Bruce Anstey

Bruce Anstey
Anstey winning the second 600cc Supersport race at the 2007 North West 200.
Nationality	New Zealander
Born	(1969-08-21) 21 August 1969 Wellington, New Zealand
Motorcycle racing career statistics Isle of Man TT career TTs contested 16 (1996–2000, 2002–present) TT wins 9 First TT win 2002 250cc TT Last TT win 2012 Supersport TT, Race 1 Podiums 31

Bruce Anstey MNZM (born 21 August 1969) is a New Zealand professional motorcycle road racer. He is the current holder of the Isle of Man TT lap record with a time of 17 min 6.682 s, at an average speed of 132.298 mph (212.913 km/h) set during the 2014 Superbike TT Race. He is now signed to race for Padgett's Honda, having previously ridden for Relentless Suzuki which is based in Northern Ireland.^[1][2]

Racing career

He made his Isle of Man TT debut in 1999, he completed his first race in the Lightweight 250 class, finishing 7th. His first podium came a year later in the same race, where he finished 2nd behind Joey Dunlop. He achieved his first victory in the 250 cc class in 2002, finishing 3 minutes ahead of Simon Smith. In 2003 he had a win in the Junior 600 aboard the Valmoto Triumph Daytona, giving Triumph its first TT win in twenty seven years. In 2004 he finished on the podium in all the races he entered, including a win in the Production 1000 (now Superstock) class. He won the Superstock class in 2005 ahead of Ian Lougher, and in 2006 ahead of Ian Hutchinson. In 2007 he dominated the same race, winning by 40 seconds over John McGuinness, a feat in itself.^[3]

Anstey at the 2007 North West 200

At the North West 200, Anstey had 10 wins between 2002 and 2014. In 2002 he won the Production race,^[1] and in 2004 he won the 600 Supersport race and the Production race. He was leading the Superbike race until the final lap when he crashed. In 2005 he won the rain affected Superbike event, and in 2006 he won the first Supersport race and the Superstock race. In 2007 he had his best year to date, winning a hat-trick of races that could have been more, had he not crashed out of the first Superbike event. While running in 2nd on the third lap, Bruce "highsided" at York Corner, and he was placed 2nd in the results because they were taken from the last completed lap. He went on to win the two Supersport events, and the Superstock event as well. He may well have increased his tally, but was unable to race in the main Superbike event, as his bike was damaged from the previous crash.

He has also had numerous successes at the Ulster Grand Prix, winning ten times.^[4] In 2003 he won the Production race, and in 2004 he enjoyed a hat-trick of successes in the Superbike, Production 600, and Production 1000 classes. In 2005 he did not win any races, but had 2 podiums. In 2006, Bruce was victorious in the Superstock class once more. In 2014, Anstey won the opening Supersport race. He then went on to win the blue riband Superbike race and was named 'Man of the Meeting'.

On 2 June 2008 Anstey was disqualified and stripped of the Supersport Junior TT title in the Isle of Man race meet. Riding for Relentless Tas Suzuki, he had defied a heavy cold to win the race, but was disqualified following an inspection of his machine, which found the exhaust cam did not meet regulations. However just two days later on Wednesday 4 June 2008 Anstey swept to victory in the second Supersport Junior race coming home in a time of 1'13:35.71 at an average speed of 123.041 mph. On his second lap he also broke the lap record for the race with an average speed of 125.359 mph.

To celebrate his Supersport Junior TT win Suzuki GB released a GSXR-600 K8 replica of Anstey's Relentless by TAS Suzuki race bike.

He won the Superbike race at the Ulster Grand Prix in 2010, setting a new lap record of 133.977 mph, making him the fastest rider on the fastest motorcycle racing circuit in the world.^[5][6]

In the 2006 TT practices, Anstey achieved the unofficial current top speed record for the Mountain Course of 206 mph (332 km/h)^[7] at the end of Sulby straight on a Suzuki 1000cc machine. This speed value was registered by the on-board datalogging equipment and so cannot be considered as an official record.

Anstey was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to motorsport in the 2015 New Year Honours.^[8]

References

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