THE FIRST EVENT OF THE WEEK, HELD ON A
Sunday, started on a thrilling note with James Hillier of JG Speedfit Kawasaki leading the race at Glen Helen on the first lap with a margin of 0.8 seconds over Dean Harrison of Silicone Engineering Kawasaki. Meanwhile, Ian Hutchinson of Tyco BMW and Michael Dunlop of Bennetts Suzuki tied in third. As the racers made their way around the circuit for the first time in this race, they kept swapping positions and by the end of lap one, Michael Dunlop was leading with a brilliant 131.135 mph or 211.041 km/h lap. Harrison was in second while Hillier had moved down to third and Hutchy was in fourth.
As the riders went around the circuit for a second time, Dunlop led at Glen Helen; however, with Harrison going really fast for the first nine laps, the gap between Dunlop and Dean was down to 1.4 seconds from 1.8 s. On the second lap, Dunlop and Suzuki retired at Handley’s, handing over the lead to Harrison, who increased it to more than seven seconds. Meanwhile, Ian Hutchinson did manage to move up the order, although by the end of the second lap he was pushed back to fourth place.
At the pit-stop the order was simple: Harrison led the race, followed by Hillier in second, Peter Hickman of Smiths BMW in third, Ian Hutchinson in fourth, and IOM local Conor Cummins in fifth.
On the third lap, Ian Hutchinson got into the lead early on though the margin was tiny. Dean Harrison was second and Hillier was third. The race continued and owing to Hutchy’s excellent pace over the mountain section he managed to increase his lead on the following laps.
Meanwhile, behind Hutchy the battle between Harrison and Hickman intensified as both kept swapping places on laps four and five. As the race entered the last lap, Hutchy was leading with a commanding 7.9 seconds, but by Ballaugh, Hickman had brought that gap down to just 2.5 seconds and to 1.6 seconds at Ramsay hairpin. The mountain section came to Hutchy’s rescue as the Bingley Bullet zoomed past the Serene Section and crossed the finish line with a comfortable lead of five seconds over Hickman, despite Peter doing a faster 131.103 mph or 210.990 km/h lap. This victory in Superbike takes Hutchy’s TT win tally to 15. Hickman finished second thanks to his thrilling performance. Dean Harrison, the racer who had led the race in the beginning, managed to finish the first event of the week on the podium.