It’s been a wild week at the Isle of Man, with rotten weather interrupting the racing and forcing a very compressed schedule.
The result of all the cancellations and re-scheduling saw five races run yesterday (Supersport 2, Sidecar 2, Superstock, Lightweight, TT Zero), most of them shortened (hard to shorten the one-lap TT Zero!). The Senior TT ran today.
The winners: Supersport 2 went to Peter Hickman, who had to overcome his usual fault of slow starting, as the race was shortened to two laps. Sidecar 2 went to the Birchall brothers, with extra drama at the start as the Crowe brothers’ machine caught fire before the race even began, sadly destroying any hopes they had for establishing hot lap times.
Hickman again came to the front in Superstock, for his second win of the day and third of the week.
In Lightweight, Michael Dunlop took top spot, winning the two-lap evening affair after a race-long battle with Jamie Coward that saw them neck-and-neck. Peter Hickman only managed an eighth here aboard the Norton bike, but that’s better than John McGuinness, who had to retire due to mechanical issues. It’s been a devil of a week for McPint, who’s seen nothing but disastrous results from his Norton machinery.
McGuinness did redeem himself in TT Zero yesterday, nabbing second, while teammate Michael Rutter got first. Their Mugen machines have proved dominant ever since the team first showed up at the TT Zero, and must leave some electric bike racers wondering if anyone will ever unseat them.
And then, in today’s Senior TT, it was Hickman’s Big Chance, as he was reckoned by many to have a shot at winning this, becoming only the fourth rider to ever get four TT wins in a week. Sadly for him, it was not to be, as his BMW overheated and Dean Harrison went on to grab the win.
