LEADING Isle of Wight motorcyclist Ryan Whitehall — a road racer with ambitions of taking part in the legendary Isle of Man TT — is making all the right moves since moving to Northern Ireland.
The 25-year-old, from Niton, took part in one of the Province’s most prestigious road races, the North West 200 recently.
Taking part against established names and top class racers on the famous 8.97-mile course on the Causeway Coast, has helped Ryan gain valuable experience.
It followed victory in the Cookstown 100 event in County Tyrone, where, unbelievably, he won the 600 ‘B’ race in his first outing since recovering from a major crash in Armoy last year — an accident that smashed up his right leg and left him with compound fractures.
He raced the Cookstown 100 just five days after his leg was released from its protective cage.
Ryan only started racing in 2018 —inspired by experiencing the thrill of ‘between the hedges’ Irish road racing on television.
His first race at Oulton Park, as a rookie, in the Thundersport series, quickly followed.
Ryan showed just how much natural talent he had by finishing a superb second in the championship and, in the following year, repeated the feat in the Sportsman/Elite 600 class.
Since then, Ryan has entered the Superstock and Supertwins classes on his Yamaha R6 and his Kawasaki 650 — competing at Snetterton, where he won twice, and at Mallory Park, where he also tasted victory.
Originally a groundworker on the Island, Ryan is now based in Northern Ireland — picking up work to finance his racing.
Like most elite sportsmen and women, Ryan is finding sponsorship difficult to come by and a challenge to his ambitions in the sport.
He has a handful of sponsors from the Isle of Wight, such as George Richards, who prepared his bikes — but he is looking for more.
Ryan needs help to finance not only his racing, but also to upgrade his bike, to become as competitive as possible.
If any Island companies or individuals would like to sponsor Ryan on his racing journey, please contact Rod Warne on 07970-009725.
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