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Category: IOM TT - Manx Grand Prix
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The Honda Racing team is signing off after a positive Isle of Man TT campaign; although the results do not reflect the performance of the riders Ian Hutchinson and Lee Johnston, the squad is leaving this year’s event pleased with progress and on-going development of the Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade SP2.
Hutchinson continued to impress as he made his return to the TT after breaking his leg in an accident last year. With inspirational drive and determination the ‘Bingley Bullet’ completed a total of 39 laps aboard the CBR during practice and race week, just one month after having his external frame removed.
‘Hutchy’ improved his lap times and feeling aboard the Fireblade during each session and although he didn’t finish the Senior TT, feeling he wasn’t able to complete the full race distance after the second pit stop, the Honda team are proud of his efforts this week and know it’s only a matter of time before he’s back to full speed.
Meanwhile teammate Johnston went into today’s Senior TT confident after a six-place finish in Saturday’s opening Superbike race aboard the Fireblade. With glorious conditions once again around the 37.73-mile Mountain circuit, ‘The General’ had made his way into the top-ten. However at the end of the second lap he retired with a technical issue.
With the data and information collected from the TT, the team will now start looking towards the Ulster GP, which takes place 5-11 August.
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Ryan Kneen has been awarded the 2018 PokerStars Spirit of the TT Award following brother Dan’s accident during this year’s TT Races.
The Kneen family have close links with the road racing community and Ryan, who was also competing in this year’s TT Races meeting, went out at the back of Thursday’s qualifying session wearing his brother’s helmet, following Dan’s death in Wednesday’s Superbike practice.
The PokerStars Spirit of the TT Award is given annually to the person or persons who best represent the ethos and values of the TT Races including decency, honesty, generosity, courage, compassion, integrity, respect, teamwork and commitment to the development of the races.
The presentation of the award was made on Friday – Senior Race Day - on the Grandstand podium ahead of the PokerStars Senior TT Race.
Guy Templer, Chief Operating Officer, The Stars Group, who presented the award commented:
“The Kneen family has shown incredible resilience and spirit and this was typified by Ryan’s gesture in his tribute practice lap to his brother that received such an incredible reaction from the fans at the event and a remarkable surge of support on-line as well.”
Rob Callister, MHK, Isle of Man Government’s Tourism and Motorsport representative said:
"Everyone in the local community and the broader road racing scene, was affected by Dan’s death. He was a hugely popular figure on the Isle of Man and made a great impact on everybody that met him. He will be sorely missed.”
He continued:
“It is entirely appropriate that this year’s PokerStars Spirit of the TT award goes to Ryan whose spirit and dignity is a shining example of the values and ethos of the event. I personally attend the legacy lap on Sunday and it was incredibly moving to see Ryan and his father Richard leading around eight thousand bikers around the TT course.”
Representatives from the Isle of Man Government's Motorsport team including Rob Callister MHK, TT rider liaison officers Richard Quayle and John Barton, ACU Clerk of the Course Gary Thompson and the Stars Group Chief Operating Officer Guy Templer judged the award. Nominations were invited from members of the public and from officials associated with the TT.
Previous winners have included Paul Owen, Conor Cummins, the Birchall Brothers, TT Marshal Eric Alexander and TTRA secretary Frances Thorp. The then ninety-one year old Harold Leece who opened up his garden to visitors every year and 8 year old fundraiser Cici Reed received the award in 2015 and the 2016 winner was TT rider Paul Shoesmith. Last year’s award was shared between the three organisers of the TT facebook helpline page - Barbara Keene, Margaret Cain and Sandra Diamond - which was set up to help visitors to the Isle of Man with travel and accommodation emergency issues.
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A packed trackside crowd were treated to one of the greatest races in the TT’s long illustrious history as Peter Hickman won a sensational PokerStars Senior TT race at the Isle of Man TT races, fuelled by Monster Energy, on Friday when he set a new outright lap record of 135.452mph on the final lap to defeat Dean Harrison by just two seconds.
The pair featured on the cover of the Official TT Programme and the ‘H-Bomb’ feature only hinted at the spectacular race that was to unfold at the climax of this year’s TT meeting as lap, race and sector records were all obliterated as the pair battled for the historic trophy.
Harrison had led the race for five and a half of the six laps but Hickman reeled him on the sixth lap and, having been quicker over the Mountain all race, he turned a 3.7s deficit at Glen Helen into a lead of 0.8s at the Bungalow and he smashed the race record by 48.064s to take his second win. Harrison took second with Conor Cummins in third.
After the race Hickman paid respect to Harrison and revealed that he had targeted the Mountain section of the Course as an opportunity to make up time;
“I knew that Dean was going to be fast but I’d always been strong on the Mountain section throughout the week. It’s a bit like a short circuit and I came into my own on it. I thought it if I was within five or six seconds on the last lap I could have a go over the Mountain.”
Harrison led Hickman by 1.2s through Glen Helen on the opening lap with Dunlop a further second back in third as Hillier, Cummins and David Johnson completed the top six and by Ramsey, the Kawasaki rider had doubled his advantage to 2.4s. Dunlop remained in third but was some 8.4s behind Hickman. Hillier’s strong week ended though with a retirement at Westwood.
Cummins led on the road with a lap of 131.754mph but it was Harrison who led with a lap of 133.678mph. However, Hickman was only 1.4s behind although Dunlop’s challenge looked to be already over as he was almost 13 seconds behind his fellow BMW rider. Cummins, David Johnson and Josh Brookes completed the top six but Johnson pulled into the pits to retire promoting namesake Gary Johnson into sixth.
Leading privateer Sam West was close to his maiden 130mph lap in eighth with newcomer Davey Todd performing superbly in tenth.
Through Glen Helen on lap two and Harrison had edged away from Hickman again to the tune of 3.5s with Cummins now third as Dunlop slipped further back. Brookes was up to fifth and West now a superb sixth and Todd a stunning eighth.
Harrison had added another second to his lead as he rounded Ramsey Hairpin and he came into his first pit stop at the end of lap two having lapped at 133.704mph. His lead had been slashed though with Hickman now only 1.4s in arrears once more. Cummins, Dunlop, Brookes and West rounded out the top six. Todd was now in eighth.
After the pit stop and through Glen Helen for the third time, Harrison’s lead had crept out to 4.8s and the duo were over half a minute clear of Cummins who was now coming under pressure from Dunlop with the gap just over half a second.
Throughout the first half of lap three, Harrison continued to pull away, with his lead at Ramsey over eight seconds, but Hickman was again quicker over the Mountain and as they started lap four, the difference between the two was back down to 5.8s. Cummins was looking more comfortable in third with Dunlop now 13.6s behind in fourth as Brookes and West held onto fifth and sixth.
At Ramsey Hairpin on lap four, Harrison had stretched his lead over Hickman to 6.9s but Hickman again showed his strength over the Mountain reducing the deficit at the Bungalow to 4.4s. And he wasn’t done there either, setting a new outright lap record of 134.456mph on his way into the second pit stop, the gap now just 1.402s. The order behind stayed constant as Cummins pulled further away from Dunlop with Brookes looking comfortable in fifth but Gary Johnson had overhauled West for sixth.
The second and final pit stop saw changes though as by Glen Helen on lap five Harrison’s lead had shot back up to 6.2s although by Ramsey Hickman had shaved 1.2s off despite his engine sounding significantly louder than how it started.
It was down to 3.6s at the Bungalow, 2.5s at Cronk ny Mona and as Hickman crossed the line to start the final, thrilling lap, his deficit to Harrison was only 1.9s. Harrison’s superiority over the first nine miles saw him open up the margin to 3.7s as traffic also came into play on the final lap and he pulled even further away on the high speed run to Ballaugh, his advantage now 5.7s.
However, Hickman really flew on the run to Ramsey bringing the lead down to just two seconds and by the Bungalow, he’d taken the lead for the first time by the slender margin of 0.834s. He doubled that at Cronk ny Mona but all eyes were on the chequered flag and Harrison crossed the line with a new lap record of 134.918mph/ 16:46.742 which he held for forty five seconds before Hickman crossed the line in a sensational, new outright lap record of 135.452mph, pipping Harrison to the race win by two seconds.
Cummins was over a minute and a half back in third with Dunlop, Brookes and Johnson finishing in fourth to sixth, Brookes’ final lap of 131.745mph the fastest by Norton and by an Australian.
West’s superb ride ended on lap five and although that promoted Phil Crowe up into seventh, the Lincolnshire also went out after coming off at Whitegates on the final lap, fortunately without injury, and the eventual seventh place finisher was Martin Jessopp with Jamie Coward, Todd and Brian McCormack completing the top ten.
Dunlop’s fourth place was enough for him to pick up the Joey Dunlop TT Championship with 94 points, with Hickman (86) and Harrison (81) taking second and third.
Todd’s brilliant week saw him pick up the TT Privateer’s Championship as well as the Newcomer’s Trophy.
Swedish rider Bjorn Gunnarsson had an accident at Glen Tramman and was taken by airmed to Nobles hospital and treated for bruising while Dom Herbertson (Laurel Bank), Mike Norbury (Keppel Gate), Michael Mylchreest (Gorse Lea) and Philip Crowe (Whitegates) also came off their machines during the race but all were reported as unhurt.
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Michael Dunlop took a record breaking win in the Bennetts Lightweight TT on Wednesday afternoon at the Isle of Man TT Races fuelled by Monster Energy with the Paton rider smashing both the lap and race records on his way to his 18th TT win.
Despite a relatively steady start, Dunlop took advantage of early leader Ivan Lintin’s retirement at Bedstead on lap two and with a new lap record of 122.750mph, he came home 14.6s clear of Derek McGee and Michael Rutter. McGee second place was his first TT podium. Dunlop beat the old race record by over a minute.
McGee led at Glen Helen on the opening lap with the Irishman flying on the KMR Kawasaki although it was close with his lead over Lintin just half a second. Dunlop was 1.6s back in third with Stefano Bonetti, James Cowton and Rutter slotted into fourth, fifth and sixth.
By Ballaugh, Lintin had nosed ahead by 0.8s but one man in trouble was David Johnson, the Australian stopping to make adjustments to his KMR Kawasaki at Douglas Road Corner. By Ramsey Lintind was 2.9s clear of new second placed rider Dunlop as McGee slipped back to third albeit only 0.3s. Bonetti, Cowton and Rutter continued to fill fourth to sixth place positions.
Johnson retired at Sulby Bridge but a new lap record of 121.603mph gave Lintin a 5.7s lead over McGee who was continuing to excel and was also inside the old lap record. Dunlop was only a further second behind in third as Bonetti, Cowton and Rutter remained in fourth to sixth.
Second time around Lintin still led at Glen Helen by six seconds but Dunlop had got back up into second with McGee now a second back in third. Bonetti was over 25s adrift in fourth but Rutter had moved ahead of Cowton by a tenth of a second to make it three Patons in the top five.
Coming into the pits at the end of the second lap, half race distance, and there was drama as it was Dunlop who led with another new lap record of 122.257mph. Lintin went through Cronk ny Mona but retired at Bedstead and that promoted McGee up to second, only four seconds behind Dunlop, with Cowton now third.
Rutter was up to fourth but he was coming under pressure from Peter Hickman and Bonetti as just 0.3s covered the trio. Daniel Cooper, Ian Lougher, Michael Sweeney and Joey Thompson now completed the top ten.
There was a change after the pit stop with McGee’s team doing a great job on the fuel and he led Dunlop by 3.1s at Glen Helen on lap three. There were changes further back too with Cowton going out at Crosby and Hickman made it two KMR Kawasaki’s in the top three as he overhauled Rutter.
Dunlop called on all his extra experience around the Mountain Course though and by Ramsey, he was back in the lead by 1.2s but McGee’s excellent ride saw him slash the gap to just half a second at the Bungalow. Hickman appeared to be in control of third as he extended his advantage over Rutter to 10.6s. Cooper was out though having retired at Glen Duff.
Going into the fourth and final lap and Dunlop had responded with the margin to McGee having crept out again to 1.6s and the Ulsterman wasn’t to be denied as he came home for his 18th TT win and third of the week.
McGee was delighted with his maiden TT rostrum but team-mate Hickman went out at Union Mills on the final lap and that promoted Rutter up to third for his 17th TT podium and with Bonetti finishing fourth and Thompson in fifth, four Patons finished in the top five.
Michael Sweeney, Ian Lougher, Adam McLean, Julian Trummer and Dominic Herbertson completed the top ten.
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Peter Hickman (Smiths Racing BMW) claimed his first victory at the Isle of Man TT Races, fuelled by Monster Energy, when he took a sensational RL360 Superstock race by 4.4s from Michael Dunlop (MD Racing BMW) with Dean Harrison (Silicone Engineering Kawasaki) in third.
The race saw the top three swap positions from the throughout the race but a stunning new lap record of 134.403mph on his final lap, just outside Harrison’s outright lap record from Saturday’s RST Superbike race, enabled the Burton upon Trent rider to come home in a new race record some 58.7s quicker than the old mark.
Harrison led Dunlop by three and a half seconds through Glen Helen on the first lap with Johnson in third and Rutter, Hillier and David Johnson completing the top six. But it had been a slow start to the race for Hickman who was down in an unfamiliar tenth spot after running straight on at Braddan Bridge with newcomer Davey Todd flying in ninth place.
By Ballaugh, Harrison had extended his lead to 4.4s and through Ramsey for the first time it had crept up again to 4.8s. Hickman had got going and had jumped up to third, six seconds behind Dunlop and 3.5s ahead of Rutter. Gary Johnson was in fifth and Conor Cummins in sixth as just two seconds covered fourth to eighth placed Hillier who had dropped to the back of the group.
An opening lap of 133.073mph was just a whisker outside Ian Hutchinson’s lap record from 2016 for the class and he was now 4.3s ahead of Dunlop with Hickman only a further 3.3s behind in third. The gap to Rutter was bigger, at 12.8s, with Cummins, David Johnson, Hillier and Gary Johnson now the running order as Todd completed the lap in a brilliant ninth place after a lap of 127.625mph.
As they got to Glen Helen, Harrison’s lead was up to 5.7s as Hickman closed to within 1.4s of Dunlop and by Ballaugh, he’d nosed ahead of the Ballymoney rider by 0.8s. The race was all about these three riders as Rutter was now over 22s adrift in fourth.
Through Ramsey Hairpin, Hickman had cut Harrison’s lead to 2.4s with Dunlop only 2.2s back in third. Rutter was still in fourth but his advantage over David Johnson was a slender 1.5s with Hillier only 0.8s behind the Australian. There was disappointment for Cummins though as he retired.
At the head of the field, Hickman was really pressing on and a sensational lap of 134.077mph saw him arrive at his pit stop with a 1.2s lead over Harrison with Dunlop only 1.8s behind in third, just three seconds covering the trio. David Johnson had moved up to fourth ahead of Rutter and Hillier but it was extremely tight as just one second separated the three riders.
Meanwhile, Todd became the second fastest newcomer ever with his lap 127.890mph moving him up to an unbelievable seventh place.
The pit stops shuffled the order with Dunlop hitting the front for the first time at Glen Helen on lap three, his lead over Harrison half a second with Hickman slipping back to third albeit only a further 0.7s in arrears. Johnson was holding station in fourth but Hillier had moved up to fifth at the expense of Rutter whilst Gary Johnson was another high profile retirement.
Dunlop still led at Ballaugh but only just with Hickman back up to second and only a miniscule 0.178s adrift. Harrison was still very much in contention, one second behind Hickman and Hillier had now got in front of Johnson albeit by 0.047s.
Hickman was back ahead by 0.87s as he rounded Ramsey Hairpin with Harrison now 1.7s behind Dunlop whilst the battle for fourth continued to rage, Johnson now back ahead of Hillier by 0.088s!
The scene was set for a thrilling final lap and although just 0.5s split leader Hickman and Dunlop, it looked like Harrison was racing for third as he’d slipped almost five seconds behind Dunlop.
Hickman added another eight tenths of a second to his lead at Glen Helen only for Dunlop to pull two of those tenths back on the run to Ballaugh. And by Ramsey, Dunlop’s charge continued as he brought the gap down to 0.146s.
However, Hickman responded immediately and set a sensational sector time from Ramsey to the Bungalow, the fastest ever, as he did from the Bungalow to Cronk ny Mona and a with a new lap record of 134.403mph, just a fraction outside Harrison’s outright record from Saturday, gave him his maiden TT win.
Dunlop was an eventual 4.4s back in second with Harrison in third and Johnson, Hillier and Rutter filling the top six places. Martin Jessopp, Sam West, Ivan Lintin and Todd completed the top ten, West the first privateer to finish.
Dunlop (70) extended his lead over Hickman (41) in the Joey Dunlop Championship to 29 points with Hillier in third on 40. West now leads the TT Privateer’s Championship on 58 points.
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