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Category: IOM TT - Manx Grand Prix
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The six-lap Superbike race at the Isle of Man TT came to an early end for Honda Racing and Guy Martin on Sunday afternoon, after a crash on the opening lap saw the team out of contention.
With near-perfect conditions around the 37.73-mile Mountain course the rescheduled race got underway at 2pm. However it wasn’t meant to be after a false neutral caused Martin to crash out of the running at Doran’s Bend, just before the first sector at Glen Helen.
Walking away from the incident, Martin is OK, but has some swelling to his wrist, so sat out of TT Zero practice that evening. With limited track time due to bad weather affecting practice sessions last week, this is another blow to Honda’s TT, where track time for the all-new Fireblade is vital.
The team will now regroup and prepare for Wednesday’s Senior TT practice, ahead of the final blue-riband race on Friday 9th June.
Click here to view full results & standing
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Ben and Tom Birchall took a record breaking Sure Formula Two Sidecar race win on Monday afternoon at the 2017 Isle of Man TT Races with the Mansfield brothers taking their fifth TT victory and setting a new outright lap record of 117.119mph.
Their eventual winning margin over John Holden/Lee Cain was 25.6s with Dave Molyneux/Dan Sayle holding onto third as the weather closed in on the final lap. It was the Manxman’s 30th podium in his 50th TT start.
The Birchalls made their intentions clear from the outset and opened up a 3.4s lead over Holden/Cain through Glen Helen on the opening lap with Molyneux/Sayle a further second behind in third. The Founds brothers, Alan and Pete, with Jake Lowther and Jevan Walmsley in the respective chairs, were occupying fourth and fifth as Tim Reeves/Mark Wilkes held sixth.
Throughout the lap, the Birchalls extended their advantage and an opening lap of 115.965mph gave them a 12s lead over Holden/Cain with Molyneux/Sayle holding station in third. Founds/Lowther were only 1.6s behind in fourth but Reeves/Wilkes had relegated Founds/Walmsley to sixth.
On lap two, it was clear the Birchalls were really piling on the pressure as their lead increased at each and every timing points and, sure enough, they flashed across the line at the end of the second lap with a new lap record of 117.119mph, the first ever 117mph+ lap by a sidecar.
Holden/Cain were almost 25s in arrears but over nine seconds clear of Molyneux/Sayle with the Manx pairing 7.6s ahead of Founds/Lowther.
With just one lap of the Mountain Course to go, the Birchalls were able to ride to their signals and with some drizzle falling on the Mountain, they brought the IEG Racing machine home for yet another TT victory.
Their eventual winning margin over Holden/Cain was 25.6s and although Molyneux/Sayle came under extreme pressure from Founds/Lowther, largely due to Sayle suffering damage to his ribs during the course of the race, they held on for yet another TT podium.
Reeves/Wilkes took fifth from Founds/Walmsley with Conrad Harrison/Andy Winkle, Tony Baker/Fiona Baker-Holden, Karl Bennett/Maxime Vasseur and Wayne Lockey/Mark Sayers completing the top ten.
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Ian Hutchinson took his 15th victory at the Isle of Man TT races fuelled by Monster Energy when he took a thrilling RST Superbike race on Sunday afternoon by five seconds from Peter Hickman, after Hickman had closed the gap down to 1.6s on the final lap.
Hutchinson’s final run over the Mountain on the Tyco BMW saw him edge clear from Hickman’s Smiths Racing machine, who claimed his maiden TT podium, with early race leader Dean Harrison taking third.
James Hillier (JG Speedfit Kawasaki) led at Glen Helen on the opening lap by 0.8s from Harrison with Hutchinson and Michael Dunlop tied for third but on the run to Ramsey Hairpin, Harrison was 1.3s quicker to turn his deficit into a lead of 0.5s. Dunlop was now in third, 0.7s behind Hillier, with Hutchinson, Hickman and Conor Cummins completing the top six. The returning Guy Martin on the Honda Racing machine was out though having crashed, fortunately without injury, at Doran’s Bend.
By the Bungalow, Dunlop was now in the lead and with an opening lap of 131.135mph he led Harrison by 1.8s. Harrison in turn was only half a second ahead of Hillier with Hutchinson and Hickman holding onto fourth and fifth. The leading five were all above 130mph with Dan Kneen up to sixth on the opening lap.
Second time around and Dunlop still led at Glen Helen but Harrison was quicker over the first nine miles to reduce the gap to 1.4s and by the time the riders passed through Ballaugh, he was leading Hillier by 5.3s with Dunlop and the Bennetts Suzuki out after retiring at Handley’s.
At Ramsey, Harrison’s extended his lead to 7.5s but Hutchinson was now up into second although he was only 0.4s clear of Hillier and at the Bungalow the latter had turned the tables, also reducing Harrison’s lead to 6.5s.
A second lap speed of 130.907mph meant Harrison’s lead was 5.4s at the pit stop with Hillier still in second and 1.6s clear of new third placed man Hickman. Hutchinson had dropped back to fourth but Hillier lost time getting away. The Manx pairing of Cummins and Kneen were now in fifth and sixth but they too had trouble at the pits with Cummins having a lengthy stop and Kneen picking up a 30s speeding penalty.
Early on the third lap, the leaderboard read Harrison, Hutchinson, Hickman and Hillier as Kneen dropped back to ninth and Cummins 17th and that meant David Johnson moved up to fifth on the Norton and Michael Rutter sixth.
By half race distance, Hutchinson led for the first time but only by 0.4s and only ten and a half seconds covered the top four with Hickman and Hillier holding station in third and fourth. Johnson and Rutter were still in fifth and sixth as Kneen, Bruce Anstey, William Dunlop and Brookes completed the top ten.
On lap four, there was little between the leaders. Harrison moved back into the lead at Glen Helen by 0.6s, the same margin at the next point through Ballaugh. However, by Ramsey Hutchinson was marginally back in front with just 0.07s separating the leading pair. Hickman was only five seconds further back in third but Anstey stopped at Ramsey hairpin before continuing and Steve Mercer and Gary Johnson were out at Cruickshanks and Sulby Bridge respectively.
Coming into the pits at the end of lap four and there was still only ten seconds covering the leading quartet but Hutchinson’s prowess up and down the Mountain gave him a 4s lead and it was now Hickman in second. His gap to Harrison was only 1.6s with Hillier a further four seconds back in fourth.
The pit stops saw Hutchinson lead with a 10s lead over Hickman but Hillier was back up to third with Harrison losing time and dropping back to fourth. Indeed, Hillier was up to second at Glen Helen as he circulated on the road with Hutchinson and the latter’s lead had risen considerably to 9.5s. Two more retirements though were Cummins and last year’s Privateer’s Champion Dan Hegarty.
Going into the final lap, Hutchinson still led but the gap to Hickman was only 7.9s at Glen Helen and by Ballaugh it was only 2.5s. Harrison was now in third as Hillier experienced fuel problems and the thrilling race still saw just 9.5s split the top four.
Hickman had reduced the gap further still at Ramsey Hairpin to 1.6s and it was all going to come down to the final run up and down the Mountain. And with a final lap of 130.738mph, it was Hutchinson who prevailed by 5s despite Hickman the quicker over the final 37.73 miles at 131.103mph.
Harrison claimed third ahead of Hillier with Kneen overcoming his pit lane penalty to take fifth from Rutter albeit by only 0.135s. Johnson, Brookes, William Dunlop and Martin Jessopp completed the top ten.
Horst Saiger was the first privateer home in 11th ahead of Sam West (12th) and Philip Crowe (14th).
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Despite weather conditions affecting practice sessions at the Isle of Man TT, the Honda Racing team is making progress with its only rider Guy Martin at the 37.73-mile course, ahead of tomorrow’s six-lap Superbike TT race.
The opening week of practice was disrupted with four of the scheduled practice sessions cancelled due to wet weather affecting play. The lack of track time has resulted in Martin having only completed nine laps of the Mountain course, ahead of the rescheduled Superbike race.
The lack of crucial track time has affected the Honda Racing team with the all-new Fireblade, as well as Martin, who is making his return to racing. The team has been working hard with Martin to find a setting he’s comfortable with, but limited time aboard the CBR has made matters difficult.
The six-lap RST Superbike TT has been rescheduled and is due to take place tomorrow (Sunday 4 June) at 1400.
Guy Martin
I am enjoying being back at the TT; the first night we were able to practice reminded me why I go racing, the course out there really is something else! We haven’t had the best of starts with the weather and we really needed some more track time. We are making progress and I have the best team for the job. We just have to see what tomorrow now brings and I’m looking forward to giving it a good go!
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Michael Dunlop has thrown down the gauntlet ahead of tomorrow’s RST Superbike race at the 2017 Isle of Man TT Races, fuelled by Monster Energy, with a lap of 131.062mph in Saturday morning’s qualifying session.
After the session Michael Dunlop said:
"I'm happy to do the lap, but we have suffered with the lack of track time and we're still working on setup. It's the first time this bike has been round here, so we've been changing lots of things each time we go out. The time's good but we've got to ride at that pace for six laps tomorrow, so we'll see how we go."
After a slight delay due to a medical issue at Glen Lough, the morning practice session got underway at 10.54am with David Johnson and Ian Hutchinson leading the field away on their Superbikes followed by James Hillier, Michael Rutter, Gary Johnson and Dean Harrison.
Conditions all around the 37.73-mile Mountain Course were ideal and Hutchinson was first to complete a lap on the Tyco BMW at 129.89mph although this was upstaged by Dunlop’s 131mph+ lap on the Bennetts Suzuki.
Dan Kneen was also quicker than Hutchinson with Peter Hickman and Harrison the only other riders above 129mph. Dunlop wasn’t able to improve upon his lap second time around but Hickman went second quickest on the Smiths Racing BMW with a lap of 130.629mph.
Hutchinson moved up to third with 130.327mph but Kneen was only three hundredths of a second behind with a lap of 130.324mph, which was his quickest ever lap of the Mountain Course, albeit unofficially. Michael Rutter (Bathams/SMT Racing BMW) was the fifth and final rider to break the 130mph barrier with Bruce Anstey and James Hillier getting into the 129s.
David Johnson and Josh Brookes both lapped at just under 127mph on the Nortons whilst impressive laps were recorded by, among others, Derek Sheils, Jamie Coward, Phil Crowe and Andrew Dudgeon.
As the session wore on, the riders constantly pitted to either make changes to their Superbike or switch to their Supersport or Superstock machines and Lee Johnston was quickest in both of the latter. However, he crashed out towards the end of the session at Greeba Castle, sustaining minor injuries, and the session came to an early end. It was later reported that Johnston would be transferred to Liverpool for further assessment and treatment. Joe Akroyd on his Superstock machine was reported off at Glentramman and was also transferred to Liverpool while Danny Webb sustained a shoulder injury in an incident at Laurel Bank.
After a break for Sidecar qualifying, the solo’s were back on track at 2.20pm with a session for the Supersport and Lightweight machines but the session was soon red flagged after an incident involving Paul Jordan and Bjorn Gunnarsson at Sarah’s Cottage. Both were taken to Nobles Hospital with Jordan sustaining a wrist injury and Gunnarsson complaining of neck pains but both were later discharged.
At 3.25pm, the action resumed and William Dunlop was quickest out the blocks with a lap of 125.297mph to go to the top of the Supersport leaderboard. Dean Harrison wasn’t far behind with 125.188mph with Ian Hutchinson, James Hillier and Peter Hickman also over 124mph.
However, the session was stopped due to a non-racing incident at Union Mills eventually restarting just after 4pm.
Hutchinson went slightly quicker to maintain his third place with Gary Johnson improving to 123.336mph and seventh overall. A superb performance came from newcomer Adam McLean with a lap of 120.499mph whilst fellow debutante Joey Thompson also improved, his best lap being 117.287mph.
In the Lightweight class, Martin Jessopp set the fastest lap of the week with a speed of 116.535mph on the Riders Motorcycles Kawasaki. 2015 and 2016 winner Ivan Lintin was less than half a second behind in second with Hickman’s final lap of 116.239mph seeing him jump up to third on the KMR/IEG Kawasaki.
Dan Cooper also lapped in excess of 116mph to place fourth ahead of Stefano Bonetti with Michael Dunlop putting in his first laps of the week on the McAdoo Racing Kawasaki to go sixth at 115.572mph. Gary Johnson, Josh Brookes and James Cowton were the other riders to lap at more than 115mph whilst McLean was again flying in tenth.
Tomorrow’s schedule, the first race day of the 2017 Isle of Man TT Races fuelled by Monster Energy is as follows:
12.45 - Road closed Barrule Park, Ramsey to Bungalow
13.00 - Road closed Bungalow to Creg Ny Baa
13.30 - Roads closed rest of the course
14.00 - RST Superbike Race (6 laps)
16.25 - Sidecar Qualifying (1 lap)
16.40 - TT Zero Qualifying (1 lap)
17.30 - Roads scheduled to be open except mountain section
18.30 - Roads scheduled to be open around the course
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