Peter Hickman wins Senior TT Credit: Isle of Man TT
Peter Hickman signs his resurgent and record week Isle of Man TT with a dominant victory in the blue ribbon senior TT as Michael Dunlop saw his chance in history frozen for another year.
After Hickman destroyed the TT lap record at Friday's Second Superstock race with a record speed of 136.358 mph on the 37.73 mile course, all eyes were on whether the FHO Racing BMW rider would or would stay on his Superbike for Senior. on a less modified Superstock given the pace displayed.
Despite his heroism on Friday, Hickman returned to the Superbike, albeit an annoyance due to recurring brake and shift problems experienced during the TT Superbike in last Sunday, which was won by his rival Dunlop aboard a Hawk Racing Honda.
But it's clear. It turned out that Hickman was in trend, leading Dean Harrison Ballo on the first lap and hitting 135 mph for the first lap from a standstill, while Dunlop started surprisingly slowly from an unfamiliar third position.
Hickman improved on that lap to 135.428 mph when he pulled into the pit lane at the end of lap two, 11.862 seconds ahead of Harrison aboard the Dao Engineering Kawasaki, who helped his man about three seconds faster during stops to eat . Hickman was in the lead as they resumed the third lap.
However, it was as good as it gets for the pursuers as Hickman settled in and set the pace with the fastest lap of them all before they set off again for pit lane. four, extending the lead to 12.380 seconds as Harrison was fair.
An expected problem on Dunlop's part did not materialize: Ulsterman was more than 20 seconds behind Harrison and appeared to be having problems with the front end of the bike as his mechanics changed the suspension during the stops.
Hickman was unstoppable and in a turning point he overtook Dunlop on the track for the first time this week, signaling he was over 40 seconds corrected ahead of his main rival to cement his lead in the last race of the week. Dunlop briefly threatened to re-pass the race leader on the road as they headed towards the checkered flag, but refused to do so and allowed Hickman to lead the pair over the line to win by 19.989 seconds over Harrison and equal Dunlop on four wins. weeks of complete single race dominance.
Hickman broke the race record. Photo: Isle of Man TT
“She was a bit of a pig all those two weeks,” Hickman said of his superbike. “She rode me, not me on her. The team did a fantastic job and the team worked really hard to figure out what it was. Until this morning it hadn't been fixed. Yesterday was still not the same. Today in the warm-up, I went down from Bray Hill and realized that we finally made it.
“This morning, Dean got up on the right side of the bed. Michael was great all week. This is amazing and thank you all. I think some people thought I was making excuses [after Sunday's Superbike race], but I'm not that kind of person. I still had some left in the tank, but Dean pulled away with a spare lap. Thank you all.
For Dunlop, that means he will have to wait until 2024 before he can match Uncle Joey's record of 26 wins. He has four race wins this week and is 25 behind.
“I thought we would definitely go faster,” Dunlop said. “I tried something [with tuning], I thought the pace would get faster. We were supposed to be away at 36, but the pace slowed down a bit, I don't know why.
“We made small changes to account for this, but then we lost a bit of . The boys are pushing hard, and it must have been hot and heavy. It took a few laps to get the hang of it, we really ran out of options a bit.
“There's so much you can do. So it was, and we always try to go faster. In the end, this week we won four races. We could win more, we could win less. So it is.”
However, Harrison ended the week at a high level, finishing in second place behind all the solo performances on the podium. “I had six races, six podiums and second place in the senior category,” said Harrison.
“Winning would be good, but everyone is trying to do the same. Thanks to the team the bikes were perfect. It was hard, and now I have time to rest a bit. I said I was going to start from the beginning and lowered my head. I pressed and got the rhythm. I had a few problems in the middle of the race, but nothing serious that I would like to complain about.
Hickman ended the week by paying tribute to the late Raúl Torras, who died in a crash at the end of the opening. Super twin race at the beginning of the week. Spouting tribute to the Spaniard — Spain's fastest TT driver — his brother Ángel waved before the start of the second Supertwin race on Friday, which Hickman himself won. weekend,” Hickman said. “He was a good friend and my thoughts are with him.”
What is TT on the Isle of Man?
Within two weeks, public roads on the Isle of Man closed and the race track became one of the fastest in the world, second only to the Ulster Grand Prix in Northern Ireland, which currently boasts the fastest average lap.
The TT features five different categories, which this year will be racing twice over eight days. Individual riders will jump between Superbike, Superstock, Supersport and Supertwin machines, while riders will team up with a passenger to compete in two sidecar races.
Events are highly weather dependent and long delays can occur, especially when public roads uses are used for two weeks when there are no races, oil spills, parked cars and wild animals are common.
Where can I watch this?
For years, TT coverage was only available on the main TV shows on ITV4 every night. But last year, TT organizers unveiled new plans to provide live streaming online through TT+ Live Pass coming back in 2023.
Access will cost £19.99 for two weeks at a time, which will include coverage of all qualifying and race sessions, daily highlights and hours of exclusive programming TT.
You can also follow the race week with Telegraph Sport.
Isle of Man TT 2023 results
June 3
Monster Energy Supersport One Race Results
1. Michael Dunlop 01:11:22.090
2. Peter Hickman +12.329
3. Dean Harrison +0.393
4. Jamie Coward +41,277
5. Davey Todd +2.836
3Wheeling.Media Sidecar TT Race 1
1. Ben Birchall/Tom Birchall 56:53.768
2. Peter Founds/Jevan Walmsley +24.066
3. John Holden/Maxim Wasser +3:15.401
4. Steve Ramsden/Matthew Ramsden +3.551
5. Gary Bryan/Philip Hyde +16.212
June 4
RST Superbike TT
1. Michael Dunlop 1:43:01.854
2. Peter Hickman +8.233
3. Dean Harrison +9.806
4. James Hillier +2:00.343
5. Jamie Coward — 10.440
June 6
Race RL360 Superstock TT 1
1. Peter Hickman 51:05.244
2. Michael Dunlop — 23,171
3. Dean Harrison +14,827
4. Davey Todd +23.007
5. James Hillier +8,570
Carol Nash Supertwin TT Race 1 — Lap 3
1. Michael Dunlop 56:21.475
2. Mike Brown +26,783
3. Jamie Coward +2.237
4. Peter Hickman +26.045
5. Josh Brooks — 11.129
June 7
3wheeling.media Sidecar TT Race 2 — 3 laps
1. Ben Birchall/Tom Birchall 56:41.815
2. Peter Founds/Jevan Walmsley — 9.147 s
3. Ryan Crowe/Callum Crowe +47.632
4. Tim Reeves/Mark Wilks +1:36.317
5. Steve Ramsden/Matthew Ramsden +38.961
Monster Energy Supersport TT 2
1. Michael Dunlop 1:10:50.234
2. Peter Hickman +9.617
3. Dean Harrison +24,811
4. Davey Todd +11,878
5. Jamie Coward — 21,623
June 9
RL360 Superstock TT Race 2 — 3 Laps
1. Peter Hickman 50:48.330
2. Michael Dunlop — 17,184
3. Dean Harrison +40,836
4. Conor Cummins — 18,300
5. Josh Brooks +23,741
Carol Nash Supertwin TT Race Two Results
1. Peter Hickman
2. Pierre Yves Bian — 47.784 points
3. Josh Brooks — 2001 seconds
4. Stefano Bonetti — 27.398 seconds
5. Rob Hodson — 7.576 s
June 10
Milwaukee Senior TT — 6 laps
1. Peter Hickman
2. Dean Harrison +19,989
3. Michael Dunlop — 20,422
4. Conor Cummins — 1:30.917
5. Josh Brooks +23,564
Who do you need to watch?
Peter Hickman is expected to be the winner in 2023 after winning nine of the last 16 solo races [not counting the TT Zero race. Hickman also holds the all-time lap record, averaging 135.452 mph, set in the 2018 Senior TT, as well as the Superstock TT record. FHO Racing's BMW Monster Energy driver certainly deserves close attention.
Hickman's main competitor in those years was Dean Harrison. This year at Dao Racing Kawasaki, Harrison took three victories, including the 2019 Senior TT.
But both will be keeping an eye out for the threat of 21-time TT winner Michael Dunlop, who appears to be in his best form in years and hit the ground running during qualifying week. Dunlop is just five race wins behind his uncle Joey Dunlop, who remains the man with the most TT wins in history, and with eight single race wins to play in 2023 — more than ever before — this the gap may narrow significantly by the end of the week.
The Padgetts Honda duo of Davey Todd and Maine local Conor Cummins are also keen on being on pace, although the latter has battled illness throughout qualifying week, while Hickman's British Superbikes teammate Josh Brooks is the first returns to TT. time since 2018 and is already threatening the 130 mph barrier.
Another TT legend to keep an eye on is John McGuinness, a 24-time winner who is a step away from Joey Dunlop's record. At 51 years old, McGuinness' best days may be behind him, but he's set his sights on a podium comeback this year with Honda Racing, and the veteran can never be left out of contention if things go in his favor.< /p>So many drivers died?
TT wouldn't be such a challenge if it wasn't for the level of risk and danger. A total of 266 riders and passengers have died on the Snaefell Mountain Course, home to the TT, as well as the Isle of Man Grand Prix and the Classic TT.
In TT alone, 155 people died as a result of accidents, with 2022 proving to be a particularly tragic year, with six deaths reported in two weeks.
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