DUNLOP WINS HIS THIRD TT RACE IN MONSTER ENERGY SUPERSPORT 2 THRILLER Michael Dunlop took his third TT win on Wednesday evening when he won the second Monster Energy Supersport race by 13 seconds from Cameron Donald. The Ard na Mara Homes/McAdoo Racing rider took over the lead halfway round the first lap when brother William retired and he gradually pulled away from Cameron Donald who took his third runner-up spot of the week. The battle for third went all the way to the chequered flag though and it was Ryan Farquhar who got the better of Bruce Anstey by just one hundredth of a second. The decision to hold the race later in the evening clearly paid dividends as the clouds gave way to clear blue skies and sunshine although it did present its usual hazard of bright sun from the Union Mills to Ballacraine section. Lack of adhesion flags were also being displayed at Glen Helen and Governor’s Bridge where a few damp patches remained. It was 6.25pm when John McGuinness headed off down Bray Hill but at Glen Helen it was William Dunlop who led, the Wilson Craig Honda rider keen to improve upon his third place of two days ago. He led Michael by a healthy 2.6s with Donald a second back in third and he in turn held the same lead over the fast starting James Hillier. Anstey and McGuinness held onto fifth and sixth but Gary Johnson was in trouble and he was later given as a retirement at Ballaugh. William Dunlop didn’t even get that far though retiring at Kirk Michael and with an opening lap of 124.391mph, Michael’s lead over Donald was 5.49s. Anstey was six seconds back in third although he was only 2.06s clear of team-mate McGuinness. Farquhar was up to fifth but there was little to choose between him, Hillier and Guy Martin. Ian Hutchinson and the exciting youngsters Dan Cooper and Dean Harrison rounded out the top ten. Dunlop extended his lead over Donald to seven seconds at Glen Helen on the second lap with the same gap back to Anstey in third and at the end of the lap, the leading two were keeping each other in check. Meanwhile, Farquhar had opened up a gap over Hillier and was now closing in on McGuinness for fourth. The Australian Donald reduced Dunlop’s lead to 6.5s at Ramsey on the third lap and he was now leading on the road having overhauled both Farquhar and McGuinness. The KMR Kawasaki rider sat with the Honda rider and it enabled him to get the better of not only McGuinness but also Anstey who he had now relegated to fourth. It was still close though with just 0.46s between them. At the head of the field, Dunlop responded to his signals and didn’t allow Donald to get any closer. Indeed, with the fastest lap of the race 125.629mph, he extended his lead throughout the final lap to take his second Supersport win and third TT win in total, his eventual winning margin being 13.26s. Donald was secure in second but Farquhar had to race all the way to the bitter end and he got the better of Anstey for the final podium spot by the tiny amount of 0.01s. McGuinness had to settle for fifth on this occasion and Ian Hutchinson came through for sixth, the Swan Yamaha rider getting stronger as the race progressed. That meant that Hillier and Martin were in seventh and eighth with Dan Stewart and Dan Cooper rounding out the top ten, the latter scoring his best ever TT result. The results mean there’s everything to play for in the TT Rider’s Championship with just 8 points now separating McGuinness (74), Anstey (67) and Donald (66). However, the race for the Privateer’s Championship has now been decided with Stewart leading on an unassailable 83 points. The battle for second is wide open though with Cooper on 44 and Stefano Bonetti on 42 currently occupying second and third. More, from a press release issued by KMR Kawasaki: Fantastic Farquhar notches up another TT podium Ryan Farquhar took his second successive podium finish at the 2012 Isle of Man TT races on Wednesday when he finished in a fantastic third place in the 4-lap Supersport race. The KMR Kawasaki rider had a race long battle with the Padgetts Honda duo of Bruce Anstey and John McGuinness and it was Ryan who prevailed with his margin over Anstey just 0.01s after 150 miles of hard racing over the Mountain Course. Having been scheduled to get underway at 10.45am, weather problems resulted in a number of changes to the day’s programme and it was 6.25pm when the 4-lap race finally started but when it did, the Island was blessed with clear blue skies and warm sunshine although a number of damp patches did remain. Starting at number two again, a solid first lap of 122.049mph placed Ryan in fifth place but with a quicker lap of 124.356mph second time around, he closed to within three seconds of fourth placed John McGuinness. On the third lap, Ryan was overtaken on the road by Cameron Donald and the duo then caught McGuinness, and such was their pace, Ryan was now elevated to third. The trio circulated in close formation for the final 37.73-miles but Ryan had to race hard right up until the very end as there was never more than a second between him and new fourth placed rider Bruce Anstey. Ryan overtook Donald on the road, making a final charge to the chequered flag and with his fastest ever lap on a 600cc machine at the TT – 124.928mph – he held on to his podium place, his 12th at the TT in total. Speaking later, a delighted Ryan said; “I certainly wasn’t expecting a podium in the Supersport class at this year’s TT so be sitting here now in third place is absolutely brilliant. The race was going well and I would certainly have been happy with fifth but I could see from my signals that it was close between Bruce, John and myself so I kept pushing as hard as I could. When Cameron came past, I got into his slipstream and it towed me along a fair bit. I was having to take some wider, sweeping lines just to stay with him but it was great fun and Cameron never put a wheel wrong – he was as safe as houses and I could have ridden with him like that all day. Towards the end of the final lap, I could see how close it was for the final podium spot so I got by him and just rode as hard as I could over the final few miles. One hundredth of a second was ridiculously close but I’m delighted that it went in my favour on this occasion. I’ve got two more races to go so let’s hope the week ends on a high note.” Ryan has two races on Friday with the 3-lap Lightweight race giving him a great opportunity of success on the ER6 Kawasaki, especially as he was quickest in practice. He’ll also be in action in the 6-lap Senior race.