Manxman Dan Kneen will have his best chance of winning a race at the Isle of Man TT Races fuelled by Monster Energy after being signed to ride for Tyco BMW for the 2018 road-racing season.
The Braddan rider will pilot the BMW S1000RR for Hector and Philip Neill’s team in the RST Superbike, RL360 Quantum Superstock and PokerStars Senior TT Races having impressed in a one-off outing for the Northern Irish-based squad at this year’s Ulster Grand Prix.
Kneen had one of his best ever seasons in 2017 with the highlight being his third place in the RL360 Quantum Superstock TT Race on the JRC powered by Penz13.com BMW where he also recorded a new personal best lap of the Mountain Course, clocked at 130.347mph.
He backed this up with fifth in the meeting’s opening race, the RST Superbike Race and a 12th placed finish in the PokerStars Senior TT Race and he also finished eighth in the Monster Energy Supersport Race on board the Jackson Racing Honda, setting a new personal best lap on a 600cc machine in the process.
With no less than four-second place finishes at the Southern 100, where he became the second fastest rider ever around the Billown Course at 115.616mph, Tyco BMW enlisted his services for the Ulster Grand Prix, deputising for the injured Ian Hutchinson.
The 30-year old grabbed the opportunity with both hands claiming second in the Superbike Race, third in the Superstock Race and fourth in both the feature and Dundrod 150 Superbike Races. He also became the second fastest rider around the 7.4-mile circuit with a lap of 134.541mph.
In a TT career that started in 2009, Kneen now has 15 top ten finishes to his name and will be amongst the favourites for honours in all of his races next June as he strives to become just the fourth Manxman to win a solo TT Race.
Commenting on his opportunity Dan Kneen said:
“I realised that when the chance of a short term ride with the Tyco BMW team came up last season I had to take it with both hands as it’s not every day you get the chance to work with such a well run, manufacturer backed team. I’m going to be really proud to represent the team on my home course and I’m going to give it everything to reward the faith that Philip and Hector have shown in me.”
Philip Neil, Team Manager at Tyco BMW commented:
“We’ve been following Dan ever since his exploits in the 2008 Manx Grand Prix but even we were surprised at how well and how quickly he fitted into the team and got up to speed last season which bodes really well for his first proper year with the team in 2018.”
