MIKE HAMMONDS TT BLOG PAGES
THURSDAY EVENING PRACTICE The Island woke to being shrouded in mist and fog, a gloom which reflected the mood following the news of Dan Kneen. The skies cleared and the sun came out, much as the mood was lifted by a very dignified statement from Richard Kneen, Dan's father.
Richard reflected on Dan's love
for motorcycle racing and the last thing that he would have
wanted was for the TT to stop. This is also the view of the
Kneen family who are steeped in motorcycle racing.
Practicing continued last night
in nearly perfect conditions, damp patches were reported under
the trees in a few places. This didn't deter Peter Hickman,
Smiths Racing BMW, who stopped the Superbike session with a lap
of 132.81mph, the fastest he has circulated the TT course. David
Johnson, Gulf BMW, topped the Superstock chart with a lap of
129.20mph; Ivan Lintin, Dafabet Devitt Racing Kawasaki, headed
the Supersport practice with a lap of 123.22mph. One incident
was reported, Chris Petty came off at the top of Bray Hill,
suffering a possible broken ankle, yellow flags were shown at
the start line to warn riders. There were 279 laps completed, a
total mileage of 10,547 miles.
The sidecar chart was headed by
Ben and Tom Birchall, IEG Honda,116.55mph, followed by John
Holden / Lee Cain, Silicone Engineering/Barnes Racing Honda,
115.14 and Tim Reeves/ Mark Wilkes, Carl Cox Motorsport powered
by H&S Contractors, 114.37mph. Last years Susan Jeness Trophy
winners, Estelle Leblond and Melanie Farnier, Racing Side /
Optimark Road Racing Team SGR Suzuki, impressed with a lap of
107.89mph. Details of Estelle and Melanie's presentation of the
Susan Jenness Trophy will be posted tomorrow.
The investigation into the course
car incident at Ballacrye is on going. One rider, Steve Mercer,
has been flown away with very serious injuries. Due to this
incident the red flag procedure has been updated with immediate
effect; all red flag situations will be full course shut down
and no riders will be allowed to travel forwards or in reverse
of the course. When instructed to move, they will be escorted by
a travelling marshal, in the direction of the course, with
another TM at the rear.
Photos:
Hutch and Lee Johnson in Parc
Ferme
Peter Hickman and Michael Rutter leading Practice away
Ian Lougher's Suter smoking away
Hutch and Jamie Coward ready for the off
Glen Harrison followed
Xavier Denis
Mike Roscher / Shaun Parker crossing the line Darren Hope / Lenny Bumfrey off for another lap Karl Bennett / Maxime Vasseur off on another lap
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