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Whilst the 500 MV Agusta, ridden by Ian Lougher may have been the best sounding machine at Armoy, the 500 Honda od Neil Lloyd was certainly next best!, and what's more, he will ride the same machine, when he makes his KDM Hire Cookstown 100 debut in a couple of weeks. The 51-year-old Die Fitter at his local Foundry in Wednesbury, West Midlands was a rather late starter in motorcycle racing, he only started 7 years ago! Darley Moor was the venue,where Neil made his debut onboard an FZR 400 Yamaha, due to reliability problems, this machine was moved on and replaced with Honda RVF 400, which was donated to him, as a non-runner! Following a winter of hard grafting, the bike was ready for his 3rd season where Neil finished runner up in 2 different championships in the Darley Moor Championships. Having started the season as a novice, Neil ended the year, gaining his national license, this could only mean one thing, Scarborough!, and the following year, Neil got his first taste of racing between the hedges, despite being underpowered, Neil thoroughly enjoyed his first road race, and like many, was hooked! Next up for the Grandad of four, was the Southern 100, yet another fantastic experience. The following year saw Neil change to classic racing, having purchased a 500/4 Honda, after one race at Mallory Park, it was back to the Isle of Man for the Pre TT Classic races at Billown, Neil loved the classic side of racing, he did the southern 100 on his RVF and with both machines, contested Aberdare park In 2019 Lloyd competed in the Pre TT on the 500/4 and the Southern 100 on ZX6R. Lloyd also took in the famous Chimay Classic festival in Belgium, before returning to Ireland, where he made his Irish road race debut at Killalane Not content with this, Neil also contested short circuits in the early Stocks class! His season ended with the Good news, that he had been accepted as a newcomer for the 2020 Classic TT, unfortunately, we all know, that the Pandemic has put paid to racing on the island for two years now, so the Newcomers debut is still on hold, however, Neil kept his hand in, competing on the short circuit scene with the CRMC along with the BHR series, where, going into the final meeting at Cadwell Park in September, Neil is leading the Japanese 500 class. Last month, Lloyd had his first pouting of the year on the classic bike, when he made his Armoy debut Now concentrating on the Classic scene, This is what Neil had to say;” We had a brilliant time at Armoy and it has to be the craziest thing I’ve done on a race bike, our next race is the KDM Hire Cookstown 100 which we’re really looking forward to, its another new circuit to us, our year will be finished at Cadwell park a week after Cookstown, hopefully, we’ll still have our newcomers entry for the 2022 classic TT, I would like to say a massive Thanks to my wife Sam as we pretty much do all this ourselves, she does all the organising, driving etc while I do all my own mechanics etc, big Thanks to our only sponsor Joy Ellis for her support, it’s much appreciated, also thanks to our local newspaper the Express and Star for continued support whether we’re doing good or bad, and to the photographers who contribute their fantastic pics, and anyone else who has helped out with advice/ parts / part worn tyres etc see you at Cookstown!”