HICKMAN SECURES HIS 12TH VICTORY IN CAROLE NASH SUPERTWIN TT RACE 2

Peter Hickman made it two wins in a day and 12 in total at the Isle of Man TT Races when he won a dramatic second Carole Nash Supertwin TT Race on Friday afternoon, after Michael Dunlop and Mike Browne both retired from the lead.

Riding his own PHR Performance Yamaha, Hickman came home 47.7 seconds ahead of Pierre-Yves Bian (VAS Racing Paton) and Josh Brookes (Dafabet Racing Kawasaki), both TT podium debutantes, to move alongside Kiwi Bruce Anstey on 12 TT wins.

As expected, Dunlop (SC Project Corse Paton) led through Glen Helen on the opening lap, but it was tight as his advantage over Browne (Burrows Engineering/RK Racing Paton) was just one second with Hickman a further 3.5 seconds further adrift. Jamie Coward slotted into fourth ahead of Stefano Bonetti and Brookes, but Paul Jordan was already out, having stopped at Harold’s, just before Gorse Lea.

Coward was also in trouble, stopping at Kirk Michael and although he got going again, he retired shortly afterwards but, at the head of the field, Dunlop was pressing ahead and after extending his lead to 3.3 seconds at Ballaugh, the gap went out to 5.2 seconds at Ramsey Hairpin for the first time. Hickman was still running in third, 9.2 seconds behind Browne but 8 seconds ahead of new fourth-placed rider Brookes.

However, drama soon followed and as Dunlop left the Bungalow, he begun to slow down eventually retiring. That promoted Browne into the lead and with an opening lap of 121.069mph he led Hickman by 11.6 seconds as the riders made their mandatory pit stop, Brookes completing the lap in third ahead of Bian, Bonetti and Dominic Herbertson.

Rob Hodson, Michael Rutter, Barry Furber and Michael Evans completed the top ten but there were further changes as Brookes lost considerable time as he left the pits and dropped down the order. Rutter was another rider in trouble and retired at the pits.

With the flurry of activity towards the end of lap one, the race settled down by the time the riders reached Glen Helen second time around and Browne now led Hickman by 12.1s. Brookes’ problems at the pits dropped him back to seventh and that meant Bian was now running in third from Herbertson, Bonetti and Hodson.

At Ballaugh, Browne had stretched his lead to 13.8s with almost three more seconds added to his advantage round Ramsey Hairpin but whilst he and Hickman were looking comfortable in first and second, only 17s covered new third placed rider Herbertson, Bian, Bonetti, Hodson and Brookes.

Browne still led at the Grandstand, but more drama followed as he retired almost immediately after crossing the line with clutch problems and that meant Hickman was now in the lead of a TT once more. The race for what was now the final two podium places was continuing to rage as 17s covered Herbertson, Bian, Bonetti and Brookes.

Hickman’s lead was more than 40 seconds sweeping through Glen Helen for the third and final time and although Herbertson and Bian were running in third, Brookes was taking time out of both of them through each sector. Drama followed again though with Herbertson going out at Barregarrow.

In what was proving to be a race of attrition, Hickman now led on the roads and with Brookes having overhauled Bian on the road once more, he quickly opened a gap as he closed in on second place. He was still seconds adrift though as they made the final Mountain climb.

Hickman duly came home for the victory, his eventual winning margin 47.7 seconds, and it was Bian who claimed second as he held off Brookes by two seconds. Bian’s podium was the first TT rostrum finish by a rider from mainland Europe since German Helmut Dahne in 1986.

Bonetti repeated his fourth-place finish from 2018 with Hodson and Barry Furber taking personal best TT finishes in fifth and sixth respectively. The same applied to the remainder of the top ten which was completed by Michael Evans, Francesco Curinga, Michal Dokoupil and Michael Russell.

HICKMAN BREAKS OUTRIGHT LAP RECORD IN RL360 SUPERSTOCK TT RACE 2

Peter Hickman clinched his 11th victory at the Isle of Man TT Races when he won today’s second RL360 Superstock race in sensational style, the Monster Energy by FHO Racing BMW rider smashing his own outright lap record with a stunning final lap speed of 136.358mph.

Just like the previous Superstock race, Hickman quickly grabbed the lead from the outset and never looked back as he won by more than 17 seconds from Michael Dunlop (MD Racing Honda) with Dean Harrison (DAO Racing Kawasaki) once more taking third.

After an hour’s delay allowing a tree to be repaired at Greeba Castle, the race got underway at 12.45pm under sunny skies but with a blustery wind, especially over the Mountain and Hickman grabbed the lead at Glen Helen on the opening lap, his advantage over Dunlop just one tenth of a second. Harrison was in third, a further 2.6 seconds in arrears, followed by Conor Cummins (MIlenco by Padgett’s Motorcycles Honda), Jamie Coward (KTS Racing powered by Steadplan Honda) and James Hillier (OMG Racing Yamaha).

Cummins’ team-mate Todd, suffering with a sickness bug, which required a pre-race injection, was down in eighth with David Johnson, who’d started number one on the road, already out after retiring at Ballacraine with the same fate befalling Julian Trummer.

By Ballaugh, Hickman had stretched his lead out to 1.5 seconds but it had come back down to 0.8 seconds as they rounded Ramsey Hairpin for the first time and although Harrison and Cummins continued in third and fourth respectively, Hillier had relegated Coward to sixth albeit by just half a second. Todd was clearly struggling though and had slipped back further to 11th.

At the end of lap one, the riders pitted for their solitary fuel stop and an opening lap of 134.068mph gave Hickman a 1.8 seconds lead over Dunlop with Harrison still in third but now 11.6 seconds adrift. Cummins continued to hold fourth and with Coward getting back in front of Hillier for fifth, the top ten was rounded out by Josh Brookes, John McGuinness, Shaun Anderson and Dominic Herbertson.

James Hind, meanwhile, had retired at Sulby Bridge but Ryan Cringle was having another great ride, the Manx newcomer setting a personal best lap of 124.414mph as he slotted into 21st.

Hickman’s lead had gone out to 2.3 seconds as they went through Glen Helen for the second time with Harrison remaining just over 11 seconds behind in third. Cummins was a similar distance back in fourth but whilst Coward held station in fifth, there was change further back as Brookes and McGuinness moved up to sixth and seventh as Hillier slipped back to eighth.

Over Ballaugh Bridge on lap two, Hickman had added another second to his lead and by Ramsey Hairpin it was 3.8 seconds with Harrison losing more time in third, the gap to second now 16 seconds. He held the same advantage over Coward, but he was only 1.5s in front of Brookes who, in turn, only had a half second buffer to McGuinness. Hillier wasn’t out of the battle for fifth either as he sat 2.2s behind McGuinness.

Hickman was extending his lead ever so slightly through each timing point and as he started his third and final lap, he led Dunlop by 5.1s, Harrison continuing to run in a comfortable third. The same applied to Cummins in fourth but the battle for fifth continued to rage with nine seconds covering Coward, Brookes, Hillier and McGuinness. Rutter and Herbertson were now in ninth and tenth, but Todd’s brave ride came to an end as he retired at the pits.

The lead was up to 6 seconds at Glen Helen on lap three and little wonder as Hickman broke Harrison’s five-year old sector time from the Grandstand to Glen Helen. Harrison and Cummins were looking secure in third and fourth with Coward extending his gap over Brookes to 4.5 seconds and Hillier had now overhauled McGuinness for seventh.

All eyes were on Hickman as he circulated at outright lap record pace and the lead was over eight seconds at Ballaugh, which had jumped out to 13.2 seconds at the Bungalow and as he crossed the line at the end of the three laps, his winning margin over Dunlop was 17.1 seconds. The lap speed stood out more though at a sensational 136.358mph which obliterated the class lap record and added almost a full mph on to the outright lap record!

Harrison and Cummins took comfortable third and fourth place finishes and the battle for fifth went the way of Brookes by just 0.49 seconds after setting a new personal best lap of 131.759mph. Hillier grabbed seventh from McGuinness with Herbertson taking ninth from Rutter on the final lap. Meanwhile, Cringle went quicker again on his final lap with an excellent speed of 126.096mph seeing him rewarded with 19th position.

Carole Nash Supertwin TT Race 2 will begin at 15:00.