|
MIKE HAMMONDS TT BLOG PAGES TT 2022 BLOG EIGHT The comments and views expressed in these bloggs are mine and do not reflect the views of the TT SUPPORTERS CLUB
It’s a Hicky-Fest
Overnight rain meant there was a delayed start to the day's racing. The road was eventually closed at 1pm and the sun had come out to celebrate. Damp patches were reported at Kerromoar, Glen Duff and at Ramsey Hairpin. The programme had been re-jigged again, earlier the plan had been to run both the Supertwin and the second Supersport over the afternoon and then the solo and sidecar warm up laps in the evening. The delay to 1pm meant it was revised so that the warm up laps went first and then the 3 lap Supertwin Race, reduced from the original 4 laps, would start at 3pm and the Supersport Race, also reduced to 3 laps, would start at 6:30pm.
The Supersport Race was cancelled for the day when it started raining during the tea break at 5:30pm. It was rescheduled to run on Thursday over the full 4 laps. I don’t know if the damp patches in the north of the Island influenced the decision to bring the warm up laps forward, and hindsight is a wonderful thing, but there was time for both races to have been held in the afternoon before the rain started and the road had to be open at 5pm to allow people to get home from work.
The Supertwin Race was an absolute cracker when it got underway. Michael Dunlop, MD Racing 650cc Paton, was leading at Glen Helen on the first lap by 0.8 seconds from Peter Hickman PHR Performance 650 Paton S1-R. MGP winner James Hind, Team ILR / Mark Coverdale 650cc Paton, was third a further 0.9 seconds behind.
By Ballaugh Hickman had a 0.8 second lead over Dunlop and this was the story up until Glen Helen on the last lap. Hickman and Dunlop were swapping positions at each timing check point. At Ballaugh on the second lap Dunlop led by just 0.04 of a second. Horst Saiger commented on the Manx Radio commentary that Michael Dunlop needed to win to stop this year’s TT becoming a ‘Hicky-Fest’.
At the start of the third and final lap the leading duo were first and second on the road albeit 19.5 seconds apart, Hickman was leading by half a second. The crowd had their ears glued to radios to hear who was in the lead as they went round their final circuit. Sadly the excitement was cut short when Dunlop was reported stopped at Laurel Bank making adjustments. He got going again but was black flagged at Sulby bridge and his race was done.
The race had become a ‘Hicky-Fest’ and he went on to win by 1 minute 49.281 seconds from Lee Johnston, Ashcourt Racing Aprilia RS 660 and Paul Jordan in third. This was the Prez Racing by Prosper Kawasaki Z650 rider’s first TT podium. Pierre Yves Bian, a 2019 MGP Newcomer winner, brought some French cheer when he brought home his VAS Engine / Martimotos 650cc Paton S1-R in fourth place. The evergreen Michael Rutter, ILR 650cc Paton S1-R.
Race winner Peter Hickman PHR Performance 650 Paton S1-R
It was a fantastic race and such a shame it didn’t go to it’s full conclusion with Michael Dunlop not staying the course. Storms overnight resulted in the Supersport Race being postponed on Thursday with the hope of running it on Friday morning. The aggregate speeding score for today was 26 home convictions and 30 away convictions!!
Mike Hammonds
|
.gif)
.gif)