson’s teammate, and now TV celebrity, will also be on-board the team’s 765cc Triumph Daytona for the Supersport events.

The Lincolnshire born rider has never rode a British-built bike in competition around the 37.75 mile-long course and is still searching for his first win at the Isle Of Man TT.

Martin said: “I wanted the best tool for the job in the Supersport TTs so I rang Rebecca and we ended up doing a deal. I reckon the Triumph is the bike to be on and I remember Gary Johnson passing me on the Sulby Straight on the Smiths Triumph last year.

“Alan and Rebecca are proper people who run a fantastic team and to win on their debut last year says a lot about them. I’m planning a few jobs with the Triumph after the TT also so I’m looking forward to getting the job sorted.”

The Smiths team, ran by father and daughter duo, Alan and Rebecca Smith, tasted success in last year’s TT, which was their debut appearance, with Gary Johnson taking victory in the Supersport race.

On the TT, Rebecca said: “We have built up a rapport with Dave over the last couple of years and he was an obvious choice for us for our TT campaign. I am confident that Dave will, with the help of our team, build on his strong performance at the TT last year and have greater success in 2015.

“Guy has come as a somewhat late addition to our team but we are relishing the chance to work with him. We are confident that our development work over the winter on the Triumph will pay dividends at the TT and hope that Guy achieves the success that he deserves.”

The team have become accustomed to winning over the past few years, taking the British Supersport title with Glen Richards in 2012 before repeating the last year with Billy McConnell.

For 2015 the squad will move up into the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship for the very first time, with McConnell on-board a factory-backed BMW.

They will also defend their British Supersport title, with Graeme Gowland and Jake Dixon hoping to continue to team’s winning ways.

Qualifying for the 2015 Isle of Man TT gets underway on Saturday May 30, with the first racing action taking place on Saturday June 6.

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Josh is a Sports Journalism graduate and has been a member of the TCF team since 2015. Between 2015 and 2018, Josh focused primarily on British Superbikes and Road Racing events such as the Isle of Man TT. At the beginning of the 2019 season he became the MotoGP Reporter.
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