Mountain Circuit legend Bill Swallow, who has competed in the Isle of Man since John McGuinness was two years old, returns to the Senior Classic TT on August 26 hunting for a top six placing on backer John Gleve’s 500cc Paton.

The 67-year-old first competed on the TT course in 1974, has won seven Manx GPs, and in 1999 set a searing classic single-cylinder lap of 108.2mph that was not bettered for some 14 years. Seventeen years later, the record is still only 1mph faster.

“I’ve never not raced,” Swallow said. “It's not as though I've been away for 30 years and am making a comeback. A top six finish is a lot to ask, because there are some good TT riders out there in the Classic TT. But I was holding sixth place last year when the bike started running out of fuel on the last lap.”

He eventually finished eighth, and has already warmed up for this year’s race by winning the 850cc event in the recent Pre-TT races on the 4.25-mile Billown circuit on the Paton. “No one was more surprised than me,” he said. “The conditions were awful - it was soaking wet. I was a bit cautious on the slow corners, but apparently I was leading them on the fast stuff.”

After last year’s Senior Classic TT the team discovered that their fuel tank held less than 23 litres, while the regulations allow 24. It meant that they had to pit for fuel at the halfway stage of the four-lap race, which meant twice starting with a full tank.

Now, with the full-size tank, the team has to decide whether to stop after the first lap, or the third. “The advantage of doing a three-plus-one is that you set off with a full tank and come in just for a top-up,” he says, almost resolving the dilemma. “We've also fitted a better fairing which is much more comfortable. Now I feel that the bike is really mine. I'm aware of my diminishing ability, though.”

Typical Yorkshire understatement from a man who is like an iCloud of Mountain Circuit lore.