Classic TT rider Stuart Clotworthy has revealed he was determined to get his stricken bike to the finish line during Tuesday’s Senior race because he knew he would never hear the end of it from a fellow racer and good friend if he failed to finish.

Clotworthy, who was born in Sheffield but moved to Laxey when he was three, was cheered by a large crowd as he eventually made his way back to the grandstand after his bike cut out at the Creg-ny-Baa.

The 44-year-old now lives in America, where he works in the ski industry, but said returning to the Isle of Man for the Manx Grand Prix and Classic TT feels more like coming home than travelling abroad.

‘I’ve got so many friends, family, everything that support me back here,’ he said.

‘The bikes live over here. I use air miles from work, so I bet you most Irish guys spend more money coming back to the mainstream than I do.’

His determination to finish was put to the test during the Senior Classic race when his Kawasaki stopped at the Creg-ny-Baa.

Clotworthy said he was initially able to roll the bike through the downhill sections before it eventually came back to life around Hillberry.

He then managed to continue, coasting where he could and relying on the bike’s momentum to carry him towards the finish.

But there was another reason he was so desperate to make it back.

Fellow racer Eric Wilson had suffered a dramatic incident of his own, with Clotworthy seeing his bike on fire at Windy Corner two laps earlier.

‘He’s my boss man,’ Clotworthy explained. ‘He’s the guy that teaches us everything, and I’d never heard the end of it if I didn’t finish.’

The task of pushing a motorcycle after three-and-three-quarter laps of the Mountain Course was considerably harder than it might have appeared from the roadside.

‘It doesn’t look that far,’ Clotworthy said.

‘I challenge you to do it after three and three-quarter laps of the Isle of Man, and yeah, it was far.

‘There’s no flat. It looks quite flat. I guarantee you, it’s not. It is straight uphill the whole way to that finish line.

‘I was dying.’

Laxey-raised Stuart Clotworthy had an exceptionally busy week, competing (and finishing) all four Manx Grand Prix races, then contesting the Formula One and Senior Classic TT events on a Kawasaki ZXR750. He finished both of these, pushing in from Governor's Bridge in the latter. The 44-year-old has lived in Virginia City, USA for many years  (Photo: John Watterson)
Stuart Clotworthy had an exceptionally busy week, competing (and finishing) all four Manx Grand Prix races, then contesting the Formula One and Senior Classic TT events on a Kawasaki ZXR750 (Photo: John Watterson) (John Watterson)

His arrival also proved rather less discreet than he had expected, with the rider admitting he had inadvertently disrupted the prize-giving ceremony.

‘I didn’t realise that. I thought I was just sneaking in quietly, but no.’

For Clotworthy, however, the result itself is almost secondary to the experience of riding the Mountain Course.

At 44, he said he was not concerned about where he finishes, instead measuring his success against his own targets.

‘It’s all personal to me, and it’s me against the track, and it’s unbelievable,’ he said.

‘We set our personal goals, and as long as we can beat those personal goals every year, it’s huge.’

Despite the inevitable nerves before setting off, particularly now that he has children, Clotworthy said those feelings disappear once he is out on the course.

‘There’s nerves before you set off. You’re like, “Oh, why do I do this?”, especially having kids and stuff,’ he said.

‘But coming over the Mountain, every single lap of every race, I’m always just like, “I couldn’t imagine not doing this”.’

And it is that feeling which keeps bringing Clotworthy back to the island.

‘Coming over the Mountain, you’re just like, “This is the most fun thing ever”,’ he said.

‘I hope everyone in life has something that makes you feel as passionate as we do about what we do.’