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Category: IOM TT - Manx Grand Prix
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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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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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