Following his second place finish at Thruxton, Steve Plater left the circuit to travel back to the airport in time to catch his flight back to the Isle of Man to prepare for his assault of the TT course where the first timed practice evening began on Monday.


It had been a hectic weekend for the Woodhall Spa ace who had flown back and fore between the island for the first TT practice session and the Hampshire course in between qualifying and the British Supersport race on Sunday, but once back on the island the ever-smiling rider was able to get a good night’s sleep in order to be fully fit for Monday’s evening of racing.

“I was really tired and once I had a shower and a meal with my wife and two daughters I switched the phone off and just crashed out.

“This morning I feel refreshed and ready to tackle the 37.73-mile mountain course and spent most of the afternoon with the HM Plant Honda team going through our plans for the week.”

First up on Monday evening Plater was out for two laps of the course on the HM Plant Honda Supersport bike and posted a fastest lap time of 18m38.67s – 121.419mph – to jump straight into fifth place on the leaderboard.

He then switched to the HM Plant Honda Superbike where he put in a further two laps of the course, the faster of the two laps being 18m.14.54s – 124.096mph – which took him to seventh place on the leaderboard..

“The sun was a bit of a nuisance again tonight as it was really low in the sky and in my eyes but the flies were not so bad. We didn’t find any issues with the bikes but still have a few adjustments to make before the next practice. But of course that’s what practice is for, to iron out any problems that occur and also to re-familiarise myself with the course.

“Its 37.73 miles around and it takes a bit of learning. The memory needs a bit of refreshing as I am still a little bit lost in a few places. But a few more laps on Tuesday should sort that out.”

Steve has joined forces with a new sponsor and begins his TT campaign partnered by Sunwise Sunglasses, he said: “I'm delighted to be associated with Sunwise; its ground-breaking eyewear lets me face any weather conditions with confidence, just like I have to on the starting grid”

Plater will immediately put his Sunwise glasses to the test at the Isle
of Man TT, where he’ll hope they’ll be keeping bright sunshine and spraying champagne from his eyes.

• Sunwise Sunglasses are exclusively distributed by MotoComp to the UK and Irish motorcycle markets. MotoComp specialises in ultra-high quality and performance motorcycle clothing and equipment, and is also exclusive distributor in the UK and Ireland for GiMoto leathers, Beringer brakes, Top Block crash protection, Termorace tyre warmers, Interphone communications, and DuoDrive pillion handles.
  
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Pic credit – action at TT – Mark Walters.