MIKE HAMMONDS TT BLOG PAGES

 


Magic Monday


 
Another glorious day on the Isle of Man and everything ran to schedule. There was a Serene scene at the Grandstand, the petrol fillers being quietly put up, bikes casually arriving at scrutineering, no hint of what was to come.


Pit lane fillers 

Michael Dunlops winning Supersport Honda being srutineered before the race

First off was the Monster Energy Supersport Race 1, headed by Connor Cummins starting at number 1. Dean Harrison took an early lead chased by Michael Dunlop, Hillier, Hickman and the rest of the field.


 
Michael Dunlop stamped his authority on the race by breaking the Supersport lap record on lap 2 raising it from 128.666mph to 129.197mph. Starting 10 seconds behind Dean Harrison, Michael had the Yorkshireman in his sights and gradually reeled in the gap. Michael was in Dean's wheel tracks for much of the last lap, 
Dean waving Michael by so that he could take the chequered flag first. The battle of the race was for second with Harrison pipping Hickman by 0.258 seconds!!


RL360 Superstock winner Peter Hickman

 

Only 6 of the 64 starters failed to finish the race. Sadly an announcement from the organisers came through not longer after the race had finished; unfortunately Adam Lyon had crashed at Casey's on the Mountain and had succumbed to his injuries. Sincere condolences to his family and fiends.

 
The Supersport Race was followed by a sidecar practice, Ben Birchall came round at the back of the field with Steve Plater in the chair. They were filming for the Greenlight / ITV 4 programme. Susan Jenness Trophy winners, Estelle Leblond and Melanie Farnier set their fastest ever time and broke the 110mph barrier with an average speed of 110.28mph. Estelle and Melanie will receive their trophies live on Radio TT on Tuesday at 14:10 hours. The presentation taking place at the back of the Grandstand. 


Ben Birchall / Steve Plater

Estelle Leblond / Melanie Farnier

 

The RL360 Superstock became an unbelievable battle between Peter Hickman and Michael Dunlop. Hickman overshot at Braddan on the first lap, dropping him down to 10th at Glen Helen. He was up to third by the end of the lap riding harder than he had ever done before. He called himself 'a numpty' at the end of the race for his first lap error. He broke the 134mph barrier on the second lap setting a new lap record of 134.07mph. Michael Dunlop was charging and the lead was only 0.15 during the third lap. Roy Moore speculated that there could be a dead heat for the first time. Hickman set a new lap record on the last lap of 134.403 mph to win an epic race from Michael Dunlop by 4.452 seconds with Dean Harrison completing the top three.  

 
Four races down and four new lap and race records, with the weather set to be fine for the rest of the week, track conditions improving by the day, who know what records will be broken by Friday evening.

 
Exhibiting at the Villa Marina is the Wild Immersion Experience; this is where you can be transported to the Amazon jungle rain forest to see jaguars in their habitat, or to the African Savannah to see elephants inches away.......this is an amazing experience. They have also filmed Peter Hickman on a 360 degree lap of the course. The head set takes a little time to get used to, however, once mastered you will be amazed.

 
Mike Hammonds

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