A record-breaking week for Team Mugen Shinden was capped off by receiving the 2014 Isle of Man TT Motul Team award for technical excellence.
The award follows the Japanese team smashing the TT Zero lap record with the race’s first ever sub 20 minute lap when John McGuinness lapped in 19 minutes and 17.3 seconds at an average speed of 117.366mph.
2014 saw the team field two riders for the first time, with Bruce Anstey, who set the outright lap record around the TT circuit in the opening Superbike race of the week, joining 20-time TT winner and previous Team Mugen rider McGuinness.
Throughout the entire of practice the Shinden team were at the top of the time sheets, beating Michael Rutter‘s 2013 lap record on the MotoCzysz machine with every completed lap. The opening practice session saw McGuinness hit an outstanding 164.9mph through the Sulby speed trap, although Anstey was forced out of the session with mechanical issues.
The second practice saw Anstey bounce back to post an unofficial lap record of 113mph, only to have McGuinness improve to a 115mph lap two days later in the final qualifying session.
On race day McGuinness started first on the road and never looked back, while Anstey started from fourth, quickly dispatching the two machines between himself and his team-mate. McGuinness held a slim five second margin at Glen Helen, but from then on steadily increased his advantage over the Kiwi, crossing the line with a 117.366mph lap, beating Rutter’s previous record by 7.5mph and earning his 21st TT win in the process.
Anstey finished second with an impressive lap at 115.048mph, completing his debut TT Zero race on the podium and helping to gain the Mugen Shinden entourage the Motul Team award for technical excellence, which they collected before Friday’s Senior TT race.
