Anthony ‘Kev’ Stephens on chasing the TT dream
While Josh Brookes, David Johnson and Mitch Rees drew much of the ANZAC attention at TT 2026, another rider from this part of the world quietly ticked off a major milestone on the Mountain Course.
Australian-based Kiwi Anthony ‘Kev’ Stephens returned from his Isle of Man TT debut with a Sportbike finisher’s award, a 107 mph lap to his name, and a clear idea of what has to happen next.
Stephens, who is originally from Invercargill, has been settled in Australia for the past 13 years and has his own bike shop, Grampian motorcycles, up in Ararat; in the Grampians region of Victoria.
He was known to all as Anthony before he made it to Australia, but once here, he soon earned the moniker, ‘Kev the Kiwi’ and it has stuck.
Poor weather made sure that 2026 was trying TT for everyone, and the lack of track time made it particularly tricky for those like Kev who were taking part in their rookie year.
We caught up with him to discuss his TT adventure and how he plans to build on his first experience of the event…
Anthony ‘Kev’ Stephens
“Practice week was good, I was happy,” Kev explains. “It was all kind of working in the right direction. My biggest problem is I’m a bit of a slow burner; I don’t go into things flat out. This time round that kind of cocked me up a bit… the last two nights of practice I wish I’d put more into it.”
With two Manx GPs already under his belt, Kev felt this year was the time to make the step-up to the ‘big one’. And despite the dodgy weather and lack of track time, he’s satisfied he made the right call; graduating to the TT from the Manx.
“I was surprised they gave me a TT ride,” he adds. “Milky Quayle told me last year to put an entry in for the TT. He said, ‘Do you want to keep coming back to the Manx? Ok, you’ll move up the food chain and get closer to the front. Or would you rather be a mid-pack TT rider?’
“I thought, ‘I’ll take the mid-pack TT ride over just going back to the Manx.’ And I think I’ve made the right decision.”
He raced a ‘bog-stock Aprilia with big fairings on it’ this year and lapped at 107.03mph on the final lap of the two-lap Sportbike race, coming home in 36th position, just ahead of Michael Gahan (who was in contention for a race win at last year’s Manx GP).
“I’m glad I did it,” shares Kev, “I’m hungry and I want to go back. I’ve got to be fitter, that’s the biggest thing to go that next step. I’m bike fit; when I got off the bike (this year) I was fine, I wasn’t making any mistakes because I was knackered or anything like that… I’ve just got to be smaller, that’s the best way to put it.”
That hunger he talks about is further fuelled by a sense that he doesn’t have an infinite number of years to achieve his dreams on the Isle of Man…
“Time’s not on my side and I’m on the other side of the world. To make it all happen financially I can’t keep doing what I’m doing. I think that financially I might only have three or four years left in me.”
One thing he feels will push things forward is the added track time that will come with adding a Supersport bike to his arsenal. If Stephens had had one this year, he’d have had an extra eight laps of riding the circuit. As things turned out, with just the Sportbike, he had to wait a full week between his final qualifying session and his race, which was obviously less than ideal and felt to him like going, “Back to square one.”
“I’ve gotta try and get on a 600 next year, that’s definitely the goal,” he adds. “The 600 would suit me because I am heavy for the Twin.”
Kev is a little wary of Next-Gen Supersport machinery, mainly due to finances, and for that reason he’s looking at perhaps a Kawasaki ZX-6R or something of a similar elk.
In just a fortnights time he returns to the Isle of Man to take part in the Southern 100 where he will race his own Aprilia and an Alex Clarke Yamaha R6, “Just to give me a feel to see if I feel alright on one.”
It’s a mad dash back across the world, that will then see him hopefully stay on after the Southern and race the Classic TT for which he has entered in two classes.
“In hindsight I should have stayed from the TT to the Southern. But I’ve got my own workshop here, I thought I might as well come back and do some work. I’ve got some good customers here who want stuff done. I thought come back, and get it done, and that will fill the time and get a few more fun tokens.”
The Classic TT will provide another opportunity to gain TT Mountain course experience which is definitely a positive as he builds towards another assault on next year’s TT. He also hopes to take in the 2027 North West 200 before returning to the island.
Kev will be racing at home in the Victorian and South Australia championships when the season comes around again. Keep an eye for the number 212 as he progresses throughout the year and give him your support as he chases down that TT dream again in 12 months’ time.
