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.
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!!
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.
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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