Jamie Williams has three bikes at his disposal for the 2020 short circuit and public roads season

Local road racer Jamie Williams has exciting plans for the coming season, having been forced to sit out much of 2019 because of injury.

He underwent major knee surgery after a hefty spill at Jurby in 2018 (hamstrings from his good knee were transplanted to the right knee in a reconstruction), he made a tentative comeback in last year’s Southern 100.

Williams rode the North West 200 and TT in 2018, having graduated from the 2017 Manx Grand Prix when he finished third in the Junior and fifth in the Senior (both won by Mikey Evans).

In his TT debut he scored a brace of 34th places in the Supersport races and 21st in the Lightweight (earning him a silver replica).

But, having missed 2019 completely, Williams is now able to return to the Manx Grand Prix this year, and that will be his main point of focus.

The 27-year-old welding and fabricating sub-contractor from Douglas is fully geared up for the season. He will ride a 1000cc BMW, 600 Honda and Classic ZXR 750 Kawasaki in all rounds ofthe UK-based Thundersport GB series.

His first appearance on public roads will be the Pre-TT Classic at Billown on the ZXR, owned by Sam Morton and Dale Fordham (of DRF Services) who built, maintains and runs the bike. He will also ride this machine at the Classic TT in late August.

The BMW and a 600 Honda are provided by Sean and Jane Oates (NCE Racing) of Castletown. Sean, former spannerman for Chris Palmer, will maintain and run both bikes.

All under the umbrella of JLG Racing, these bikes will both be used for the Post-TT and Southern 100, while the Honda will be Jamie’s sole mount for the Junior and Senior MGPs.

’After not competing round the Mountain Course since the 2018 TT, we thought as a team it would be best to find our feet again and, given the opportunity to drop back to the Manx Grand Prix, we have decided to do that for a year or so,’ said Jamie at his recent fund-raiser/launch night at the Villa Marina’s Promenade Suite.

Guest speakers were Richard ’Milky’ Quayle and his teenage son Illiam, an up-and-coming star.

’We had massive support as always and would like to take the opportunity to thank everybody who made an input into the evening and took the time to come along.’

The event was sponsored by Douglas-based Surf 42.