Cumbrian TT star Dan Stewart has set his sights on joining the like of John McGuinness, Ian Hutchinson and Guy Martin in the Isle of Man's 130mph club this year as he seeks to further establish his name in roads history.

The Barrow-in-Furness man will ride for the Wilcock Consulting Honda team again but will also be on the Fireblade for the Superstock races instead of the BMW he rode last season. The team has also secured some technical support from Padgett's as Stewart tries to better his best ever result, sixth places in the 2009 and 2010 Senior, and in the 2011 Superbike race

“I’m really looking forward to the new season and it’s nice to have the continuity of being with the same team and set-up. This will be my ninth year with Graham and it continues to work really well so we’ll all be looking for some strong results during the course of the year particularly on the Island," said Stewart.

"The Superbike has worked really well in the past so we haven’t had to do too much work, just giving the engine a freshening up, whilst we’ve also switched to Showa suspension. We’ve decided to go with a Honda for the Superstock class too as the BMW didn’t work as well as we all thought so we’ve secured a good deal with Clive Padgett who’ll give us technical support and advice during the year.

“The bikes will be capable of getting onto the podium and with a bit of luck I don’t think it’s out of the question. I’d like to at least improve on my 6th place finish of the last three years and also crack the 130mph barrier for the first time. If I could do that and get amongst the top 10 fastest riders of all time, I’ll be happy.

“The major work over the winter has gone on the 600 as it’s been disappointing over the last couple of seasons and hasn’t performed as it should. Frank Wrathall’s built us a new engine and a lot of work has been done to the cylinder head so although my height and weight can go against me in the class, we’ll be looking to get back inside the top ten in the two Supersport races as well.”