Mitas Sport Force Plus RS tires impress at the Isle of Man TT

The 2025 Isle of Man TT witnessed a “new” brand of tire being raced around the famous 37.75 mile Mountain Course. Mitas joined the established tire companies with four riders racing on the SPORT FORCE+ RS treaded race tires in the Supertwin class.

After a successful Manx GP in 2024, Julien Crégniot stepped up to the TT riding an Aprilia RS660 for the Scott Racing team.  Teammate Joe Yeardsley decided to run Mitas on his Supertwin machine as well, having been impressed with the performance and wear in pre-season testing. Also riding Aprilia RS660’s on Mitas tires were Frenchman Wayne Bourgeais and Irishman Darryl Tweed, the experienced road racer swapping to Mitas at the last minute.

All four riders were using the Mitas SPORT FORCE+ RS 

120/70 ZR17 (58W) Mitas Sport Force Plus RS front and 180/60 ZR17 (75W) Mitas SPORT FORCE PLUS RS rear. 

After a practice week hampered by far from ideal conditions the riders lined up for Race 1 with only a few laps of practice. The race was reduced to 2 laps and Joe was straight into a fast race pace before the engine let go halfway through the first lap. The three remaining Mitas racers all reached the chequered flag to finish in very respectable positions:

16^th Darryl Tweed - 21^st Julien Crégniot - 30^th Wayne Bourgeais

Race 2 took place late in the afternoon on Friday and ran the full 3 laps. Joe was once more off to a quick start and was soon inside the top 10, finishing the race in a very creditable 8th place. Joe’s fastest lap of 119mph was considerably faster than he had achieved on a Supertwin in the past. In fact, all of the Mitas racers went faster than they had in this class beforehand and all four finished the race with excellent results:

8^th Joe Yeardsley - 12^th Darryl Tweed - 14^th Julien Crégniot - 24^th Wayne Bourgeais

Darryl Tweed – “It was my first time on Mitas tires and I’m happy with them, there’s plenty of grip from the rear and the front is planted, they wear well too. I’d like to run a set on my 600 Supersport bike as well for my next race meeting.”

Joe Yeardsley – “I feel very positive about the Mitas SPORT FORCE+ RS, I didn’t have a single issue over the practice and race weeks. The grip remained consistent and the tires show very little wear at the end of the race. This was my first time using Mitas on the Isle of Man and my 119mph lap was 3mph up on last years best. I’m looking forward to the rest of the season, using Mitas for the Irish road races.”

Julien Crégniot –  “This is the 3^rd year that I have used Mitas tires on the Isle of Man Mountain course (Julien competed in the Manx GP 2023 & 2024). What I like most is that they keep the heat really well from warmers and even if the front got a bit colder with the long straights, there is still grip. Braking capacity is impressive, for example going from flat out 6^th  gear to 2^nd  after the Sulby Straight, or from 300+ kmh at Chimay on my 1000cc Aprilia RSV4.” 

Trevor Scott – Scott Racing team owner – “Weather conditions hampered our pre-season testing so we didn’t get as much time on the Mitas SPORT FORCE+ RS as we would have liked. It was a gamble to run the tires at the TT for the first time but we had no issues and most importantly neither rider had any complaints about the tires over the whole TT fortnight. To finish in 8^th, 12^th and 14^th in their first TT is a big statement for any tire manufacturer races.”