HICKMAN: ‘I HATED BEING THE NEARLY MAN’
BSB star seizes his moment with a blistering pace on Superstock weapon
Peter Hickman blitzed the opposition to take his maiden TT victory in a thrilling Superstock race that saw him come within three tenths of Dean Harrison’s outright lap record.
The Smiths BMW rider didn’t make it easy for himself, running on at Bradden Bridge and losing almost 20 seconds on the opening lap. But Hickman was on a mission when he rejoined and he set an incredible speed of 134.623mph from Glen Helen to Glen Helen. By the time they came into the pits at the end of lap two he was in the lead, but a slow pit stop saw him lose four seconds on rival Michael Dunlop. However, a rapid third lap saw him regain the lead before a 134.403mph last lap saw him beat Dunlop by four seconds as he narrowly missed out on Dean Harrison’s 134.432mph outright TT record.
Hickman headed in to 2018 TT a pre-event favourite having finished on the podium in each of the five races he started last year. However the event got off to a difficult start for the lanky Lincolnshireman as he was forced to retire on the opening lap of the Superbike race with his BMW misfiring. “That’s the hardest I’ve ever ridden a bike around here,” Hickman said. “I was annoyed with myself after running on at Bradden. I hate being a nearly man and so far I’ve always been a nearly man, so I got my head down and got on with it. I was point to point, kerb to kerb, line to line everywhere. I took the bike by its horns and made it have it.” Hickman was also given some last-minute motivation by 11-time TT winner Philip McCallen. “McCallen came up to me on the grid and told me it was about time I pulled my finger out and won one. He was deadly serious, he’s been telling me for a while. When I saw him after he told me he’d have kicked my arse if I hadn’t won it! He told me I’ve always been fast enough, and it’s true, but now I’ve finally won one!”
Thanks to his first lap blunder and a slower pitstop, the gap between Hickman and 17-time TT winner Michael Dunlop was just 0.1 at Ramsey on the final lap but he was able to pull four seconds on the TT legend over the mountain, setting a new outright sector record between Ramsey and the Bungalow, which had been held by Steve Plater since 2009 until Dean Harrison took it in the Superbike race last Saturday.
“I really love the mountain section, it reminds me a bit of a short circuit up there. It’s quite simple, I was on it: there’s nothing else to say. I had absolutely nothing left and I walked away with my TT win. Now I’ve got the monkey off my back, hopefully we can bag a few more!”