Tag: Dean Harrison

Three for Peter Hickman at Ulster Grand Prix as Dean Harrison sets new lap record

Three for Peter Hickman at Ulster Grand Prix as Dean Harrison sets new lap record

Peter Hickman has come away from the 2017 Ulster Grand Prix as Man of the Meeting after taking three victories. It was Dean Harrison, however, who set a new lap record of 134.614mph – beating the record of 134.089mph set by Ian Hutchinson in 2016.

Hickman signified he was the man to beat in practice when he secured pole position for the Superbike, Superstock and Supersport races. He then went on to win the Dundrod 150 Superbike race although Harrison was not far behind.

First up was the Superstock race and Hickman opened his account with a 4.674 second victory over Harrison on his Smith’s BMW. Harrison and Dan Kneen were separated by just four hundredths of a second on the line, with Kneen taking a podium on his first International appearance for Tyco BMW. David Johnson finished in fourth ahead of Conor Cummins and Jamie Coward. Michael Dunlop was seventh, ahead of Ivan Lintin, Dan Cooper, and Daley Mathison.

leejohnston
Lee Johnston

Switching to his Trooper Beer Triumph, Hickman was victorious again – this time in the Supersport race. He battled with Bruce Anstey throughout the race with the winning margin just a tenth of a second. Lee Johnston was third on his return to racing following his crash at the Isle of Man TT. He was less than a second behind the leading duo. Harrison finished in fourth just ahead of William Dunlop who was riding with a wrist injury. Dunlop’s injury had led him to withdraw from the ‘big bike’ races but he put in a competitive performance for fifth ahead of his brother Michael. Cummins was seventh, Derek McGee eighth, Coward ninth and Adam McLean tenth.

There was a popular victory for Davy Morgan in the Ultra Lightweight/Lightweight race. He beat fellow paddock veteran Paul Owen by over four seconds with Callum Laidlaw coming home in third place. Race favourite Anstey retired after just a lap with Neil Kernohan also retiring. The two had stood on the top two steps of the podium in the corresponding Dundrod 150 race. David Howard and Paul Gartland were fourth and fifth respectively. In the Ultra Lightweight class Paul Robinson beat Christian Elkin and Joey Thompson. McLean was fourth and Gary Dunlop fifth.

It was Hickman and Anstey once again leading the charge in the Superbike race, with the pair switching positions throughout. It was eventually a last lap overtake which saw Anstey take the win – his 13th at Dundrod. Hickman was just two tenths behind with Harrison – along with the new lap record- in third. Kneen was once again just hundredths behind Harrison and only marginally ahead of Cummins at the chequered flag. Sheils came home in sixth place ahead of Johnson and Coward. Sam West and Mathison rounded out the top ten finishers.

The fifth race of the day – the second Supersport race – brought out the first red flag of the day following an incident. When it was restarted it proved to be another close affair with the resulting podium the same as in the first Supersport race. Hickman beat Anstey and Johnston with the margin between the top four just over a second. M Dunlop was fourth ahead of Paul Jordan, Coward, Elkin, Cooper and Cowton. Thompson finished in tenth place.

There was another new lap record, this time in the Supertwin class with Ivan Lintin winning. His 120.402mph lap beat the previous Supertwin lap record of 118.735mph. It was yet another narrow margin of victory as he beat Cooper by just two hundredths of a second. There was a podium for McLean who has impressed on the roads this year. Sheils racked up another top five finish in fourth with Elkin fifth and James Cowton sixth. Jonathan Perry and Paul Jordan were seventh and eighth respectively, ahead of Xavier Denis and Maria Costello.

kneenharrison
Kneen leads Harrison

The final race of the day – and the meeting – was the second Superbike race which promised to be another thriller. Unfortunately Hickman and Anstey were forced to retire – Hickman’s engine blew while Anstey retired to the pits – leaving Harrison, Kneen, Cummins and M Dunlop to battle it out. In the end the top three were separated by just three tenths of a second after an exhilarating race. Harrison and Kneen touched as Harrison sent a move up the inside but both continued and eventually Harrison was victorious. Kneen was second with Cummins coming home third. M Dunlop ended the day with a fourth place ahead of Sheils, Johnson and Coward. Sam West was eighth ahead of Lintin and Michael Sweeney.

 

Joey Thompson and Peter Hickman among Dundrod 150 race winners

Joey Thompson and Peter Hickman were among the race winners at this year’s Dundrod 150.

Thompson secured pole position for the Dundrod 150 National on his debut and went on to win following a three lap race. The race was red flagged and eventually declared a result, with Thompson being joined on the podium by fellow newcomers Davey Todd and Jonathan Perry.

Josh Daley was fourth – just over a second off a podium – ahead of Christian Schmitz, Michael Weldon, Glenn Walker and Kris Duncan. David Howard and Owen Graves rounded out the top ten finishers.

The race was red flagged following an incident involving two riders – later revealed to be brothers Rob and Jamie Hodson. Jamie sadly lost his life in hospital.

bruceanstey150Bruce Anstey romped to an impressive victory in the Lightweight class, beating Neil Kernohan by over 38 seconds. Davy Morgan was third ahead of Callum Laidlaw and Paul Owen. In the same race Paul Robinson won the Ultra Lightweight class beating Christian Elkin and Adam McLean. His advantage over Elkin at the line was just half a second.

The Challenge race was cancelled following two red flag incidents – one involving Gavin Lupton who is in a stable but critical condition in hospital.

Peterhickman150In the Superbike race it was Peter Hickman – who had dominated the practice sessions and secured pole position for Saturday’s Superstock, Superbike and Supersport races – who was victorious. Dean Harrison finished just over a second further back in second ahead of Anstey. Anstey and Dan Kneen – who finished fourth – were separated by mere hundredths of a second on the line. Michael Dunlop was fifth ahead of Lee Johnston, Derek Sheils, David Johnson, Daley Mathison, and Daniel Cooper.

Dean Harrison on form at Cock O’The North

Following his domination at the Spring Cup in April, Dean Harrison was once again the man to beat at Oliver’s Mount. The Silicone Engineering rider took seven wins – including the feature race – at the Cock O’The North meeting last weekend.

Harrison opened his account with a win in the first Junior race, beating Adam McLean by eight and a half seconds. Jamie Coward joined the pair on the podium. He followed that up by winning the Solo Open and the Senior. Ivan Lintin and McLean were the podium finishers in the Solo Open race. Daley Mathison and Lintin were second and third in the Senior race. Harrison also won the second leg of both races. There were podiums for Mathison in both while Lintin and McLean were third and second in the Senior and Junior races respectively.

The Cock O’The North feature race saw Harrison cross the line just over three seconds clear of Harrison. McLean rounded off a successful weekend of racing with his fifth podium of the meeting. Coward was fourth ahead of Mick Goodings, Daniel Frear, Brian Greenfield, Darren Cooper and James Cowton.

Elsewhere Joey Thompson was victorious in both Ultra Lightweight/Lightweight races. In both races he was joined on the podium by Rhys Hardistry and Frear – Hardistry second in race one and Frear second in race two.

Lintin took the win in both Super Lightweight races. It was a narrow victory in race one, beating Cowton by just nine tenths of a second while McLean was 1.4 seconds off the winner. In the second leg the gap was smaller still – down to seven tenths – while Bradley Vicars joined the leading two on the podium.

Joining the riders winning more than one race were Steven Haddow and David Bell. Haddow won both Junior B races beating Ben Shuttlewood and Russell Brook in both. The winning margin was just over a second in both races. Bell won both Classic Superbike races. He beat Peter Boast and Daniel Ingham in both. Paul Marley won the Solo Open B race beating Haddow and Shuttlewood. Brian Greenfield beat Haddow and Marley in the Solo Open B race.

In the Sidecar class it was two out of three for the Steve and Matty Ramsden partnership. They won the second and third race. Lee Crawford and Harry Payne beat the Ramsdens by four tenths of a second in race one. John and Jake Lowther were third. In race two the Ramsdens beat the Lowthers while Conrad Harrison and Andrew Winkle joined them on the podium. This result was replicated in race three.

Michael Dunlop storms to Senior TT win

Michael Dunlop has notched up his 15th Isle of Man TT victory with a convincing with in the Senior TT.

The race was red flagged on the second lap and re-run over a four lap distance. Dunlop was able to use the stoppage to fix a problem at the rear of his bike and stormed to a 14 second victory over Peter Hickman. It was Hickman’s fifth podium of the week – from five race starts – and the second place gave him enough points to secure the Joey Dunlop TT Championship. Dean Harrison ended the race in third place for his second podium of the week.

James Hillier ended the race in fourth place just tenths of a second clear of Michael Rutter in fifth. The Norton pair of Josh Brookes and David Johnson finished sixth and seventh respectively ahead of local rider Conor Cummins. Martin Jessopp ended the race in ninth place with William Dunlop rounding out the top ten.

Outside the top ten were Jamie Coward, Dan Kneen, and Daley Mathison in 11th, 12th and 13th while Daniel Hegarty finished 14th. James Cowton ended the race in 15th ahead of Gary Johnson and Philip Crowe. Horst Saiger was 18th despite high siding at Gooseneck on lap one of the original race. Shaun Anderson and Dominic Herbertson rounded out the top 20 finishers.

Retirements from the race included Jim Hodson, Davy Morgan, Anthony Redmond, Steve Mercer and Ivan Lintin. Bruce Anstey was a retirement at the end of the second lap having been running in a podium position. The first running of the Senior was red flagged following an incident involving Ian Hutchinson at the 27th Milestone. He was airmed to Nobles conscious and was later reported to have fractured his femur.

Ian Hutchinson wins opening Superbike TT race

Ian Hutchinson has taken the first win of the week, beating Peter Hickman and Dean Harrison.

The weather has wrecked havoc with the weeks’ practice sessions but ideal conditions greeted riders for the first race of 10 this week. David Johnson led them away at 2pm for the opening Superbike race.

James Hillier took the early lead at Glen Helen, leading Harrison by just eight tenths of a second with Hutchinson third. Michael Dunlop soon got himself into contention by Ballaugh, moving into third place. He was leading the race by the Bungalow and was leading when he retired on lap two. Harrison became the new leader with Hillier second and Hutchinson third.

The first lot of pit stops took place at the end of lap two and it was the Padgetts Racing crew who completed the fastest stop – 52 seconds for Bruce Anstey. Hutchinson’s Tyco BMW crew completed their stop in 55 seconds – five seconds quicker than Harrison and Hickman who was third at the end of the second lap. The battle for the win continued between Harrison and Hutchinson before the latter took control at the Bungalow on lap four. With just seven tenths of a second his advantage over Harrison he pulled the pin and upped it to nearly ten seconds by the start of the fifth lap.

By lap five Harrison had dropped down to fourth and Hutchinson was leading Hillier and Hickman. It became a two horse race on the sixth and final lap when Hickman slashed the gap to just 2.5 seconds. The gap came down to 1.6 seconds by Ramsey but it increased from there and Hutchinson had a five second advantage by the end of the race. Hickman finished in second with Harrison returning to third place. Hillier was fourth ahead of Dan Kneen, Michael Rutter, and David Johnson. Josh Brookes, William Dunlop, and Martin Jessopp completed the top ten.

Horst Saiger came home to finish 11th ahead of Sam West, Anstey, Philip Crowe, Jamie Coward and Dan Stewart. Brian McCormack got a time penalty for exceeding pit lane speeds and finished 17th. Stefano Bonetti, Mark Parrett, and Michael Sweeney completed the top 20.

There were a number of retirements from the race including a very early one for Guy Martin who came off uninjured at Dorans on lap one. Michael Dunlop retired from the race lead on lap two while Derek Sheils, Dan Cooper and Ivan Lintin were retirements in the pits. Gary Johnson, Fabrice Miguet, and local favourite Conor Cummins also retired. Davey Lambert was involved in an incident and is in a critical condition in hospital.

TT 2017: Friday 2nd June Practice Times

Lightweight

The top 15 riders’ fastest lap times in the Lightweight practice were as follows:

  1. Stefano Bonetti – 19:34.026 – 115.694mph
  2. Peter Hickman – 19:42.602 – 114.856mph
  3. James Cowton – 19:42.800 – 114.836mph
  4. Daniel Cooper – 19:43.277 – 114.790mph
  5. Lee Johnston – 19:43.850 – 114.734mph
  6. Michael Rutter – 19:48.538 – 114.282mph
  7. Adam McLean – 20:03.561 – 112.856mph
  8. Michael Sweeney – 20:04.823 – 112.737mph
  9. Derek Sheils – 20:05.802 – 112.645mph
  10. Maria Costello – 20:16.414 – 111.663mph
  11. Rob Hodson – 20:20.743 – 111.267mph
  12. John Barton – 20:20.833 – 111.258mph
  13. Danny Webb – 20:27.862 – 110.622mph
  14. Gary Johnson – 20:28.710 – 110.545mph
  15. Barry Furber – 20:29.517 – 110.473mph

Superbike

The top 15 riders’ fastest lap times in the Superbike practice were as follows:

  1. Bruce Anstey – 17:31.199 – 129.212mph
  2. Michael Dunlop – 17:36.405 – 128.576mph
  3. Michael Rutter – 17:46.235 – 127.390mph
  4. James Hillier – 17:46.925 – 127.308mph
  5. Conor Cummins – 17:47.606 – 127.227mph
  6. Dean Harrison – 17:47.809 – 127.203mph
  7. Peter Hickman – 17:49.695 – 126.978mph
  8. Lee Johnston – 17:49.721 – 126.975mph
  9. William Dunlop – 17:57.909 – 126.011mph
  10. Dan Kneen – 17:58.477 – 125.944mph
  11. Gary Johnson – 18:00.221 – 125.741mph
  12. Ivan Lintin – 18:01.952 – 125.540mph
  13. Steve Mercer – 18:05.111 – 125.174mph
  14. Martin Jessopp – 18:07.577 – 124.890mph
  15. James Cowton – 18:11.392 – 124.454mph

Supersport

The top 15 riders’ fastest lap times in the Supersport practice were as follows:]

  1. Dean Harrison – 18:12.274 – 124.353mph
  2. Michael Dunlop – 18:21.386 – 123.325mph
  3. Ian Hutchinson – 18:22.582 – 123.191mph
  4. James Hillier – 18:24.920 – 122.930mph
  5. Conor Cummins – 18:31.513 – 122.190mph
  6. Martin Jessopp – 18:32.862 – 122.053mph
  7. Peter Hickman – 18:33.812 – 121.949mph
  8. Lee Johnston – 18:34.545 – 121.858mph
  9. Dan Kneen – 18:34.902 – 121.830mph
  10. Jamie Coward – 18:40.016 – 121.273mph
  11. William Dunlop – 18:40.025 – 121.272mph
  12. Bruce Anstey – 18:40.508 – 121.220mph
  13. Gary Johnson – 18:47.820 – 120.434mph
  14. Ivan Lintin – 18:58.003 – 119.356mph
  15. Andrew Dudgeon – 18:59.893 – 119.159mph

Superstock

The top 15 riders’ fastest lap times in the Superstock practice were as follows:

  1. Ian Hutchinson – 17:28.583 – 129.535mph
  2. Michael Rutter – 17:36.302 – 128.588mph
  3. Dean Harrison – 17:37.215 – 128.477mph
  4. Peter Hickman – 17:40.927 – 128.028mph
  5. Dan Kneen – 17:47.561 – 127.232mph
  6. Lee Johnston – 17:49.721 – 126.975mph
  7. Ivan Lintin – 18:01.952 – 125.540mph
  8. Michael Dunlop – 18:03.782 – 125.328mph
  9. Steve Mercer – 18:05.111 – 125.174mph
  10. Derek Sheils – 18:05.781 – 125.097mph
  11. James Cowton – 18:11.392 – 124.454mph
  12. Jamie Coward – 18:16.056 – 123.924mph
  13. Shaun Anderson – 18:19.549 – 123.531mph
  14. Martin Jessopp – 18:20.576 – 123.415mph
  15. Horst Saiger – 18:20.715 – 123.400mph

Sidecar

The top 10 fastest lap times in the Sidecar practice were as follows:

  1. Dave Molyneux/Daniel Sayle – 19:43.744 – 114.744mph
  2. Tim Reeves/Mark Wilkes – 19:47.824 – 114.350mph
  3. John Holden/Lee Cain – 20:11.827 – 112.085mph
  4. Karl Bennett/Maxime Vasseur – 20:40.308 – 109.512mph
  5. Alan Founds/Jake Lowther – 20:45.714 – 109.036mph
  6. Lewis Blackstock/Patrick Rosney – 20:58.256 – 107.949mph
  7. Wayne Lockey/Mark Sayers – 21:05.670 – 107.317mph
  8. Estelle Leblond/Melanie Farnier – 21:10.681 – 106.894mph
  9. Steve Ramsden/Matty Ramsden – 21:13.040 – 106.696mph
  10. Mick Alton/Chrissie Clancy Ingpen – 21:24.755 – 105.723mph

TT Zero

  1. Bruce Anstey – 20:40.209 – 109.520mph
  2. Guy Martin – 20:52.870 – 108.413mph
  3. Adam Child – 30:16.212 – 74.786mph

 

 

Alistair Seeley tops Tuesday Supersport and Superbike sessions

Alistair Seeley tops Tuesday Supersport and Superbike sessions

Alistair Seeley was the man to beat in the Tuesday Supersport and Superbike practice sessions at this year’s North West 200.

The record wins holder put his Gearlink Kawasaki on the top of the time sheets with his third lap in the Supersport class, beating Dean Harrison by 1.495 seconds. Lee Johnston was third fastest ahead of Martin Jessopp, John McGuinness, and Michael Dunlop. James Hillier, Bruce Anstey, Michael Sweeney, and Horst Saiger rounded out the top ten.

The session had been red flagged and restarted following an accident involving Chris Dixon who was transferred to the Royal Victoria Hospital with leg fractures.

  1. Alistair Seeley – 4:41.480
  2. Dean Harrison – 4:42.975 – +1.495
  3. Lee Johnston – 4:43.968 – +2.488
  4. Martin Jessopp – 4:45.063 – +4.583
  5. John McGuinness – 4:45.893 – +4.413
  6. Michael Dunlop – 4:47.344 – +5.864
  7. James Hillier – 4:47.899 – +6.419
  8. Bruce Anstey – 4:48.529 – +7.049
  9. Michael Sweeney – 4:49.452 – +7.972
  10. Horst Saiger – 4:49.908 – +8.428

Seeley backed his Supersport pace up with the fastest time in the Superbike practice as well. His best effort of 4:25.100 was 1.5 seconds faster than Michael Rutter with M Dunlop third fastest.

Ian Hutchinson was fourth fastest on the Tyco BMW while Glenn Irwin was fifth on his return to the Triangle circuit. Jessopp set the sixth fastest time of the session with McGuinness and Johnston seventh and eighth fastest respectively. Peter Hickman and Harrison were the ninth and tenth fastest riders in the session.

  1. Alistair Seeley – 4:25.100
  2. Michael Rutter – 4:26.670 – +1.570
  3. Michael Dunlop – 4:27.639 – +2.539
  4. Ian Hutchinson – 4:29.782 – +4.682
  5. Glenn Irwin – 4:30.030 – +4.930
  6. Martin Jessopp – 4:31.272 – +6.172
  7. John McGuinness – 4:32.280 – +7.180
  8. Lee Johnston – 4:32.477 – +7.377
  9. Peter Hickman – 4:33.815 – +8.715
  10. Dean Harrison – 4:34.657 – +9.557

Full Superbike Practice Results

Dean Harrison dominates Spring Cup at Oliver’s Mount

Dean Harrison was the dominant rider at this year’s Bob Smith Spring Cup at Oliver’s Mount. He backed up his hat-trick at the corresponding event last year.

The Silicone Engineering rider took 7 victories over the weekend, including the feature Spring Cup race. Other race winners at the meeting included Ivan Lintin, James Cowton and Adrian Harrison.

Harrison’s first win of the day came in the Junior A race where he started from pole position and beat Daley Mathison by 5.6 seconds. Daniel Hegarty was third with Lintin fourth and Jamie Coward fifth. It was a family affair in the Junior class with Dean’s brother Adrian Harrison winning the B race. Owen Graves was second with Stephen Degnan in third. The Harrisons won the second legs of their respective races with an identical podium from race one in the A race. The second B race saw Jamie Harris and Lewis Bramwell finish second and third.

Lee Crawford and Steve Ramsden – along with their passengers – won two races apiece in the F2 Sidecars class. Crawford won the first race along with Patrick Farrance, with Conrad Harrison with Andy Winkle second, and Dean Lindley with Robert Bell third. The second race was won by Steve and Matty Ramsden with the podium finishers from race one joining them. Crawford won the third race with Jake Lowther as passenger, beating the Ramsden duo and Greg Lambert and Julie Canipa. The Ramsdens won the fourth and final race, beating Dave Wallis and Scott Hardie, and Harrison and Winkle.

There were two legs of the Super Lightweight class and these were won by James Cowton and Ivan Lintin. The first race in the class was won by Cowton who beat Barry Furber by over ten seconds. Darren Cooper, Barry Evans and Mark Purslow completed the top five. Lintin won the second leg beating Furber and Cooper by a very comfortable margin of over 20 seconds.

Harrison backed up his Junior race victories with two Open race wins. In the first leg of the A race he beat Hegarty and Lee Johnston, with Coward and Mathison finishing fourth and fifth respectively. It was the same top five in the second leg. Joe Thompson won both of the B races beating Julian Tillotson and Lewis Bramwell. In the second B race it was Bramwell in second and Harris third, with Craig Neve and Grant Gaskell fourth and fifth.

In the Senior races there were two more victories for Harrison and he was joined on the podium once again by Hegarty and Mathison. Johnston was fourth in both with Coward fifth in the first leg and Lintin fifth in the second leg. Guy Martin raced in the Senior race – having competed at Tandragee the previous day –  and he finished in 12th place.

Elsewhere in the Ultralightweight & Lightweight class, Ian Lougher and Justin Waring shared the spoils for the Ultralightweights while Thompson won both Lightweight. In the first race Lougher was joined on the Ultralightweight podium by Waring and Ian Stanford while Thompson beat Paul Owen and Alistair Haworth in the Lightweight class. In the second leg Waring moved ahead of Lougher with Stanford third. Thompson beat Phil Stead and Nicholas Anderson in the Lightweight class. David Bell, Peter Boast, and Michael Hand completed the podium for the first Classic Superbike & F2 race. Bell beat Craig Neve and Boast in the second leg.

 

Harrison wrapped up a successful meeting by winning the Spring Cup feature race, beating Hegarty and Johnston. Mathison, Coward, Lintin, Mick Goodings, and Cowton were fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth respectively. Tom Weeden and Mark Goodings rounded out the top ten.

Dean Harrison retains Gold Cup at Scarborough

Dean Harrison – the form man at Scarborough this year – has retained the Steve Henshaw Gold Cup at Oliver’s Mount having won it for the first time in 2015.

He took three victories at the Spring Cup back in April, adding seven more at the Cock o’the North event before also winning eight times at the Barry Sheene Festival.

At the Gold Cup Harrison took six victories for Silicone Engineering Racing including the feature race.

Ivan Lintin was first up on the winner’s list, beating Dan Kneen and Daley Mathison in the first leg of the Junior A race. Harrison took the victory in the second leg having been absent in the first. Mathison and Lintin were once again on the podium.

Lintin was also victorious in the Super Lightweight class and beat James Cowton and Adam McLean in the first leg. It was an identical podium for the second leg of the class. In the Lightweight class, Paul Owen and Joe Thompson were victorious in the two races respectively. Owen beat Alistair Haworth and Paul Gartland in the first race while Thompson was victorious over Owen and Haworth in race two.

It was Harrison leading the way in both Solo Open races. In the first he raced to a 3.4 second victory over Derek Sheils with Daniel Hegarty third. Michael Dunlop and John McGuinness were fourth and fifth respectively. In the second leg it was once again just over three seconds of an advantage for Harrison as he beat Lintin and Sheils.

This was backed up with two further victories for Harrison in the Senior class. Lintin and McGuinness joined him on the podium in race one while Sheils and Paul Gartland were second and third in race two.

Harrison then led start to finish in the Steve Henshaw Gold Cup race beating Lintin and Kneen. Mathison, McGuinness and Mick Goodings were fourth, fifth and sixth respectively with Mark Goodings seventh. Tom Weeden, Cowton, and Brian Greenfield rounded out the top ten finishers. Dunlop failed to finish the race.

Davy Morgan enjoyed a successful day with victories in both Solo B races and one of the Junior B races. In both Solo B races Morgan beat Jamie Williams and Gaz Evans. It was the same podium again in the first of two Junior B races. The second was won by Williams who beat Stephen Degnan and David McConnachy.

Tim Reeves and Patrick Farrance won all three F2 Sidecar races with Steve and Matty Ramsden second in all three. David Bell beat Peter Boast and Owen in the Superbike F1 race first leg, with Paul Coward moving up to third in race two.

 

 

Michael Dunlop doubles up with Superbike win

Following his Junior race win earlier in the day, Michael Dunlop was back in the winner’s enclosure following the Superbike race at the Classic TT.

At the end of the first lap Dunlop’s lead on his Suzuki was seven seconds over Dean Harrison in second with James Hillier third. The gap increased to 10 seconds by Glen Helen on the second lap, with Harrison sitting 4.8 seconds in front of Hillier on corrected time. Dunlop’s lead increased to 13 seconds by Ballaugh, 15 seconds at Ramsey, 17 seconds at the Bungalow and 18 seconds by Cronk ny Mona. By the end of the second lap Dunlop was 18 seconds clear with Harrison eight seconds ahead of Hillier.

Dunlop pitted at the end of the second lap and broke Bruce Anstey’s Classic TT lap record of 126.261mph with 126.808mph. By the start of the third lap Dunlop’s lead was down to 2.369 seconds but increased over the course of the third and fourth laps.

The Ballymoney man’s eventual gap over the line was 15.697 seconds with Hillier 16 seconds behind Harrison in third. Michael Rutter was fourth ahead of Jamie Coward, Horst Saiger, William Dunlop and Conor Cummins. Gary Johnson and Danny Webb rounded out the top ten finishers. In 11th was Alexander Pickett – the leading privateer – with Timothee Monot 12th, Kiaran Hankin 13th, Ryan Kneen 14th and David Hewson 15th.

Several hours after the conclusion of the race a statement was released stating that “four machines have been disqualified from the final result due to technical infringements”. The four Kawasaki riders disqualified from the race were Harrison, Hillier, Coward and Saiger. This meant Rutter and William Dunlop were promoted to the podium.