2018 Isle of Man TT

Just wow is all I have to say. Can't wait to watch this race tonight.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/northern-..._linkname=northern_ireland&ns_source=facebook

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Michael Dunlop secured his 16th Isle of Man TT win by taking an emotional victory in Saturday's Superbike opener at the meeting.

The 29-year-old's success came just three days after the death of his Tyco BMW team-mate Dan Kneen in a practice crash on the island.

Dunlop finished 51 seconds ahead of Conor Cummins with James Hillier third.

"I wanted to do something in Dan's memory. That win is for his family," said Dunlop.

"It's hard to celebrate this win - it's been a hard week."

Dunlop's win sees him draw level with Ian Hutchinson as the third most successful solo rider in the history of the event.



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Huge congrats to Peter Hickman for his first TT win. The guy is a beast.

http://www.bikesportnews.com/news/news-detail/tt-2018-superstock-win-and-134mph-lap-for-hickman
TT 2018: Superstock win and 134mph lap for Hickman
04.06.2018|Author: Phil Wain on the Isle of Man|TT and Roads
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Peter Hickman (Smiths Racing BMW) claimed his first victory at the Isle of Man TT Races on Monday afternoon when he took a sensational Superstock race by 4.4s from Michael Dunlop (MD Racing BMW) with Dean Harrison (Silicone Engineering Kawasaki) in third.

Hickman fought back from an error on the first lap that saw him run straight on at Braddan Bridge and drop back to tenth but two laps in excess of 134mph, his final lap being a stunning new lap record of 134.403mph, just outside Harrison’s outright lap record from Saturday’s 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 Gary Johnson in third and Michael Rutter, James Hillier and David Johnson filling fourth to sixth places and opening lap of 133.073mph gave the Bradford rider the leads, 4.3s clear of Dunlop with Hickman climbed all the way back up to third.

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.

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, Davey 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.
 
Second win so far for MD and his 17th TT win overall. Impressive to say the least. Another podium for Harrison and Hickman.

https://roadracingnews.co.uk/tt-201...list-with-record-breaking-supersport-success/

TT 2018: Dunlop Goes Tied 3rd On All Time Winners List With Record Breaking Supersport Success
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The great weather, road conditions at TT 2018 continued for the opening Monster Energy Supersport race, which as in the prior RST Superbike, Locate.im Sidecar races, produced action of the absolute highest quality.

Lap 1:

As in the RST Superbike race, Silicone Engineering Racing’s Dean Harrison took an early race lead at Glen Helen, holding a 1 second lead over Michael Dunlop who in turn was just two seconds clear of James Hillier.

By Ballaugh Bridge Harrison’s race lead was trimmed to just 0.228 as Dunlop and his PTR prepared Honda, like his Silicone Engineering Kawasaki mounted counterpart quickly got into the groove.

Onto Ramsey Hairpin and we had a new race leader as Dunlop moved almost a second clear of Harrison. Behind the pace setters, Quattro Plant/JG Speedfit Kawasaki’s Hillier in third place was now 8.3 behind the two fastest racers in TT history.

Such was the pace of Dunlop and Harrison, that by the Bungalow they were both ten seconds clear of new occupier of third, Smiths Racing’s Peter Hickman on the distinctive TROOPER Triumph.

Positions within the top three remained the same to completion of lap 1, with Dunlop lapping from a standing start at 128.265 mph, increasing his lead slightly to 1.74 seconds.

Harrison second was almost 12 seconds clear of Hickman, who in turn was 2.5 in front of Hillier, who additionally wasn’t far in front of the Padgetts duo of Lee Johnston and Conor Cummins.

lap 2:

Onto lap 2 and despite Mountain Course lap record holder Harrison’s best efforts, 28 times international road race winner Dunlop steadily taking the lead sector by sector up by a half a second or better.

Come the Bungalow and the race lead grew to over five seconds, Hickman in third was now four seconds clear of Hillier with Johnston and Cummins also in close attendance.

Dunlop taking the lead up to plus six seconds at Cronk Ny Mona, was looking on course for the first ever 129 mph lap of the Mountain Course by a Supersport machine.

As he entered the pits at the end of lap 2, had he broken the 129 mph barrier? He had and some, setting a stunning new Supersport TT lap record of 129.197 mph.

His record breaking lap speed gave him an advantage of 6.4 over Harrison, Hickman and Hillier third and fourth were closely matched with under four seconds covering them prior to their scheduled pit stop.

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There was drama a plenty in the pits as Xavier Denis crashed out of contention, following a collision with Jonathan Perry.

We also saw in the pit lane, PreZ Racing’s Jamie Coward contending throughout in the early laps for a top ten placing, retire from the race.

Lap 3:

Race leader Dunlop having had in the pits, a rear wheel change, lost virtually no time on nearest pursuer Harrison despite his longer pit stop by the time they both got to Glen Helen.

Leading now by over nine seconds, it was clear that reliability permitting he was firmly on course for yet another Supersport TT success.

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Photo by Jim Gibson

Although there was no change in race order concerning 1st and 2nd positions, there was a battle royal brewing in the battle for third with Hickman and Hillier following a fine pit stop, extremely closely matched.

There was nothing in it throughout lap three between them, but it was 2013 Lightweight TT champion Hillier who took over third on the timing screens following the completion of lap three, 1.5 clear of Hickman.

Both though were over twenty seconds behind front runners Dunlop and Harrison, as we entered the final part of another record breaking race at TT 2018.

Lap 4:

Following for the majority of the fourth and final lap nearest challenger Harrison, Michael Dunlop was doing everything he had to do as he homed in on a 17th TT victory.

Maintaining a lead of 9, 9.5 seconds throughout lap 4, he ultimately crossed the chequered flag ten seconds clear of galant runner up Harrison, who let race winner and now joint third with Dave Molyneux on the all time TT winners list Dunlop, cross the finish line in front of him.

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The battle for third was won by reigning Joey Dunlop Championship winner Peter Hickman, who’s lap speed on lap 4 of 128.181 mph was just enough for him to edge out Quattro Plant/JG Speedfit Kawasaki’s James Hillier for his first rostrum finish of TT 2018.

Fifth placed Conor Cummins lead the Padgetts challenge in fifth place, whilst McAMS Yamaha’s Josh Brookes steadily improving pace wise throughout the race, finished a more than creditable sixth.

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Photo by Mark Corlett

Concluding the first ten finishers were Gary Johnson, Lee Johnston, McAdoo Kawasaki’s James Cowton and Dafabet Devitt Racing’s Ivan Lintin.

Others to impress included Derek McGee (11th), leading newcomer Davey Todd (12th), Team ILR’s Joe Thompson (21st) and Paul Jordan (22nd).

Race results:

1 Michael Dunlop
2 Dean Harrison
3 Peter Hickman
4 James Hillier
5 Conor Cummins
6 Josh Brookes
7 Gary Johnson
8 Lee Johnston
9 James Cowton
10 Ivan Lintin
11 Derek McGee
12 Davey Todd
13 Martin Jessopp
14 Dominic Herbertson
15 Sam West



Words by Stevie Rial



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Really enjoying Rutter's diary.

http://www.bikesportnews.com/news/news-detail/michael-rutters-2018-tt-diary-part-one

Michael Rutter’s TT 2018 diary: part one
31.05.2018|Author: Michael Rutter|TT and Roads

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Picture: Impact Images
It was a really slow start to practice week for me and I’ve find it difficult to get into this year, for various reasons, but it’s got better as the week’s gone and we’ve made constant improvements to all of the Bathams Racing bikes.

With the weather being so good, we’ve been able to try loads of different stuff, something that we wouldn’t normally get the chance to do, and we’ve found a reasonable set-up with the ‘hybrid’ Superbike. It worked well on Tuesday night when I did 129.583mph from a standing start and it felt better again on the first half of Wednesday’s lap.

I feel that the bike’s good enough now and although the likes of Dean (Harrison) have been pushing hard, I’m not too far off the front group and the pace I’m running is what I’m comfortable with at this stage of proceedings.

I’ve got two Superbikes this year, one that’s full Superbike-spec and another that’s half Superbike and half Superstock, hence dubbing it the hybrid. They’re completely different in characteristics – different suspension, different swinging arm etc – and with the hybrid now working well, the plan is to take the full Superbike out on Thursday evening.

One reason that I think I’ve been finding it a bit harder this year is I’ve found out how much involvement there is as a team manager. I’m not just the rider this year as I’m running the team too so there’s a lot of little things that I’m needing to do that normally someone else would do. It all adds up and takes up more time than I thought so it’s been a bit of a shock to the system.

As a rider, you need to be 100% focused and running the team, it means I’ve got two jobs this year and am possibly not doing either of them at 100% at the moment. I’m getting used to it all the time though and I’ve got a good set of mechanics around me so we’re getting there.

I’ve also got last year’s Paton with me and have managed three laps on it so far but the clutch was slipping quite a bit on Saturday which held me back a little. We fitted a new Suter clutch for Tuesday night and I was in the 116mph bracket again but I’m a bit off the pace compared to what some of the others are doing. You have to ride the wheels off the Lightweight bikes and I’m not quite there yet but we’ll keep chipping away.

Wednesday night was obviously a desperately sad night with the loss of Dan Kneen and I’d like to pass on my deepest condolences to his family and friends. My thoughts are also with Steve Mercer and wish him a speedy recovery.
 
http://www.bikesportnews.com/news/news-detail/michael-rutters-tt-2018-diary-part-two

Michael Rutter’s TT 2018 diary: part two
05.06.2018|Author: Michael Rutter|TT and Roads

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Picture: Impact Images
It’s been a strange TT for me so far this year and I’m struggling to really get into it, which isn’t like me so to be sitting here now with two top six finishes is pleasing, particularly given the lap times that are being put in at the front this week.

With a few issues during practice week, we had a standard road bike engine fitted for the Superbike race on Saturday and whilst it’s not slow by any means, it does lack that little bit compared to a fully tuned engine.

There’s a lot going on at the moment and I’m just not quite riding at my best so laps of 128-129mph are where I am at the moment but I ended up fifth and a finish like that in a TT race is a mega result, especially for everyone connected with the Bathams Racing team.

I was a bit disappointed in myself though as I felt I could have ridden better but I had no moments at all and just rode my own race so it was a good start to race week and gave us plenty to build on. It was a similar outcome in Monday’s Superstock race and I was finding it hard to concentrate so sixth place wasn’t what I wanted especially as my first pit board after Ballaugh on the opening lap said ‘P3’.

When I saw that I told myself to get stuck in and have a go but although I managed a couple of 130mph+ laps, I made a few small mistakes, being in the wrong gear on a couple of occasions and I just didn’t feel particularly confident with all sorts of things going through my mind like what I was going to have for dinner!

I was a bit slow coming into the pit stop and thought about pulling in at one stage as I simply didn’t feel like I was riding very well but I plugged away and got to the finish. The front three were away with it but it was close between Davo (Johnson), James (Hillier) and myself but they gradually got the better of me and sixth was where I ended up.

The TT is mega-competitive now and I can’t believe the lap times the likes of Pete, Dean and Michael have been doing so it’s almost a race of two halves now – those three at the front and the rest of us going for fourth. So whilst I was a bit disappointed, sixth place is a solid enough finish and it’s obviously good for the team to have taken two top-six finishes in the first two races.

I’ve still got three races to go with just the Senior for the Bathams team but I’ll be busy on Wednesday with the TT Zero and Lightweight races. The Mugen was strong straight away and I did a 116mph lap first time out but I had a moment through the Bottom of Barregarrow on Friday evening and it felt like it had broke in half so I had to pull in at the 13th Milestone. We’re switching to what the team ran last year whilst the Paton overheated on the practice lap yesterday (Monday) so we’ll take a look at that today.

It hasn’t been trouble free but that’s the TT for you so we’ll just go out tomorrow and give it our best shot.
 
Congrats to Dean Harrison for his Supersport race # 2 win. He's been so consistently fast so it was just a matter till he won. Another podium for Hickman on the beast bike and Hillier lands on the podium as well.
http://www.bikesportnews.com/news/news-detail/tt-2018-harrison-wins-supersport-race-two
TT 2018: Harrison wins Supersport race two, Dunlop gets 30s penalty
06.06.2018|Author: Road racing staff|TT and Roads

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Dean Harrison bagged victory in the second Supersport outing of TT 2018, crossing the line by almost 19s from Peter Hickman after Michael Dunlop was handed a 30s penalty for speeding in pitlane.

Harrison was never headed in the four-lap middleweight scrap, steadily opening a gap over Dunlop and came into the pits at the end of lap two with a 129.099mph lap. Dunlop was 8.330s behind and changed his rear tyre but messed up the pitlane speed limit, going over by 0.214km/h.

This promoted Peter Hickman to second place but at a huge disadvantage which he eeked into but couldn’t make any serious headway on the Smith’s Trooper Triumph. James Hiller put the JS Speedfit Kawasaki for another podium place.

Harrison got to Ramsey almost three seconds quicker than Dunlop on lap one and set a 128.188mph standing start lap while Hillier fended off a charge from Hickman with Conor Cummins in fifth place but on lap two, Hickman was past the Kawasaki man and into third place.

Dunlop dropped to 4.543s behind Hillier at Glen Helen on lap two and then dropped a second a sector, give or take, as they completed the lap while Hickman slowly pulled away from Hillier, while Lee Johnston and Josh Brookes began to scrap for sixth place.

After Dunlop’s penalty, Harrison could sit back and enjoy an 18s lead which he stretched to 20s at Ballaugh but then at the end of lap three, it was back to 19.524 as Dunlop trailed Cummins in fifth place by 8.593s.

Brookes passed Johnston for sixth place and got the hammer down to pull away while Harrison took over as leader on the road as they came into Ramsey on the final lap. The order didn’t change and Harrison ended with a 19.662 advantage.

Cummins secured fourth ahead of Dunlop who had cut the gap to six seconds at Ramsey but knocked it off and came home with a similar deficit to the Ramsey man.

Brookes brought the McAMS Yamaha home with an 14-second lead over Johnston with Gary Johnson in eighth after Derek McGee retired after Glen Helen. James Cowton bagged ninth place with Ivan Lintin in tenth.

Ian Hutchinson, Davey Todd, Sam West, Dominic Herbertson and Dan Cooper completed the top 15.

Click here for results

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Hickman on Iron Maiden sponsored bike.:punkrocke
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James Hillier
 
Imagine that, MD wins again and earns his 18 TT win.Congrats to Derick McGee for his first TT podium. Very cool to see Rutter score a podium finish as well on the Paton.

http://www.bikesportnews.com/news/news-detail/tt-2018-lightweight-win-and-lap-record-for-dunlop

TT 2018: Lightweight win and lap record for Dunlop
06.06.2018|Author: Phil Wain on the Isle of Man|TT and Roads

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Picture: Impact Images
Michael Dunlop took a record breaking win in the Bennetts Lightweight TT on Wednesday afternoon with the Paton rider smashing both the lap and race records on his way to an 18th TT win.

Despite a relatively steady start, Dunlop took advantage of early leader Ivan Lintin’s demise 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 claiming his first ever TT podium. Dunlop beat the old race record by one minute 14.292s.

It was McGee who 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 as 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. Lintin was having no such trouble and at Ramsey, he 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.

A new lap record of 121.603mph gave Lintin a 5.7s lead over McGee 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 and coming into the pits at the end of the second lap, half race distance, there was drama as it was Dunlop who led with another new lap record of 122.257mph. Lintin 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. There was another 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 going into the fourth and final lap and, he’d overhauled McGee 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.
 
http://www.bikesportnews.com/news/news-detail/michael-rutters-tt-2018-diary-part-three

Michael Rutter’s TT 2018 diary: part three
07.06.2018|Author: Michael Rutter|TT and Roads

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Picture: Impact Images
Tuesday was definitely a sleepless night ahead of the TT Zero race as there was a lot of pressure on both Lee (Johnston) and myself to not only win the race for Mugen but also set the first 120mph lap on an electric bike.

We had quite a few issues in practice and only managed one lap when we thought we’d get five so that was certainly on my mind as the frame broke one night when I went through the Bottom of Barregarrow which led to a massive moment which took me until the 13th Milestone to get under control. The team said we weren’t to go out again until the issues had been resolved and that meant flying parts in from Japan.

People make fun of the TT Zero race and whilst it’s obviously a shame there aren’t more bikes in the race, the ones that are aren’t hanging around – Lee did 170mph down the Sulby Straight and you have to ride them so hard through the corners – and the technology is changing all the time. And the quicker you go, the more things change.

The likes of John (McGuinness) and Bruce (Anstey) have done a great job over the years and it was a shame they weren’t out there so, hopefully, there’ll be back soon but I’d had it drilled into me about doing 120mph. I got my head down from the start and apart from the chain jumping around a bit, I had no issues.

It was a massive relief to get the win and see the lap speed – 121.824mph – and fair play to Lee and Daley (Mathison) for pushing me so hard.

I literally walked straight out of the press conference and had about five minutes to change my leathers and get ready for the Lightweight race so there certainly wasn’t any time for celebrating.

It had been a challenging week on the Paton too and I’ve got a lot of stuff going on at home too but perhaps the lack of preparation time between races helped. Paton loaned me the bike I won on last year and it was up to the Bathams Racing team to look after it – and, fair play to them, they did.

I thought there was a problem during the race with the gear lever but it was more me missing gears than anything mechanical so I just kept plugging away and my pit boards were going ‘P5, P4, P3’. I was trying to keep the revs down as the Twins are hard things to ride but I had a real go on the last lap and was pleased to have lapped at almost 121mph.

Fair play to Michael and Derek – and Ivan – as their lap times were very impressive but I was more than happy with third and two podiums in one day is something to be very happy about.
 
Congrats to Hicky.Been saying this for the last couple years that he is becoming one of the best overall racers on the planet, and he's proving it big time.

TT 2018: Hickman Joins Greats With First 135 Mph Lap On Route To Pokerstars Senior Glory
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After a truly thrilling week of race action, what would the Pokerstars Senior race provide us, 135 mph laps?, a new race winner? a last lap battle? these was just three of multiple possibilities ahead of one of the most anticipated Senior races of recent times.

Lap 1:

As in all previous solo races excluding the Lightweight, TT Zero classes, Silicone Engineering Racing’s Dean Harrison powered into a small early lead at Glen Helen of only 1.2 seconds over Peter Hickman.

Michael Dunlop held third only a further second back, as James Hillier, David Johnson and Norton’s Josh Brookes completed the top six.

By Ballaugh Bridge Bradford’s Harrison had increased the race lead to almost five seconds over Hickman, Padgetts Conor Cummins jumped up to third just 0.3 clear of Tyco BMW’s Dunlop, whilst 2013 Lightweight TT champion Hillier race ended early at Westwood.

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Photo by Mark Corlett

Onto Ramsey Hairpin and reigning Joey Dunlop Championship winner Hickman was beginning to increase the pressure on Harrison, with the lead reduced to under 2.4 seconds.

Harrison’s lead was trimmed further at the Bungalow to 1.596, which by the end of lap 1 was taken down to 1.4 seconds. 18 times TT winner Dunlop retook third from Cummins, with just 0.437 covering them, Gulf BMW’s Johnson and Norton’s Brookes wrapped up the top six.

Soon though 2015 BSB champion Brookes was up to fifth, as Gulf BMW’s Johnson entered the pits at the end of the opening lap for an unscheduled pit stop, from which ultimately saw him retire from the race.

Lap 2:

Lap 2 would see the battle out front between Harrison and Hickman intensify. 5.53 down on Harrison at Ballaugh Bridge, Smiths Racing’s Hickman showing the type of form that secured him a maiden TT success on Monday in the Superstock race, steadily sector by sector reduced the race lead.

By Cronk Ny Mona, he had taken over three seconds out of Harrison’s advantage, we were now firmly witnessing another truly top draw, world class Mountain Course battle.

The gap between them at the completion of lap 2, stood at just 1.419, as both entered the pits for the first of there two scheduled pit stops.

Behind the on top form duo of Harrison and Hickman, Manx star Cummins jostled his way back up to third, by the end of lap three holding an eight second advantage over Tyco BMW’s Dunlop who was surprisingly off the pace.

Lap 3:

Following their scheduled pit stops, Harrison courtesy of a top draw pit stop by his Silicone Engineering team, increased his race lead to almost five seconds at Glen Helen.

By Ramsey Hairpin the race lead stood at over eight seconds, as Harrison in spite of yellow flags pulled more time on Hickman.

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Photo by Nick Wheeler

Twice Macau GP winner Hickman though was still in strong contention for the race win, and by the Bungalow reduced Harrison’s advantage to just over the six second mark.

Come the finalisation of lap three, the difference between Harrison and Hickman was only 5.8 seconds, former Ulster GP lap record holder Cummins maintained third and was now over ten seconds in front of RST Superbike winner Dunlop.

Lap 4:

Lap four saw the pace well and truly jump up a notch, as Hickman determined to add a Senior TT success to his already ultra impressive international roads CV, tenaciously chipped away at Harrison’s lead.

Seven seconds down on his compatriot at Ramsey Hairpin, over the mountain he trimmed the lead down to just over three seconds.

Such was his pace that come the second scheduled pit stop, it was confirmed that at the end of the fourth lap he had set a dazzling new outright lap record of 134.456 mph.

The new outright lap record helped him reduce Harrison’s lead further to 1.4 seconds, it was most definitely race on in the battle to become the newest winner of the much coveted Senior TT.

Lap 5:

Despite setting a new outright lap record, Hickman in the battle for race victory still trailed Harrison. His race winning challenge suffered what seemed at the time a bit of blow having dropped around five seconds to the Bradford racer, in the pits.

6.2 seconds down at Glen Helen, great racing all rounder Hickman as on previous laps responded and some to Harrison’s relentless pace, taking his race lead down to around five seconds at Ramsey Hairpin, before reducing it even further to 3.5 seconds at the Bungalow.

By the finalisation of lap five, Harrison’s race lead was only 1.9 seconds! A quite memorable final lap was in prospect.

Cummins in third had pulled a strong gap on Dunlop in the battle for the final spot on the rostrum, whilst Josh Brookes on the SG7 Norton was showing good form maintaining a strong top five placing.

Lap 6:

After the consistent run of class lap records, great racing, ten’s of personal best laps, the incredible weather on the Isle of Man, it was fitting that the final lap of TT 2018 would provide one of the most exciting, dramatic and historic in the events history.

Long term race leader Harrison almost six seconds clear of Hickman at Ballaugh Bridge, had for some the Senior race in the bag, but had he?

The answer was 100 percent no as at Ramsey Hairpin Hickman started one of the great TT race comebacks, trimming Harrison’s lead dramatically to only two seconds, it was most definitely race on again!

Incredibly by the Bungalow Hickman had for the first time taken the race lead, moving 0.8 clear, and then at extending the advantage to just over two seconds at Cronk Ny Mona.

The hugely popular Smiths Racing rider would go onto cross the line at the chequered flag at the completion of the sixth and final lap, to wrap up a quite remarkable Pokerstars Senior TT victory.

His amazing final lap of 135.452 mph, yes you heard that right, is not only a new outright TT lap record, but also the fastest pure road racing lap worldwide, making him officially the world’s fastest road racer.

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This also makes the Isle of Man TT now the fastest roads meeting worldwide, an accolade held for multiple years by the MCE Insurance Ulster Grand Prix.

Race runner up Dean Harrison also on record breaking pace on lap 6, just over two seconds behind Hickman, stated in the ensuing press conference that he had encountered back markers at the wrong time, but was also extremely gracious in defeat complimenting hugely the exploits of the new Pokerstars Senior TT champion.

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Rounding out the top three finishers was a delighted Conor Cummins, who has by a long way been the most competitive racer on 1000cc Honda machinery at TT 2018.

Tyco BMW’s Michael Dunlop fourth place finish was enough for him to regain the Joey Dunlop Championship crown, whilst fifth place finisher Josh Brookes showcased the progress of the SG7 Norton, with an impressive last lap of 131.745 mph.

Gary Johnson ended a challenging TT 2018 campaign in sixth place, Martin Jessopp was a solid seventh, Penz 13 BMW’s Jamie Coward banked eighth, outstanding Mountain Course debutant Davey Todd ninth, result enabled him to become the first TT newcomer to win the coveted Privateers championship.

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Photo by Nick Wheeler

Wrapping up the first ten finishers was TAG Racing IRL’s Brian McCormack, whilst other notable performances included Craig Neve 11th, Michael Sweeney 12th, Danny Webb 15th, Andy Dudgeon 16th, Spain’s Raul Torras Martinez 18th and Ian Lougher on the great sounding Suter a very creditable 21st.

Race results:

1 Peter Hickman
2 Dean Harrison
3 Conor Cummins
4 Michael Dunlop
5 Josh Brookes
6 Gary Johnson
7 Martin Jessopp
8 Jamie Coward
9 Davey Todd
10 Brian McCormack
11 Craig Neve
12 Michael Sweeney
13 Daley Mathison
14 Rob Hodson
15 Danny Webb
16 Andy Dudgeon
17 Stefano Bonetti
18 Raul Torras Martinez
19 Michael Booth
20 Barry Evans
21 Ian Lougher
22 Frank Gallagher
23 Adrian Harrison
24 Julien Toniutti
25 Mark Goodings
26 Michael Evans
27 AJ Venter
28 Dave Hewson
29 Ian Pattinson
30 Barry Furber
31 Davy Morgan
32 Darren Cooper
33 David Jackson
34 Eric Wilson
35 Rhys Hardisty
36 George Spence
37 Xavier Denis
38 Tom Weeden
39 Paul Williams
40 Fabrice Miguet

Words by Stevie Rial
 
RIP brave ones.

2018 Isle of Man TT Deaths

Two lives were claimed during the 2018 Isle of Man TT – Dan Kneen of the IOM, who passed during Superbike TT qualifying, and Adam Lyon of Scotland, who died during the Monster Energy Supersport 1 race.

During the 2017 IOM TT, three riders died: Davey Lambert of the UK, Jochem van den Hoek of Holland, and Alan Bonner of Ireland. This brings the death toll in both TT and Manx Grand Prix races at the Isle of Man since 1911 to 252 riders.

( from ultimatemotorcycling.com)

Thanks for your coverage of this years TT Mr. Excitement. Well done !
 
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