A record- breaking side car outfit is to be one of the star attractions in a new display gallery devoted to the history of the TT races.

The LCR outfit, campaigned by reigning TT champions and lap record holders the Birchall brothers from Mansfield, was unveiled in a ceremony at the Manx Museum.

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Piloted by Ben and Tom Birchall, the outfit raised the lap record to 119.2 mph in this year’s TT races.

’This outfit has won every TT race we have completed,’ said Tom. ’So that’s seven in total since 2015.

’But now we have some idea of a few modifications we want to do so we are building a new outfit over the winter.

’You never stop developing the bike you are riding.’

In addition, the team’s riding gear, helmets and leathers, will also form part of the display. ’It’s a bit of an honour so we’ll definitely be coming to see it when it’s set up,’ said Tom.

So now the old outfit, bought by Manx National Heritage for an undisclosed sum, will be one of the star exhibits at the museum’s new display, opening sometime in 2020.

Matthew Richardson, the museum’s curator of social history, said the museum owned many items of TT memorabilia but had previously not had sufficient space to keep them on permanent display.

But the gallery will occupy the museum’s basement area, replacing outdated displays, many covering areas such as agriculture and fishing which, he said, were now covered in much better displays at other MNH sites around the island.

’It means we can have a proper permanent display devoted to one of the island’s significant yearly events and we have been working hard to fill any gaps in our collection,’ he said.

’We want it to be much more than simply a line-up of old bikes.

’We want to look also at the stories behind the `racing, the `people, and the teams and the personalities involved in the event.’

The museum currently has a TT exhibition, Racing Lines, which runs until September 18.

The new exhibition will be modelled on the same lines as that, including exhibits relating to marshals, fans and social history as well as the racing, the bikes, the teams and the riders.

’This new permanent display starts right back in 1905 with the TT car races.

’Back in 2007 we had a TT display to celebrate the centenary of the races and we had people queuing across the car park to see it, so we hope this new exhibition will be equally popular,’ he said.