Maidstone rider Steve Mercer has revealed he is daring to dream after what he has labelled his ‘best ever preparation’ for the Isle of Man Tourist Trophy.

Mercer enjoyed his most successful trip to the TT, fuelled by Monster Energy, in 2011 – his third year of competing – with a 12th place in the first superbike race and a 16th in the sole superstock one.

Just four days before racing began around the 37.73-mile Mountain Course, Mercer had been without a team but the WA Corless Jackson Racing Team came to his rescue at the 11th hour, signing him up and putting together an impressive package for the 30-year-old.

This time around Mercer remains with the same team and after a winter putting in the hard work in the gym, he is targeting breaking into the top 10.

He said: "This is the most prepared I have ever been before heading out to the island and I just can’t wait to get out there.

"Last year was chaos. The preparation was rubbish so all things considered, we did pretty well to get the results that we did.

"But this time around it’s completely different. We’ve been working on the bikes all year. I’ve been working hard on my push bike and in the gym, so we should be challenging the big boys."

The 2012 Isle of Man TT Races fuelled by Monster Energy will be shown every evening, usually at 9pm, on ITV4 from May 28 to June 11. For more information and for live Radio TT commentary as well as the full ITV4 schedule go to www.iomtt.com