Shropshire Star

Off to race in the Isle of Man TT

Barry Furber is set to take on the 2016 Isle of Man TT races. Barry is a master technician at Greenhous Vauxhall in Shrewsbury, and is no stranger to the 37 and three quarter mile circuit after competing at the Manx GP for the last two years.

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Barry explains what lies ahead this season saying: "The 2016 season is going to be an exciting new challenge for me, with support from Vauxhall and Greenhous I am aiming to compete at the Isle of Man TT riding a Moto-design GSX-R 600 in the Monster Energy supersport races, and a Suzuki SV650 supertwin in the Lightweight race.

"After lapping the mountain course at over 111mph in 2015 on a supertwin I am looking forward to riding a more powerful supersport machine, and I am confident that with more track time and experience on the course this year I can make some big improvements.

"Thanks go to Moto-Design as I know the bikes will be spot on and, with the use of a Vauxhall Movano from Greenhous, I can concentrate all my efforts on a good result at the TT."

2016 holds the challenge of the full TT race calendar Barry and he has joined the Moto-design team, run by Jon Richards from his motorcycle workshops in Craven Arms, south Shropshire. Moto-design is a racing team which will enable Barry to have access to better bikes, maintenance equipment and technical support at the TT.

"Moto-design is owned and run by myself", says Jon. "We are a motorbike service centre/workshop looking after road bikes and off road bikes. In conjunction with the workshop we are also involved in the racing and provide help and assistance to racers from all over the world. In 2014 we won the Manx Grand Prix with a Scottish rider Andy Lawson from Arbroath. Last year we built and ran a bike (the black one in the photograph) for a guy from New Zealand. I have worked with riders from all over the country in various levels of the sport from club racing to high level international events."

Richard Potts, Greenhous Vauxhall Director, is Barry's boss and he explained how he met up with Barry at a road race past year: "Back in May 2015 I travelled over to Northern Ireland to see the North West 200 road race with my father. This reminded me of how exhilarating the sport of road racing can be, but we were lucky enough to be hosted by Vauxhall Motors, being the main sponsors of the event. We met some of the riders past and present and had a Q&A session with John McGuiness, Michael Dunlop, Skakey Byrne & Mick Grant.

"While at the North West I met Barry who was spectating, but was keen to ride in the Manx GP later that summer. Barry's remarkable result finishing fourth in the Supertwins averaging 111mph almost guaranteed him a place in the 2016 TT and this is when he approached me about sponsorship. With Vauxhall Commercial Vehicles being one of the 2016 TT Race sponsors it made sense for Greenhous and Vauxhall to jointly sponsor Barry and provide a three way partnership of Vauxhall, Greenhous & Barry, who is a Gold Qualified Vauxhall Master technician. We are providing a Vauxhall Movano L2H2 FWD 125ps panel van to transport his bikes and equipment for the race in June. I am delighted to support Barry and wish him luck while hoping to join him in the Isle of Man in June."

Pictured with the Suzuki bikes are left to right: Barry Furber, Richard Potts (Greenhous Vauxhall Director), Jon Richards (Moto-design).

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