The Devitt RC Express Racing team got their 2016 Isle of Man race campaign underway on Saturday with riders Ivan Lintin and Alan Bonner claiming 14th and 21st in Saturday’s 6-lap Superbike TT race.

An opening lap of 127.295mph on the Kawasaki ZX-10R Superstock machine put Ivan in 14th place and, having overhauled Martin Jessopp on the road, another 127mph+ lap consolidated his position second time around. With William Dunlop retiring and James Hillier hitting trouble, by the end of the third lap and half race distance he was up two more places to 12th.

However, with Hillier getting back up to speed and fellow Kawasaki rider Dan Hegarty moving through the field, Ivan was back in 14th place with two laps to go and this was where he remained as a problem with his knee combined with a big gap to the 15th placed rider, saw him ride to his signals to secure a strong finish.

Team-mate Bonner overcame a problematical practice week to win yet another bronze replica and his opening lap, from a standing start, was his fastest of the week so far at 126.660mph. It placed him 15th, one place behind Lintin but on the second lap fuel problems intervened and he dropped back a place to 16th.

The third lap saw him drop back to 20th place but another 126mph+ lap on his fourth lap moved him back up to 18th. However, the fuel problems reappeared and that, combined with cramp in his legs, saw him eventually finish in 21st place although it was a solid finish for both Alan and the team and gives them great optimism for the rest of the week.

Ivan Lintin: 

“It’s nice to have completed another six-lap race here and the first two laps in excess of 127mph felt really good. Apart from Martin Jessopp I never saw anyone until the last lap when Dan Hegarty came by but by then my knee was hurting quite a bit and I could see from my signals I had a 40s gap over the rider behind me so I concentrated on bringing the bike home. Apart from the swingarm, the bike was in full Superstock-trim with treaded tyres so we’ve a good set-up for Monday’s Superstock race.”

Alan Bonner: 

“I was over the moon with my standing start lap of 126.6mph and I’d caught up with a few lads that held me up so it could have been 127mph but for that. We found something with the bike which helped no end but the fuel problems we’d had in practice came back and on the second, fourth and sixth laps, I was having to ease back from the Bungalow onwards. I had cramp in my legs from the Conker trees onwards on the last lap so 21st was the outcome but I’m a lot happier now with the bike and the tyres so a big thanks to the team – especially 16-year old Adam who did the wheel change – and also to Richard from Maxton.”

Ben Constable, Team Co-owner: 

"Today's race pretty much went as we expected it to and running Superstock bikes against the Superbike boys always meant they were going to have more pace than us. But we knew that and know that the Superstock race, when everyone's on a level playing field, will see us closer to the top ten. We're happy with the results today though and both riders have lapped close to their personal best laps. It's nice to have both riders finish a Superbike race and Alan made good progress with the set-up of the bike - he'd never run slicks with it before the race - so we're happy."

Both riders are back in action in Monday’s 4-lap Superstock race with Ivan also contesting the Supersport race, which will again be run over four laps of the Mountain Course.

Ivan at Ballaugh Bridge

Alan Bonner being re-fuelled in the Pits