Bruce Anstey

Who is Bruce Anstey?

Bruce Anstey is a professional motorcycle road racer. He is now signed to race for Padgett's Honda, having previously ridden for Relentless Suzuki which is based in Northern Ireland. He made his Isle of Man TT debut in 1999, he completed his first race in the Lightweight 250 class, finishing 7th. His first podium came a year later in the same race, where he finished 2nd behind Joey Dunlop. He achieved his first victory in the 250 cc class in 2002, finishing 3 minutes ahead of Simon Smith. In 2003 he had a win in the Junior 600 aboard the Valmoto Triumph Daytona, giving Triumph its first TT win in twenty seven years. In 2004 he finished on the podium in all the races he entered, including a win in the Production 1000 class. He won the Superstock class in 2005 ahead of Ian Lougher, and in 2006 ahead of Ian Hutchinson. In 2007 he dominated the same race, winning by 40 seconds over John McGuinness, a feat in itself.

At the North West 200, Bruce has gathered up 9 wins from 2002 to 2007. In 2002 he won the Production race, and in 2004 he won the 600 Supersport race and the Production race. He was leading the Superbike race until the final lap when he crashed. In 2005 he won the rain affected Superbike event, and in 2006 he won the first Supersport race and the Superstock race. In 2007 he had his best year to date, winning a hat-trick of races that could have been more, had he not crashed out of the first Superbike event. While running in 2nd on the third lap, Bruce "highsided" at York Corner, and he was placed 2nd in the results because they were taken from the last completed lap. He went on to win the two Supersport events, and the Superstock event as well. He may well have increased his tally, but was unable to race in the main Superbike event, as his bike was damaged from the previous crash.