Ian Hutchinson
made history on Friday when he
became the first man to win 5 TT
Races in a week after clinching a
shortened 4-lap Dainese Senior race
in what was a dramatic day’s racing
on the Isle of Man. Hutchinson took
the lead from the start and when
close challengers John McGuinness
and Conor Cummins retired and
crashed respectively he was able to
ease off in the closing stages to
come home 37.77 seconds clear of
Ryan Farquhar and Bruce Anstey. He
beat the record of 11 time champion
Phillip McCallen who was previously
the only man in the races 103 year
history to win 4 races in a week,
which he achieved in 1996.
The initial 6-lap
race got underway under blue skies
and beautiful sunshine again and
spectators were set for a thriller
as Hutchinson, McGuinness, Cummins
and Guy Martin went head to head
over the first two laps. With all
four lapping at over 130mph, there
were less than six seconds splitting
the quartet after the first pit
stop, McGuinness leading the way
from Martin, Cummins and Hutchinson.
However,
Martin was reported as missing at
Glen Helen third time around and
news came through that he had been
involved in an incident at
Ballagarey. With the bike having
caught fire, the hedge was also
alight and the race was red flagged
with the fire brigade dispatched to
the scene as the whole Island held
their breath in concern for one of
the sport’s most popular stars.
Fortunately, news filtered through
that the 29-year old was conscious
and talking to medics, a later
statement confirming that he had
bruising to his lungs and minor
fractures to his spine, a huge
relief to all concerned.
With the race
stopped, the circuit had to be
cleared before racing could commence
again and, when it was, at 3pm, it
was reduced to 4 laps. On the
restart, Hutchinson again stole the
early initiative but it was close
and his advantage over McGuinness at
Glen Helen was just half a second.
Cummins was only a tenth further
back in third with Donald in fourth
and Michael Dunlop and Ryan Farquhar
in fifth and sixth - just three
seconds splitting the top six.
By Ramsey
Hairpin, Hutchinson had edged 1.14s
clear and McGuinness held a similar
advantage over Cummins, the gap
between those two 1.5 seconds. As
the riders flashed across
Glencrutchery Road for the first
time, Hutchinson led with an opening
lap of 131.487mph but it was close
with McGuinness only 0.61s adrift,
the 15-times winner having clawed
back some time over the Mountain.
Cummins was still in contention,
only two seconds behind in third
whilst Keith Amor was now up in to
fourth closely followed by Farquhar
and Anstey, both of whom had retired
from the earlier abandoned race.
Hutchinson
eked out a further two seconds on
the second run to Glen Helen but no
sooner had he passed the timing beam
than McGuinness was out, the HM
Plant Honda having coasted to a halt
just on the exit of the left hander.
This promoted Cummins up to second
but he found himself 3 seconds
behind as they reached Ramsey. Amor,
Farquhar and Anstey were all
promoted up the order with Ian
Lougher now in sixth but there was
further drama when Cummins had
failed to reach the Bungalow. The
local hero had crashed at the
Verandah although he too was
conscious and talking to the medics,
reported as having arm and leg
injuries.
This allowed
Hutchinson’s lead to rocket up to 27
seconds, another 131mph+ lap helping
him on his way. Amor was close to
his first ever 130mph lap in second
with Farquhar, Anstey, Lougher and
Michael Rutter now occupying the
leading six positions.
After the pit
stop, Hutchinson’s lead over Amor
had increased but the Scotsman was
still trying and he reduced the
deficit steadily around the third
lap although the Bingley man was
seemingly in control of everything,
still over 21 seconds to the good as
they went in to their final lap.
At Glen Helen,
the gap had increased to 31 seconds
but Amor’s hopes of a Superbike
podium were dashed when, remarkably,
he too coasted to a halt after
passing through the timing point,
joining team-mate McGuinness on the
sidelines. Farquhar and Anstey now
found themselves in second and
third, both looking to end their
week’s on a high.
Hutchinson was
able to almost cruise round his
final lap of TT2010 and he crossed
the line standing on the footpegs,
adopting a Superman stance for what
is truly an amazing feat. Farquhar
and Anstey were celebrating too, the
former recording his first ever
Superbike podium at the TT and the
latter ending a difficult week on a
positive note.
Lougher
completed yet another TT year with a
strong set of results, taking fourth
in the Senior with Michael Rutter
bringing home his Superstock-spec
Honda in fifth. Meanwhile, Dan
Stewart replicated his sixth place
finish of 12 months ago for another
top class TT result with Adrian
Archibald, Dan Kneen, Davy Morgan
and James McBride, the final two the
first two privateers past the
chequered flag.
David Johnson
was again the first newcomer to
finish, as he had been in the
previous four races, the Australian
taking an excellent 16th
place overall in the race. He also
finished as the fastest newcomer
overall with his final lap of
123.838mph his fastest of the week.
With five wins
from five, Hutchinson was the
comfortable winner of the overall TT
Championship taking the Joey Dunlop
Trophy by a whopping 61 points from
Michael Dunlop and Farquhar.
Finally, in the race for the
Privateers Championship, it was
McBride who took the trophy, his
second place in today’s Senior
giving him a total of 80 points, ten
ahead of Moore with Morgan in third.
Jenny Tinmouth
extended her title as the fastest
women around the course with a final
lap of 119.945mph.
The A and E
consultant at Noble’s hospital
reported that Guy Martin had
sustained bruising to both lungs and
some minor fractures in his upper
spine, following his accident at
Ballagarey but was otherwise OK. He
is expected to be in hospital for a
few days and but thanked his fans
from his hospital bed for all their
support and reassured them that the
incident had nothing to do with a
lack of commitment from him!