| NEWS |
| The Manx Grand Prix features modern and classic bikes from 125cc to 1000ccracing around the 37.73 mile Snaefell Mountain Course otherwise used by everyday traffic. |
Having already come to the forefront of people's attention at Scarborough, Hetton-le-Hole's Keith Pringle is aiming firmly for glory at this year's Manx Grand Prix where the 32-year old will make his Mountain Course debut. Pringle has been a permanent fixture in the top ten at Oliver's Mount in the past 18 months and some new machinery will give him a great chance of improving his results whilst also benefitting him greatly as he makes his debut at more of the UK real road races. In the past two seasons the North East rider has made a more than favourable impression on both the results sheets and knowledgable race fans at Scarborough with the highlights coming at the International Gold Cup races where he placed 7th in the 2007 feature race (only beaten by Martin, Farquhar, Lougher, Dunlop, Armstrong and Finnegan) and 8th in 2006. He has also claimed 3rd in the 2007 Ian Watson Trophy and 6th in both the 2006 and 2007 Cock o' the North trophy events. Pringle, who has been riding bikes since the age of 5, has been racing Kawasaki machinery for the past five years, but for 2008 he switches to Suzuki power and has recently acquired a 2007 GSXR1000 Suzuki and 2008 GSXR600 Suzuki to further aid him on his quest for success. In the past three seasons Keith, who runs his own motorcycle salvage and race paint business and instructs at trackdays for Hottrax, has made excellent progress at Scarborough and with his circuit knowledge and speed improving all the time, he is looking to go even better in the new season and regularly feature in the top five. In addition, he will make his debuts at both the North West 200 and the Southern 100 and this should be ideal preparation for his first time visit to the Manx GP where he will ride the 600cc Suzuki in both the Newcomers and Junior races. Speaking about the new season ahead, Keith said: "Having raced Kawasaki's for the last five years, I'm looking forward to the new challenge on both of the Suzuki's. I'll be contesting all three of the Scarborough meetings whilst also making my debuts at the North West 200, Manx GP and Southern 100, something which I'm eagerly looking forward to and can't wait for, having read and seen so much about them. There's a possibility that I may take in a couple more real road races but this will be dependent on finding some extra funding." "I've set myself the target of getting on to the podium in the Manx GP Newcomers whilst also finishing in the top ten in the Junior race itself. I'm under no illusions as to how hard the task ahead will be as I've never been to the Isle of Man before so I've got plenty of learning to do but I'm determined to give a good account of myself and, hopefully, gain a higher profile ride in 2009. I'm also firmly intent on improving my results at Oliver's Mount and having made steady progress in the seasons, I'm confident of running in the top five on a regular basis." "I'm extremely grateful for the support of my loyal sponsors including www.asperformance.com , www.bikingdirect.com , www.superbikeforums.co.uk , John Warrington motorcycles, Chris Machin at www.oliversmount.com and www.rainbowdogues.co.uk - without their help I wouldn't be able to step up my racing activities - we're also on the look out for additional funding to assist our small team even further. I also owe a big debt of gratitude to my wife Pamela who has been with me at all of my race meetings and she does everything whilst we're there from my pit board to the refuelling as well as looking after the tyre warmers etc. She's a terrific asset and is 100% behind me and incredibly supportive of my racing career." There's no doubt that Keith Pringle has developed into an excellent road racer in recent times and he has all the attributes to progress even further - 2008 promises to be an excellent season. |
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"Racing
is living (16th August - 29th August,
2008), everything before or after is just waiting"(30th
August - 21st August, 2009) |
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