Anthony ‘Kev’ Stephens chasing the TT dream
While Josh Brookes, David Johnson and Mitch Rees grabbed most of the ANZAC attention at TT 2026, another rider from this part of the world quietly achieved a major milestone on the Mountain Course.
Australia-based Kiwi Anthony ‘Kev’ Stephens returned from his Isle of Man TT debut with a Sportbike Finisher award, a 107mph lap to his name and a clear idea of what’s to come.
Stephens, originally from Invercargill, has been based in Australia for the past 13 years and has his own bike shop, Grampian Motorcycles, in Ararat; In the Grampians region of Victoria.
Before coming to Australia everyone knew him as Anthony, but after coming here he soon got the nickname ‘Kev the Kiwi’ and it stuck.
Bad weather ensured that 2026 was a tough time for everyone trying the TT, and the lack of track time made it particularly difficult for people like Kev who was taking part in his rookie year.
We caught up with him to discuss his TT adventure and how he plans to approach his first experience of the event…
Anthony ‘Kev’ Stephens
“The practice week was good, I was happy,” explains Cave. “It was all just working in the right direction. My biggest problem is that I work a little slow; I don’t jump right into things. This time it got me a little excited… the last two nights of practice I wish I’d put more into it.”
With two Manx GPs already under his belt, Cave felt it was time to step up to the ‘bigger level’ this year. And despite the inclement weather and lack of track time, he is satisfied he made the right call; Graduated from Max to TT.
He further added, “I was surprised that they gave me a TT ride.” “Milky Quayle asked me last year to put in an entry for the TT. She said, ‘Do you want to keep coming back to the Manx? Well, you’d rather move up the food chain and get closer to the front. Or would you prefer to be a mid-pack TT rider?’
“I thought, ‘I’ll ride a mid-pack TT to get back to Max.’ And I think I made the right decision.”
He raced a ‘bog-stock Aprilia with big fairings’ this year and clocked a lap of 107.03 mph on the final lap of the two-lap sportbike race, and came home in 36th place, just ahead of Michael Gahan (who was in contention to win the race at last year’s Manx GP).
“I’m glad I did,” shares Cave.
The hunger he talks about is heightened by the feeling that he does not have an infinite number of years to achieve his dreams on the Isle of Man…
“Time is not on my side and I’m on the other side of the world. Financially I can’t do what I’m doing to make it all happen. I think financially I only have three or four years left.”
One thing he thinks will push things forward is the additional track time that will come with adding a supersport bike to his arsenal. If Stephens had one this year, he would have to make an additional eight laps to ride at the circuit. As things turned out, with only the sportbike, he had to wait a full week between his final qualifying session and his race, which was clearly less than ideal and made him feel, “back to square one.”
He added, “I have to try and hit 600 next year, that’s definitely the goal.” “600 would be perfect for me because I’m heavy for a twin.”
Kev is a little wary of next-gen supersport machinery, mainly because of finances, and for that reason he’s probably considering a Kawasaki ZX-6R or something similar.
In just a fortnight’s time he would return to the Isle of Man to take part in the Southern 100 where he would race his own Aprilia and Alex Clark Yamaha R6, “just to see if I feel OK on one.”
It’s a crazy race around the world, after which the hope is that he will continue after Southern and take part in the Classic TT races, for which he is entered in two classes.
“After all I should have stayed at Southern from TT. But I have my own workshop here, I thought I might come back and do some work. I’ve got some good customers here who want work done. I thought I’d come back and get the work done, and that would fill the time and also get some more fun tokens.”
The Classic TT will provide another opportunity to gain TT mountain course experience which is certainly a positive as he looks towards another assault on next year’s TT. He also hopes to take on the 2027 North West 200 before returning to the island.
When the season returns Cave will be on home turf in the Victorian and South Australian Championships. Keep an eye on number 212 as he progresses throughout the year and give him your support as he chases that TT dream again in 12 months’ time.
