CROWE PERFORMANCE AIM HIGH WITH BOTTALICO JOINING CROWE AT TT 2025
Crowe Performance will expand to a two-rider line-up at this year’s Isle of Man TT Races, with team owner and regular rider Phil Crowe joined by Maurizio Bottalico - the talented San Marinese rider stepping up from the Manx Grand Prix.
Both riders will contest the RST x D3O Superbike, Milwaukee Senior and RL360/Opul Superstock races on the BMW M1000RR, with Bottalico getting his first taste of 1000cc machinery around the 37¾-mile Mountain Course.
Having made his debut in 2014, Market Rasen’s Crowe will be entering his tenth TT campaign and will be hoping to make up for the disappointment of 2024, when he was an early retirement in all three of his races.
Another 129mph lap was chalked up in the Superbike race before he was forced out, and he’ll again be a seeded rider in 2025. He’ll be looking to repeat the top-ten finishes he achieved in 2018 and 2022, when he finished ninth and tenth in the Superbike and Superstock races respectively - the former seeing him post a personal best lap of 129.957mph.
Crowe now has a total of eight top-15 finishes to his name, so that will be the immediate target once more, with a maiden 130mph lap again in his sights.
Bottalico’s graduation to the TT comes off the back of some impressive performances at the Manx Grand Prix over the last three years. The 43-year-old finished 12th in the Senior on his debut in 2022, and further showed his potential the following year when he finished a superb third in the Junior Race on the Younix Virus Power Paton, lapping at more than 119mph in practice for the Senior.
Further success came in 2024 when he improved on the previous year’s result in the Junior, finishing a close second to Andrea Majola on the Venditti/Seipa Kawasaki. The ever-smiling Bottalico is also a regular front-runner and race winner in the European and Italian Hill Climb Championships.
Both riders have enjoyed good preparation, with Bottalico winning the Best Newcomers award at the recent North West 200 with four top-20 finishes - three of which came on the 1000cc BMW, where he took a best of 15th in the second Superstock race. Team owner Crowe also had a good day, finishing in the top 20 on four occasions.
Phil Crowe: “We’ve been looking to run a two-rider team for some time, but it’s all been about finding the right rider and Maurizio ticks all the boxes. He’s got good experience now around the Mountain Course with some good performances at the Manx Grand Prix as well as in the European Hill Climb Championships so will be able to hit the ground running. He’s not only taken to the 1000cc bike quickly, but he’s also fitted into the team seamlessly.”
“He showed his capabilities at the North West 200 and we’ve both had good preparation. With regards to my own TT, I’m hoping for luck to be on my side for a change! I’ve had three bad years now, for various reasons, with last year being the worst. We had an engine problem throughout which meant I couldn’t get a flying lap and barely completed any laps at all. I know what I can do in each sector though, and I want to be doing 130’s solidly throughout the fortnight. If I do that, the results will take care of themselves.”
Maurizio Bottalico added: “I’m very excited about my debut at the TT in the 1000 class, and I'm very happy to be able to do it with Team Crowe Performance because they have a lot of experience and I'm sure I can learn a lot from them. I can't wait to get started.”
