Category: IOM TT - Manx Grand Prix

1. McGuinness wins stunning PokerStars Senior TT on final day of Isle of Man TT Races

   Posted on 6:45pm Friday 12th Jun 2015

   John McGuinness took his 23rd TT victory shattered Bruce Anstey's outright lap record from last year's Superbike race with a sensational speed of 132.701mph as he came home 14.2s clear of James Hillier in the PokerStars Senior race with Ian Hutchinson in third. The victory came after the original race was red flagged on the second lap and a shortened four lap race was restarted at 2.45pm.

   The Honda Racing rider took the lead from Hillier at the Bungalow on the opening lap and when Hutchinson made a mistake at Signpost Corner just before the solitary pit stop, he was able to pull away for his seventh Senior race victory.

   At Glen Helen first time around, Hillier was again in the lead but it was close with McGuinness only eight tenths behind and Hutchinson just a tenth adrift of the Honda rider. Anstey was holding onto fourth ahead of Johnson and Dunlop but Martin had a really poor start and was way down in 13th place.

   By Ramsey, Hillier still led but his advantage was down to six tenths of a second and it was now McGuinness in second with Hutchinson down to third, four tenths further back. Anstey was in fourth with two seconds covering the leading four with Dunlop now in fifth and Hickman sixth.

   An opening lap of 131.850mph - the fastest ever from a standing start - gave McGuinness a 1.2s lead over Hutchinson with Hillier back to third, a further 1.8s back. Anstey, Dunlop and Hickman filled out the top six, the latter having posted his first ever 130mph+ lap, with Martin getting going in seventh.

   McGuinness added half a second to his lead as they swept through Glen Helen for the second time with the top five remaining the same although Martin had moved up to sixth ahead of Hickman. The lead was back up to 1.9s at Ramsey although Martin was now up to fourth, tucking in behind Hutchinson on the road.

   A stunning, new outright lap record of 132.701mph gave McGuinness the lead and the gap had shot up to 10.9s as Hutchinson overshot at Signpost. Hillier remained in third but he was only 0.6s ahead of Martin as the Tyco BMW rider also broke the old outright lap record with a lap of 132.398mph. Anstey was now in fifth and Dunlop sixth and in an astonishing lap, the first 11 riders all lapped at more than 130mph.

   The order remained the same at Glen Helen on lap three and McGuinness had added almost a second and a half to his lead. Hutchinson, in turn, was over five seconds clear of Hillier who had also edged away from Martin also to the tune of five seconds but Dunlop was slipping back and was now in eighth.

   The Morecambe Missile added another second on the run to Ramsey and as he started his final lap around the Mountain Course, his advantage over Hutchinson was an impressive 17.5s. Hillier was a further 6.6s in arrears and he was coming under serious pressure from Martin once more with the difference between the duo now just 2.5s.

   McGuinness was in full control of the race and all eyes were on the battle for second now as Hillier took over the second podium position at Ballaugh, extending his gap to Hutchinson to four seconds as they rounded Ramsey Hairpin for the final time.

   It was all about McGuinness though and the Honda man duly came home for his 23rd TT victory, equalling the seven Senior TT wins of Mike Hailwood. Hillier completed his excellent week in second, also lapping inside the old lap record at 132.414mph, with Hutchinson holding onto third from Martin.

   Dunlop - whose final lap was 132.515mph - and Cummins took fifth and sixth as Anstey faded to eighth and so it was Hickman who took seventh. David Johnson finished ninth and Michael Rutter tenth.

   Hutchinson had the consolation of winning the overall Joey Dunlop TT Championship and with Dan Cooper finishing in 17th place, he secured the TT Privateer's Championship.

   James Hamilton was the rider involved in the incident and he was taken by airmed to Nobles Hospital where his condition was described as serious but not considered life threatening.

2. Lintin Wins Bennett's Lightweight TT For debut TT win

   Posted on 2:00pm Friday 12th Jun 2015

   Ivan Lintin grabbed his debut TT victory on Friday when he took a record-breaking Bennetts Lightweight race from James Hillier by just under four seconds with Michael Rutter in third. The front two both smashed the old lap record, Hillier lapping at 120.848 compared to Lintin's 120.845 but it was the second win in a row in the class for the RC Express Racing team after Dean Harrison's win 12 months ago.

   Hillier was again the quickest to Glen Helen, as he has been for most of the week, with Lintin 1.5s behind. Ryan Farquhar was only two tenths of a second adrift in third and his team-mate Johnston was almost exactly level with him. Dan Cooper and Michael Rutter were back in fifth and sixth respectively. One of the pre-race favourites, Jamie Hamilton, was outside the top ten though having been slow to leave the line.

   By Ramsey, it was all change as Lintin went into the lead by 1.7s with Farquhar relegating Hillier to third. The Lincolnshire rider maintained his lead to the Grandstand and with an opening lap speed of 119.078mph that gave him a 2.1s advantage over Farquhar with Johnston and Hillier 1.4s further back in third and fourth. Rutter and Cowton rounded out the top six but Farquhar's hopes of victory were dashed when he was given a 30s penalty for speeding in pit lane. Gary Johnson was out of luck too having retired at the pits.

   It was all change at Glen Helen though as Hamilton took the lead, the Northern Ireland rider not having pitted but the margin over Lintin was only three seconds. Hillier was only five seconds back with Johnston still well in touch in fourth. Michael Russell was up to fifth, another rider yet to pit, with Rutter still in sixth. Farquhar's penalty dropped him to ninth but he was soon out altogether at Cronk y Voddy.

   By Ramsey, Lintin was in the lead outright again, by four seconds from Hamilton, with Hillier only half a second behind. Johnston, Russell and Rutter were still occupying fourth to sixth.

   The RC Express Racing rider held the lead still as they started the final lap but Hillier had closed to within 3.9s as Johnston took over third. Hamilton dropped to fourth and made his pit stop as did sixth placed Russell, with Rutter's Paton still sandwiched between the pair.

   The race was really on at the head of the field and at Glen Helen the gap was down again, Lintin's lead now only 3.2s. Johnston was out though at Ballacraine so that promoted Rutter up to third, Cowton fourth, Cooper fifth and Hamilton sixth. Russell was now holding onto seventh

   Hillier was nibbling away at Lintin's lead and got it down to three seconds at Ballaugh but Lintin responded on the run to Ramsey and his advantage was almost five seconds as they started the final climb up the Mountain. It was down again at the Bungalow, this time to 3.8s so it all came down to the final few miles.

   As they flashed across the line, Hillier claimed the lap record at 120.848mph but Lintin's speed was almost identical at 120.845mph and he took his first TT victory by 3.8s. Rutter took a brilliant third on the Paton with Cowton a good fourth whilst the battle for fifth went all the way to the end, eventually going the way of Hamilton over Cooper.

   Russell took a good seventh with American Mark Miller having a great ride into eighth just ahead of Connor Behan and Danny Webb. Newcomer Derek McGee had an excellent finish in 11th.

   Hudson Kennaugh was reported off at Braddan Oaks but was not injured.

3. James Hillier claims fastest closed roads TT speed with Ninja H2R

   Posted on 12:00pm Thursday 11th Jun 2015

   Kawasaki rider James Hillier is looking to claim the fastest speed ever recorded for a motorcycle on closed roads at the Isle of Man TT after registering over 206 mph on his Strava GPS app on the famous Sulby straight riding a Ninja H2R in a parade lap.

   The Quattro Plant Kawasaki rider declared himself nervous but excited at the prospect of guiding the closed-course-only Ninja H2R around the 37 ¾ mile circuit complete with its integrated supercharger and 300+ horsepower.

   With the TT organisers wisely allowing him his own time slot as part of an afternoon of parade laps, the 30-year-old Ringwood, Hants rider adjusted the on-board-camera-equipped bike to his needs using the unique adjustable side sections of the seat to locate him during intense acceleration. His crew for the TT event also adjusted the suspension to cope with the array of different road surfaces he would encounter across a lap of the World's most famous pure roads course.

   Ushered to the TT start line, Hillier's crew removed the tyre warmers and the TT winner accelerated down Bray Hill in an unsilenced cacophony that impressed even the hardiest TT fan. And with instructions to enjoy himself aboard the exclusive machine, Hillier spent little time waving and the majority of his unique lap hard on the gas in what he termed as a once in a lifetime experience.

   "That was insane, simply insane", a clearly shocked Hillier declared to Manx Radio as the tyre burnout smoke cleared in the TT winners enclosure at the conclusion of the lap. "The first four gears are just over in a flash and the acceleration is mental.

   It was fast everywhere and over the mountain, well, it was simply incredible. I had my cycling app Strava switched on for the whole lap and down Sulby straight I gave it full gas in top gear and it topped out at over 206mph.Wow!"

   The Ninja H2R along with invited Ninja and Ninja H2R owners makes an appearance next at the World of Kawasaki event at Rockingham Speedway on 28 June.

4. BIRCHALLS AT THE DOUBLE WITH SECOND SURE SIDECAR VICTORY

   Posted on 8:41am Thursday 11th Jun 2015

   Ben and Tom Birchall took their second win of the 2015 Isle of Man TT Races, fuelled by Monster Energy, when they took a record breaking victory in Wednesday afternoon's Sure Sidecar race 2. Winning in a new race record time, they defeated Dave Molyneux/Ben Binns by seven seconds with John Holden/Dan Sayle coming home in third. Molyneux and Binns had the consolation of claiming a new lap record with a final lap speed of 116.785.

   The Birchalls grabbed the lead from the outset, leading Holden/Sayle by two seconds at Glen Helen with Molyneux/Binns a further two seconds back. Tim Reeves/Patrick Farrance were only 1.5s behind in fourth as Conrad Harrison/Mike Aylott and Ian and Carl Bell completed the top six.

   With glorious conditions all round the Mountain Course, the Birchalls lead was up to 2.5s at Ramsey with the top three still the same but Reeves/Farrance were reported as having retired at Glen Auldyn on the approach to the northern town.

   An opening lap of 115.549mph gave the Birchalls a 3.4s lead of Molyneux/Binns with Holden/Sayle still in third. Reeves' retirement promoted Harrison/Aylott up to fourth with the Bells now fifth and Gary Bryan/Jamie Winn. However, the latter pulled in to the pits to retire with Winn having lost his visor over the Mountain.

   It was clear the race was going to be a record-breaking one with all three leading crews setting 116mph laps second time around, the Birchalls only two seconds outside Crowe's 2007 lap record. Their lead now stood at 7.6s with Holden only 3.7s adrift in third. Harrison and Bell remained in fourth and fifth as Matt Dix/Shaun parker moved up to sixth.

   The Birchalls and Molyneux practically matched each other the whole way round the lap, the gap between the two hovering around the seven second mark and as they came along Glencrutchery Road for the final time, it was the Birchalls who got it, their third TT win in total, by seven seconds also breaking their two day old race record.

   They broke Crowe's lap record with a speed of 116.783 but Molyneux was a fraction quicker at 116.785 and reclaimed the record he'd last held in 2006. Holden/Sayle came home in third for their second podium of the week.

   Harrison/Aylott and the Bells had relatively lonely drives into fourth and fifth respectively as Dix/Parker secured their best ever TT position in sixth also posting their best ever 110mph lap.

   Wayne Lockey/Mark Sayers, Steve Ramsden/Matty Ramsden, Rob Handcock/Aki Alto and Tony Baker/Fiona Baker-Milligan completed the top ten.

5. Kawasaki rider History makers McGuinness and Mugen deliver again in SES TT Zero

   Posted on 1:50pm Wednesday 10th Jun 2015

   John McGuinness broke his own SES TT Zero record in today's Isle of Man TT Races with his teammate Bruce Anstey again following him home, as he did last year. Anstey was also inside McGuinnesses old lap record for the electric bike class.

   John McGuinness was first away from the line but by Glen Helen Anstey had actually moved into the lead on timing, albeit with only a second separating the Mugen pair who had already established a 17 second lead over third placed Lee Johnson with his Victory Parker Racing teammate Guy Martin in fourth a further nine seconds back. Martin was a late replacement for William Dunlop who was injured earlier in the week during qualifying.

   McGuinness had moved into the lead by the next timing point at Ballaugh Bridge with a lead of over two seconds from Anstey with the Team Mugen pair establishing a healthy lead at the front of the field. Johnson and Martin continued their challenge for the final podium spot with the Northern Ireleand rider establishing a lead of over 10 seconds from Martin at Ballaugh.

   Robert Wilson consolidated fifth place for Belgium's team Sarolea Racing while James Cowton (Brunel University) and Michael Sweeney (University of Nottingham) were going head to head in sixth and seventh for the honour of finishing the first university.

   At the front of the field McGuinness was being made to work for the race win by Anstey with the gap closing to less than three seconds but the Morecambe Missile held on to win with a new lap record of 119.279mph (18:58.743) from Anstey (118.857/19:02.785) with Lee Johnston taking third for Victory/Parker Racing with 111.620mph - 20:16.881. Guy Martin (109.717/ 20:37.987), Robert Wilson (106.510/21:15.256) completed the top five with Michael Sweeney (73.156/30:56.695) taking the University honours for Nottingham.