Category: IOM TT - Manx Grand Prix

1. DUNLOP AT THE DOUBLE AS HE TAKES HIS SECOND TT WIN

   Posted on 6:37pm Tuesday 3rd Jun 2014

   Michael Dunlop took his ninth TT victory when he comfortably won the RL 360 Superstock race giving BMW their second win in four days. Riding the MD Racing machine, Dunlop faced a serious challenge from Monster Energy Supersport 1 race winner Gary Johnson but the Lincolnshire man crashed out on the run up to the Waterworks on the opening lap.

   From that point Dunlop was able to maintain his lead over second placed Dean Harrison and eventually came home 20.1s clear of the RC Express Racing by MSS Performance rider with Bruce Anstey taking third for Valvoline Racing/Padgetts Honda.

   Dunlop was quickest to Glen Helen on lap one but it was close as only 0.5s covered the top four riders with Harrison, Johnson and James Hillier all in touch with the Ballymoney man. By Ramsey, Johnson had moved up to second but his challenge came to an abrupt end just a few hundred yards up from the hairpin. He was reported conscious but with fractures and taken by airmed to Nobles Hospital.

   As the riders flashed through the grandstand for the first time, Dunlop’s opening lap of 129.588mph gave him a 6.7s lead over Harrison with Anstey now up to third and Hillier still holding onto fourth. Conor Cummins and Guy Martin rounded out the top six.

   On lap two, Dunlop continued to increase his advantage but Harrison was keeping him honest although the margin had more than doubled as they came into refuel, the gap now just under 13 seconds as Dunlop set the fastest lap of the race at 129.778mph. Anstey continued to hold onto third but Cummins, Martin and Michael Rutter had all overhauled Hillier though who had slipped back to seventh.

   Harrison appeared to lose time at the pit stop but that was clearly not the case as he’d brought Dunlop’s lead down to nine seconds at Glen Helen on the third lap although hopes of reducing it further soon evaporated as the Northern Irishman had moved it back up to 18s by the end of the lap. One rider out of luck though was Guy Martin who retired at Parliament Square.

   Using his pit boards to control the race in the closing stages, Dunlop duly came home for his third win in the Superstock race and, uniquely, on a third different bike manufacturer while it also extended his lead at the top of the Joey Dunlop Championship table. Harrison equalled his best ever result in second, repeating the runner-up spot in last year’s Lightweight race, with Anstey comfortable in third for the entire race.

   The battle for fourth was close throughout though and going into the final lap, just 2.7s separated fourth to seventh and in the end it went to Australian David Johnson, comfortably his best ever TT result after a brilliant ride although it was tight - just 0.8s ahead of Cummins, who lost time at his pit stop when the bike refused to fire up. Lee Johnston had his best ever result as well as he finished sixth only 0.2s clear of Michael Rutter whose solid week continued.

   Dan Kneen had another good ride, finishing in eighth place while Peter Hickman took a brilliant ninth place to be both the first newcomer and first privateer home with John McGuinness completing the top ten. Hickman increased his personal best lap to 126.545mph.

   Horst Saiger was the second privateer home in 13th just ahead of Russ Mountford, James Cowton and Ivan Lintin. Lintin's 15th place maintaining his lead in the TT Privateer’s Championship with 56 points, six ahead of Hickman.

   Joe Faragher was taken by Airmed to Nobles hospital following an incident at Joey's and reported to have sustained fractures.

2. GARY JOHNSON IN THRILLING TT TRIUMPH

   Posted on 8:28am Tuesday 3rd Jun 2014

   Gary Johnson took his second TT race win after coming home just 1.5s clear of Bruce Anstey in a thrilling opening Monster Energy Supersport race. Riding the Smiths Triumph, Johnson grabbed the lead on the opening lap. However, the gap to Anstey constantly fluctuated and although the difference was just 0.011s at Cronk ny Mona on the final lap, the Lincolnshire rider grabbed the win to give the British manufacturer their first win since Anstey’s in the same race in 2003.

   The race was delayed by three hours due to overnight rain and fog before it finally got underway at 2.05pm and the theme for the race was set at Glen Helen on the opening lap as only 0.009s separated Johnson and Anstey with Dunlop only a further half second back. Dean Harrison was holding onto a good fourth, a position he held jointly with Guy Martin whilst Conor Cummins slotted into sixth.

   As the lap progressed, Johnson held the lead by the smallest of margins and with an opening lap of 125.766mph, he was 1.6s clear of Anstey as they headed out onto lap two. Dunlop was still in third but had slipped to three seconds behind with Harrison, Cummins and Martin still filling the top six positions.

   By Glen Helen second time around, Anstey was ahead for the first time, albeit by only 0.8s, but it was short lived as Johnson again held the lead by Ramsey his lead now 0.7s. Dunlop had also closed in and only 1.5s separated the three riders as they headed up over the Mountain.

   Johnson and the Triumph were up and down quickest and he came into the pits with the fastest lap of the race – 126.732mph - and a lead of 2.4s as Dunlop also fell back, 3.7s behind Anstey. As has happened in so many races though, the Valvoline Racing/Padgetts Honda crew turned their man round the quickest and the gap at Glen Helen on the third lap was back down to just a third of a second.

   The lead had extended to 3.8s by Ramsey, Johnson again having a great run from Glen Helen, but with a bit of rain falling over the Mountain, Anstey had brought the gap down to 2.8s down as the riders headed out onto their final lap.

   Johnson again proved the quickest to Glen Helen, almost doubling his lead, but Anstey was on a charge and the gap continued to fall throughout the lap. Down to 2.3s at Ramsey Hairpin, the two could barely be separated at the Bungalow or Cronk ny Mona but Johnson wasn’t to be denied and he came home for his second TT win, three years after he won the second Supersport race in 2011.

   Dunlop was secure in third but the battle for fourth was in doubt for much of the final lap but when Cummins went out at Ginger Hall, it allowed Harrison to take the position. Team-mates William Dunlop and Guy Martin filled fifth and sixth with James Hillier, Lee Johnston, Michael Rutter and Keith Amor completing the top ten.

   Ivan Lintin took an excellent 12th place and was the first privateer home, and he’s surged clear in the TT Privateer’s Championship after the two races held so far. James Cowton (18th), none the worse for his spill in Saturday’s Superbike race, and Russ Mountford (19th) were the second and third privateer’s to finish.

    

3. Stunning Performance from Dunlop as he smashes lap and race record

   Posted on 4:56pm Monday 2nd Jun 2014

   Michael Dunlop took his eighth TT victory when he won Saturday’s 6-lap Dainese Superbike race in record-breaking style. The BMW Motorrad rider took control from early race leader James Hillier at Ballaugh on the opening lap and, aided by two laps inside the old outright lap record, he surged clear and was able to control the race in the closing stages to take the win by 20.5s from Guy Martin (Tyco Suzuki) with Conor Cummins (Honda Racing) in third.

   There was also sensational news on the final lap when Bruce Anstey, outside the top ten on the opening lap after overshooting the Nook, tore round the Mountain Course on the Valvoline Racing/Padgetts Honda to become the first man ever to have lapped at more than 132mph with a final lap of 132.298mph.

   Hillier was quickest to Glen Helen on the opening lap on his Quattro Plant/Muc-Off Kawasaki and he led Dunlop by one second with Martin, a rapid starting Dean Harrison (RC Express Racing Kawasaki), Gary Johnson (Lincs Lifting Honda) and Dan Kneen (Cookstown BE Racing Suzuki) close behind.

   As the lap unfolded though, it was clear Dunlop was charging and having overhauled Hillier at Ballaugh, he increased his lead all round the opening 37 and ¾ miles and with a new lap record of 131.730mph, he rocketed clear with Martin 9.4s in arrears. The leaderboard was constantly changing and Cummins moved up into third with Hillier, Harrison and John McGuinness completing the top six with Johnson reported retired at Creg ny Baa.

   Dunlop was in determined mood and was closing in on Martin, who had started twenty seconds ahead of him on the road, the gap between the duo after two laps almost 17 seconds as the Ballymoney man went quicker still at 131.890mph. The Tyco Suzuki rider was six seconds clear of Cummins as they took their first pit stop with Michael Rutter up to fourth on the Bathams BMW.

   Dunlop, Martin, McGuinness and Hillier were circulating in close formation on the roads but Dunlop’s lead was increasing and he was first into the pits at the end of lap four, the gap to Martin now a very healthy looking 25s after another 130mph+ lap. Martin was coming under pressure from Cummins though with his advantage now under five seconds for the first time while Rutter was still in fourth with McGuinness and William Dunlop completing the top six.

   As the race went into it’s final third, Dunlop and Martin were still together on the roads and the 25-year rode to his signals to control the race for his eighth victory and BMW’s first ‘big bike’ win since German Georg Meier won the 1939 Senior.

   Martin took his 14th podium in second with Cummins three seconds further back after doing his all on the final lap. Anstey really put the hammer down after his early race mishap and his lap of 132.298mph was some six seconds quicker than McGuinness’ lap set in the same race last year

   Rutter ensured it was a good day for BMW with a strong fifth with William Dunlop making a late charge to overhaul McGuinness on the final lap, the gap between the pair just 0.8s after six hard laps.

   The 20-times winner had to settle for seventh with his wrist injury, as expected, unable to run the pace for six entire laps but it was a solid effort by the Morecambe man. Harrison and Hillier both dropped back as the race wore on, finishing in eighth and ninth with Josh Brookes completing the top ten.

   Newcomer Peter Hickman had a brilliant ride into 14th place with his final lap of 126.195mph making him the second fastest newcomer in TT history and it also meant he was the first privateer home with Ivan Lintin (17th) and Russ Mountford (18th) second and third in the early TT Privateer’s Championship.

   Debutantes Martin Jessopp and Danny Webb both picked up bronze replicas in 26th and 37th also posting their best laps of the event so far at 123.470 and 120.508 respectively.

4. ANSTEY IGNITES THE SES TT ZERO WITH FIRST COMPLETED LAP

   Posted on 8:54am Sunday 1st Jun 2014

   New Zealander Bruce Anstey continued his form around the Mountain Course in tonight's SES TT Zero 2nd Qualifying session. The New Zealand rider followed up his stunning outright lap record around the Mountain Course with an unofficial lap record for the TT Zero class, posting a time of 112.355mph (20:08.914).

   His Mugen teammate also took the opportunity for a lap and was marginally outside Michael Rutter's lap record (109.675) set last year. Robert Wilson (Sarloea Racing), Mark Miller (Vercarmoto) and George Spence (Kingston) also completed electric bike laps this evening.

   Earlier in the evening, Clerk of the Course Gary Thompson opted to give the riders a chance to practice on their Superstock machines ahead of Monday's race as well as their Supersport and Lightweight and a number of riders took up the option.

   Guy Martin again emphasised his quality after his Superbike podium with a 127.22 mph lap in the Superstock qualifying while Bruce Anstey, Lee Johnson and Michael Dunlop were all over 126 mph.

   In the Lightweight qualifying session Ryan Farquhar was the fastest on the night with a lap of 116.84, still outside Ivan Lintin's time from Tuesday evening, with Olie Linsdell powering the stunning Paton to a similar speed (116.23).

   Gary Johnson posted a pair of quick laps in the Supersport class (125.72 and 125.16) with Josh Brookes, William Dunlop, Ian Hutchinson, MIchael Rutter and Dean Harrison all posting 123mph+ laps

5. Conor Cummins secures Superbike TT podium

   Posted on 8:08am Sunday 1st Jun 2014

   The 2014 Isle of Man TT races got underway today with Honda Racing’s Conor Cummins securing a podium finish in the opening Superbike race. His team-mate John McGuinness – who is still recovering from a broken scaphoid – completed the six-lap outing in seventh place.

   The race began at 11am in warm and sunny conditions and by the end of lap one, Cummins was in third aboard his Honda Racing CBR1000RR Fireblade SP machine. A smooth and confident performance saw the Manxman putting serious pressure on second-placed rider Guy Martin, with a gap of less than a second at the halfway stage.

   Cummins eventually crossed the line just under three seconds behind Martin to take his fifth TT podium – his first on a Superbike since a serious crash on the Mountain course in 2010, which threatened to end his road racing career.

   McGuinness, meanwhile, dug deep and got his head down, climbing from eighth to fifth by lap four. The 20-time Isle of Man TT winner was in the battle for fourth place until the end of the penultimate lap, when a late attack from Bruce Anstey coupled with a wave of backmarkers saw him drop down to seventh come the chequered flag.

   In what turned out to be a spectacular opener, a new outright lap record of 132.298mph was set by Bruce Anstey aboard his Padgetts Motorcycles Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade.

   The Honda Racing team will reconvene on Friday 6 June for the Senior TT.