The RC Express Racing team had a disappointing start to their 2015 Isle of Man TT Races campaign when Ivan Lintin was forced to retire from Sunday’s six-lap Superbike TT race.

The Lincolnshire rider was having his first TT race on a Superbike machine but the race started well on the Kawasaki ZX-10R and an opening lap of 125.633mph put him comfortably inside the top twenty. It was also his personal best lap of the 37.73-mile Mountain Course.

However, on the second lap, a problem with the clutch lever meant Ivan had to stop to make adjustments at Ballaugh and although he got going again, the problem didn’t go away and he eventually retired at the pits just as he’d begun to move up the leaderboard.

Ivan Lintin:

“I was really happy with my first lap and managed to catch Ryan Kneen pretty early. I didn’t want to push too hard too soon though and just sat behind him for a bit whilst I got into my rhythm. At the start of the second lap though, the clutch started slipping and I pulled in at Ballaugh to adjust it. It never got better and I had to pull in so it was a bit of a disappointing start. I would really have liked to have got the full six laps under my belt but I was happy with my pace and we’ve made further progress with the bike and in the right direction whilst we’ve still get five more races to go.”

Ben Constable, Team Co-Owner:

“We’re gutted for Ivan today as it was such a small problem and one that no-one could have foreseen. Ivan felt that the clutch was slipping but it was actually the clutch lever that had seized, something that’s never happened before and probably won’t again. On the plus side, Ivan was doing a great job and to set a personal best lap from a standing start was excellent. He was up to 17th on lap two and going well so we’re confident a top 15 finish would have been the outcome and that he’d have gone quicker too.”

“It was a problem that couldn’t be repaired in the pits and was just one of those things. Ivan only had three laps on the bike in practice but he showed what a good racer he is and the pace he has around the TT course so we’re happy and can’t complain. He got his head down from the start and rode well so I’m sure he’ll get some good results in the next few races this week.”

Ivan has a packed day on Monday with outings in both the 4-lap Superstock and Supersport races which get underway at 1.15pm and 6.30pm respectively.

Ivan in action during todays Superbike Race