When Paton Motorcycles asked Ian Lougher to oversee the fortunes of their Lightweight (Supertwin) bike at the 2015 Isle of Man TT races, there was a mutual respect and an understanding that the partnership would be a successful one and that confidence proved to be correct when Michael Rutter put the Team ILR/Paton S1 on the podium in Friday's Lightweight TT.

The world renowned motorcycle company have worked closely with the highly respected 10 times TT winner in recent times and Friday's result was the culmination of a lot of preparation and hard work.

Rutter only set eyes on the Paton on the Saturday of practice week and limited time on the bike saw him in 17th place with a speed of 111.58mph, but Team ILR owner/manager Lougher was quietly confident that Michael would have a good run in the race.

This indeed proved to be the case, and in what turned out to be a record-breaking 3-lapper, it was Ivan Lintin who took the honours from James Hillier and Rutter.

Hillier was the quickest to Glen Helen on the first lap with Lintin just behind and Ryan Farquhar in third, at this stage Rutter was back in sixth.

By Ramsey, Lintin had moved into the lead with Farquhar relegating Hillier to third, and he still led on the opening lap with Rutter now moving up to fifth with an opening lap of 117.59mph as he came in to pit.

Farquhar was given a 30s penalty for speeding in pit lane and the penalty dropped him to ninth but he soon retired at Cronk-y-Voddy and by Ramsey on the second lap, Lintin was in the lead again with Hillier only half a second behind with Rutter running well and still occupying sixth.

With riders having to pit and Lee Johnston retiring at Ballacraine, Rutter found himself in third and with a last lap just under 120mph, he brought the Paton home to a podium finish to the delight of everyone at Team ILR/Paton.

Michael Rutter on his way to third place in the 2015 Isle of Man Lightweight TT on the Team ILR/Paton S1.
Photo: Jon Jessop

Ian Lougher (Team ILR manager):

"It was a pleasure to work with Michael Rutter on the beautiful and glorious sounding Paton.  

Paulo and Lorenzo worked so hard on the bike all week to prepare to get the S1 up to the stage of podium potential, and although after a difficult practice week marred by strong winds, Michael rode a typically professional race bringing the bike home to a brilliant 3rd place finish.

The Paton guys were made up with the result, and have already pledged to return next year with an even stronger package and look to achieving a TT win with the S1 650 "

Michael Rutter:

''I didn’t expect this, and to do a 119.697mph last lap was really good – I only saw the bike on Saturday and with more laps there is a lot more to come from it.

It is light and pulls up the Mountain well.

I would like to thank Ian, Team ILR and Paton Motorcycles for working hard and giving me the chance in the Lightweight TT on this fantastic bike.”

 
Michael Rutter
Lightweight TT: 3rd
Photo: © Team ILR