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Category: IOM TT - Manx Grand Prix
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Michael Dunlop (MD Racing Honda) took a record-breaking win in Monday’s Monster Energy Supersport race at the 2018 Isle of Man TT Races, fuelled by Monster Energy, coming home 10.2s clear of Dean Harrison (Silicone Engineering Kawasaki).
Dunlop’s second lap of 129.197mph shattered his own lap record from 2013 and it propelled him to his second win of the week and 17th in total. Harrison’s second place went some way to make up for the disappointment of retiring from Saturday’s RST Superbike race with the same applying to Peter Hickman (Trooper Beer Triumph) who took third.
Harrison led through Glen Helen on the opening lap, the Bradford rider holding a one-second lead over Dunlop with James Hillier a further two seconds behind in third. Hickman, Gary Johnson and Lee Johnston rounded out the top six.
At Ballaugh, the gap between first and second was just 0.2s and by the time they swept round Ramsey Hairpin, Dunlop was in front by a second. Hillier was now eight seconds adrift in third with Hickman still in fourth and only 0.2s behind but Conor Cummins was now up to fifth ahead of Johnson.
Dunlop’s opening lap was 128.265mph which put him 1.7s ahead of Harrison and it was now Hickman in third, his advantage over Hillier 2.5s. There were changes happening further back too with Johnston now ahead of team-mate Cummins as Johnson, Josh Brookes, Derek McGee and Jamie Coward completed the top ten.
Second time around through Glen Helen and Harrison had pulled back a tenth of a second and it now looked to be a two-horse race with Hickman now some 14.2s adrift. He’d edged away from Hillier though with the gap up to 3.3s with the gaps to Johnston and Cummins three seconds each.
On the run to Ballaugh, Dunlop added another second to his lead and by Ramsey it had increased further to 4.6s. Indeed, as he came into the pits for his solitary pit stop, a stunning new lap record of 129.197mph gave him a healthier advantage of 6.4s. Harrison was 22.7s clear of Hickman but the final podium position was still wide open with Hickman only 3.6s ahead of Hillier who, in turn, was only three seconds ahead of Johnston. Johnson, Brookes, James Cowton and McGee were filling seventh to tenth.
Hillier was now leading on the road and a superb pit stop meant he was only 0.2s adrift of Hickman at Glen Helen on lap three and over ten seconds clear of Johnston whilst Dunlop’s advantage had moved up to nine seconds. And by Ballaugh, Hillier had taken over third from Hickman albeit by 0.6s but this had doubled to 1.2s by Ramsey.
Going into the final lap, Dunlop and Harrison were now together on the road with the official gap being 9.4s and Hillier still held onto third with the difference between him and Hickman still only 1.5s. Cummins was a further 19.2s back in fifth with Johnston continuing to hold onto sixth although the gap to Johnson was down to five seconds.
The final lap saw Dunlop and Harrison circulate together and with neither having any issues, they duly came home in first and second. The duo eased back in the closing stages so much so that Harrison was only 0.258s ahead of third placed Hickman, who got the better of Hillier for the final podium position by 1.8s.
Cummins was secure in fifth but sixth place was also in doubt until the chequered flag and Brookes took the position after a final lap in excess of 126mph. Johnson, Johnston, Cowton and Ivan Lintin completed the top ten.
McGee finished in an excellent 11th to be the first privateer home ahead of Todd (12th) and Dominic Herbertson (14th)
The Joey Dunlop Championship sees Dunlop lead with a maximum of 50 points ahead of Cummins (31) and Hillier (29) while McGee now leads the TT Privateer’s Championship on 38 points from Phil Crowe (35) and Sam West (33).
Shortly after the conclusion of the Race ACU Events Ltd confirmed that newcomer Adam Lyon from Scotland had been involved in a fatal accident at Casey’s. ACU Events Ltd wishes to pass on their deepest sympathy to Adam’s family and friends.
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Honda Racing’s Lee Johnston secured a solid sixth place finish in today’s opening RST Superbike race at the Isle of Man TT, aboard the Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade SP2, while teammate Ian Hutchinson retired from the six-lap race.
With the Superbike race getting underway at a slightly later time than planned, due to fog and mist across the Mountain, the Honda duo set off at 1pm local time, with Hutchy fourth and Johnston 13th on the road.
‘The General’ had strong pace from the start and quickly settled into a good rhythm aboard the CBR around the 37.73-mile Mountain circuit. Coming into the first pit stop at the end of the second lap, Johnston had moved into tenth place.
With consistent, quick lap times and fast pit stops from the super-slick Honda crew, Johnston was able to make up places throughout the race, eventually crossing the line in sixth place with a race time of 1:47:42.014 (15 seconds from fifth place).
Meanwhile teammate Hutchinson retired from the race on lap four at Governor’s Bridge. Having got a good start off the line and looking strong in the opening stages of the race, he pulled in at the end of lap four having struggled with suspension set-up on the CBR machine.
The team will now prepare for the Superstock race on Monday 4 June, ahead of the blue riband Senior TT on Friday 8 June.
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The first qualifying session for the 2018 Isle of Man TT Races, fuelled by Monster Energy, got underway in perfect conditions on Saturday evening. Dean Harrison and Michael Dunlop topped the Supersport and Lightweight leaderboards having lapped at 125.797mph and 120.875mph respectively, the latter inside the class lap record, albeit unofficial to lay down an early marker for the Bennetts Lightweight TT Race on Wednesday 6th June.
The session was slightly delayed due to oil being cleared between Cronk ny Mona and Signpost and it was 6.25pm when Rider Liaison Officer Richard Quayle set off with newcomers Adam Lyon, David Jackson and Davey Todd for their escorted lap although Jackson only got as far as Ballig Bridge before stopping with a machine that was reported to be smoking.
At 6.53pm, the session proper started and Martin Jessopp (Riders Motorcycles Triumph) and Peter Hickman (Trooper Beer by Smiths Triumph) were first away, swiftly followed down Glencrutchery Road by Harrison (Silicone Engineering Kawasaki) and Michael Rutter (Paton), the latter the first of the Lightweight machines away.
Michael Dunlop (MD Racing Honda) and Conor Cummins and Ian Hutchinson (both Padgetts Racing Honda) were also away early in the Supersport class with Lintin (Dafabet Devitt Racing Kawasaki), Danny Webb (IEG/KMR Kawasaki) and Ian Lougher (Paton) going out on their Lightweight mounts. Also out on a Lightweight David Johnson was also out on a lightweight bike, the Aussie a late-replacement for Ian Hutchinson on the RST/KMR Kawasaki.
Cummins was first to complete a lap and he was fastest with 123.207mph swiftly followed across the line by Dunlop (122.607mph), Harrison (121.793) and James Hillier (121.356). However, late starter Dan Kneen slotted into second as he lapped at 122.700mph on the Jackson Racing Honda. Hutchinson eased his way back in with a lap of 118.030 but Gary Johnson was out of luck though and stopped at Crosby Crossroads.
Ivan Lintin was comfortably fastest in the Lightweight class at 118.196mph on the first lap followed by David Johnson (115.253), Rutter (114.684), Lougher (114.394) and Derek McGee (113.919). Joey Thompson was an early retirement at Ballacraine.
Second time around and Cummins upped the pace to an impressive 125.152mph with Harrison moving up to second on the timesheets with 124.587. He was closely followed by Hickman (124.313) and Kneen (124.319) with Hutchinson upping his speed slightly to 119.734.
Meanwhile, in the Lightweight class David Johnson improved to 117.029mph no mean feat given this evening was the first time he’d sat on the bike with team-mate McGee going equally well at 117.571 and Italian Stefano Bonetti just behind on 117.119. Lougher and Webb had also lapped in excess of 116mph but Gary Johnson’s woes continued as, having made it back to the paddock, he stopped at Quarter Bridge on the WK Moto.
At the head of the field Hillier improved his speed to 122.769mph on his third lap but Michael Dunlop went quicker at 123.715mph whilst Lintin (121.918) and William Dunlop (121.249) were also quickening their pace.
However, it was Harrison who was making all the headlines on his fourth lap and he flashed across the line at 125.797mph to go to the top of the leaderboard although Michael Dunlop was only half a second slower at 125.741mph. Kneen was another rider to post an impressive fourth lap as he improved to 124.703mph to go fourth quickest with Hutchinson setting his first 120mph+ lap of TT2018 with 121.327mph.
Lintin was also flying having gone back out on his Lightweight machine and his lap of 119.908mph put him some 23 seconds clear of second-placed McGee. The Southern Irishman was eventually bumped back down to third though as Michael Dunlop lapped at 118.952mph on the Paton. But Lintin left it late to go even quicker still at 120.660mph only for Michael Dunlop to upstage that with his 120.875mph lap, which was just inside James Hillier’s lap record from 2015.
The newcomers also impressed during the course of the evening and although Lyon was initially the quickest at 114.793mph on his Honda Superbike, he was upstaged by Todd who posted a speed of 116.044mph on his Superstock mount. Not to be out done though, Lyon went quicker still, this time on his 600cc Yamaha at 116.45mph.
The sidecar newcomers also had their speed controlled lap at the head of the field with John Holden, Tony Baker and Dave Molyneux leading Francois Leblond/Marlene Couillard, John Saunders/James Saunders, Darryl Rayner/Wendy Campbell, Brian Alflatt/Aaron Gorman, Paul Leglise/Ben McBride, John Shipley/Andrew Haynes and Mike Roscher/Shaun Parker around.
Japan’s Masayuki Yamanaka was reported to be off in the Supersport session at Whitegates but after being assessed at Ramsey Cottage Hospital and transferred by airmed to Nobles, he was reported to have sustained a minor ankle injury.
Monday’s schedule with open up with the first appearance of the Superbikes and Superstock machines at 18.20 with Supersport and Newcomers except Lightweight also part of the session. At 19.25 it will be the turn of the Supersport, Lightweight and Newcomers all classes before the sidecars open their qualifying programme at 20.00.
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The Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team are aiming to get their season back on track this weekend as Leon Camier and Jake Gagne prepare to take on the fast and furious Donington Park circuit for round 6 of the FIM World Superbike Championship.
A rigorous recovery regime following his accident in round 3 wasn’t enough to allow Camier to race at the previous round at Imola, however following another two weeks of treatment, the British star is in better physical condition heading into this weekend. Camier is hopeful of completing the whole race weekend, however the real test to gauge his fitness will come during Friday’s Free Practice sessions around the 4 kilometre (2.49 mile) long Donington circuit.
Fronting the other Fireblade, Jake Gagne is facing the challenge of yet again visiting a circuit he hasn’t raced at previously, however the American rookie has proven this season that he is a quick learner on the CBR1000RR Fireblade SP2 and he aims to be back in the points this weekend.
The Donington Park Circuit is a track of two distinct halves, with the first section comprising fast, flowing corners and elevation changes through sections such as Hollywood and the Craner Curves, while the second half is exemplified by flatter, tighter sections like the Fogarty Esses and Melbourne Hairpin.
Action starts at the Donington WorldSBK round with Free Practice 1 at 0945 local time (GMT +1) on Friday with Race 1 on Saturday starting at 1315 on Saturday and 1300 on Sunday.
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Legendary UK band Reef will bring the 2018 Isle of Man TT Races fuelled by Monster Energy to a close on Friday 8th of June with a rousing concert set to take place in the heart of the TT Races Paddock. Reef burst onto the music scene in 1995, with their debut album ‘Replenish’ achieving Gold status in the UK during the peak of the Britpop era. This was followed up by the even more successful ‘Glow’ which went to Number 1 in the UK album chart on its way to going Platinum and featuring the hit single ‘Place Your hands’.
Another two studio albums followed alongside regular appearances at the UK’s leading festivals including Glastonbury, Reading Festival and the Isle of White Festival. Consisting of Gary Stringer on vocals, Jesse Wood on guitar, Jack Bessant on bass and Dominic Greensmith on drums, the band released a fifth studio album earlier this month to critical acclaim and featuring new single ‘My Sweet Love’ starring guest vocalist Sheryl Crowe coming off the back of a sell-out UK tour.
Reef are currently back on the road as part of another sell out UK tour; Britpop must be Destroyed, alongside The Wildhearts and Terrorvision. Their headline Senior TT performance is not the first time that Reef have overlapped with the legendary Isle of Man TT motorcycle race. Their track ‘Mellow’ from debut album ‘Replenish’ featured on the 2011 documentary film ‘TT3D – Closer to the Edge’.
Reef’s concert will take place in the Official Hospitality Unit in the heart of the TT Paddock. The venue is undoubtedly more intimate than many of the bands’ appearances to date with tickets limited to five hundred.
Tickets go on sale at 0900hrs on Monday 21st May via iomtt.com or by calling 00 44 (0) 1624 640011. Tickets are priced at £45.00
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