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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