Norton confirm 2012 Senior TT race bid

Norton boss Stuart Garner has just confirmed on Radio TT that Norton will be back at the TT next year with an all-new 1000cc V4 prototype to race in the Senior.

“We need to race at the TT,” said Garner. “We came here in 2009 and made a right pigs dinner of it, blowing all the rotary engines we had. Since then we’ve been developing a new bike and we’ll be back with a factory-supported effort for 2012 to compete in the Senior.

“We will have a V4 litre (engine) and have been working with chassis manufacturer FTR to develop a state of the art racing bike. It’s not going to be a production bike so we will only race in the Senior TT.”

When asked who would ride the bike, Garner said: “We’ll cast the net over the top eight to ten guys who are capable of challenging for the podium. We know what we are taking on. We had a baptism of fire when we came here in 2009 but sitting at home saying it’s too difficult is not an option. We’re going to take it by the scruff of the neck and come back.”

Garner said the new bike will be tested this year. “We aim to be on track in September for short circuit testing. The Norton brand has a fantastic history at the TT and we need to race in a championship that has global coverage. The TT is gritty and edgy, it’s not sanitised. You can get close up to the action because there’s virtually full access to the course for fans. We (the Norton brand) won here in 1907 so we have over 100 years of history and (with all that taken into account) the TT suits our brand.”