"A fast motorbike racer is always one who rides with passion.
Our job is simply to give him the instrument to feel it:
OUR PROOF OF PASSION."
Eskil Suter

Those fortunate enough to be heading to this year's Isle of Man TT races are in for a treat with the announcement that Ian Lougher has come out of TT retirement and signed a contract to ride the two-stroke Suter MMX500 in the Superbike and Senior TT's.

Lougher last raced at the TT in 2013, by which stage he had notched up ten TT wins and the honour of having the most replicas awarded to any rider in the history of the event.

He has however continued to race at the Classic TT, scoring a double in the 500cc and Formula 2 Classic TT's in 2014, and only denied a repeat of his 500cc win by a thirty second pit lane speeding penalty in the 2015 event.

Ian's exploits over the years on two stroke machinery are the stuff of legend with numerous victories and lap and race records to his credit, including the only rider with the distinction of winning five 125cc North-West 200 races in consecutive years.

His maiden TT victory in the 1990 Lightweight TT is still remembered vividly to this day by those fortunate enough to have witnessed it. 

In one of the closest races in TT history, Ian beat his good friend and pre-race favourite Steve Hislop by 1.8 seconds and in the process set a new race record, and a lap record that stood the test of time for nine years.

Lougher is also no stranger to racing big two-strokes to good effect.

Back in 1999 he put the Sabre Sport Honda NSR500V Honda on the podium in the Senior TT in third, narrowly losing out to second placed man Iain Duffus.

Ian's credentials are of course familiar to Eskil Suter, one of his fellow 250cc European Championship competitors from 1991, and now the Suter Racing CEO.

It's these credentials that make the popular Welshman the ideal man to take Suter forward in what is a three year project.

Ian Lougher:

"To be honest a comeback was never part of my plan, particularly as my role as team owner/manager of Team ILR keeps me on my toes pretty much all year round.

However, every so often an opportunity presents itself that is just too hard to ignore, and the chance to race a special 500cc two-stroke round the TT circuit is one such opportunity.

I've been to the factory and witnessed first hand the technical know-how of everyone at Suter Racing.

Eskil Suter’s enthusiasm and professional approach to his work, and in particular to this project is infectious, and these are qualities I relate to.

We will take this three-year TT adventure step by step on what is an incredible bike, we've a lot of hard work ahead of us and I will be getting my head down with the aim of doing the Suter team and the bike justice.”