Senior TT 2019: ‘King’ Hickman forced to bow to Harrison
Without the overheating of his S1000RR, Hickman would undoubtedly have stayed ahead of Harrison and his Ninja during the last Superbike race of the 2019 Tourist Trophy. The BMW n ° 60 rider consoles himself by winning the Joey Dunlop championship which rewards the best rider of the week.
The second round of the Superbike of the Tourist Trophy – or Senior TT – ended a week of sadly mourning competition wonderfully well in terms of weather … Unlike the previous races of the Tourist Trophy 2019, this final event took place in normal conditions !
Stressed by countless program changes and frustrated by entire days spent in their box waiting in vain for the sun to pierce through the clouds – or for the rain to stop, even if only that – the pilots saw their coolness and patience rewarded…
- MNC special file :
- MNC of June 7, 2019 :
- MNC of June 4, 2019 :
- MNC of June 4, 2019 :
Last Friday, the madmen of the handlebars – but not completely stamped either – were able to cover the six laps which traditionally count the final of the "TiTi", on a track totally dry road. Winner of the first SBK race in 2019 and the Senior TT in 2018, Peter Hickman started as favorite…
Second Superbike race
Besides being the favorite, Peter Hickman was extremely motivated. But his best enemy Dean Harrison was almost as much: on the whole of the 1st lap, the two fastest drivers in TT at present were in the same second on each sector. !
Immediately removed from the fight for victory by No.60 BMW and No.2 Kawasaki, Connor Cummins and Michael Dunlop began an intense battle for third place. Michael Rutter on his roaring RCV No.8, Gary Johnson on his ZX-10R No.7 and Davey Todd on his S1000RR No.18 were fighting for the fifth position.
"Hicky" completed his 1st lap at a breakneck pace: his average of 134.284 mph (216 km / h!) Over the 60 km of the course will remain the best of this 100th edition of the Tourist Trophy. But this excellent first loop only gave him a lead of 2.2 seconds over the formidable "Deano"…
Manxois Cummins was then 14 seconds behind the leader … and less than a second ahead of the North Irishman Dunlop! Winner the day before in the Lightweight category (on Paton), the n ° 6 (then BMW) wanted to erase his disappointment of the first SBK 2019 race. As a reminder, Joey’s nephew had finished "only" sixth…
Winner 23 times in the "Mountain Course" (three less than Joey Dunlop "himself"), John McGuinness and his Norton had to withdraw from the race on their first visit to Bungalow. Still on the track but very poorly started (21st in the first sector after a straight ahead), James Hillier was in 11th position at the end of the 1st loop…
On the second lap, Hickman managed to maintain his tiny lead over the first half of the often favorable Harrison route, then increased it significantly as he traveled the mountain. At the end of a second loop at 134.281 mph and just before refueling, Peter preceded Dean by 8 seconds.
About twenty seconds behind (against the clock, not on the road), the battle between Cummins and Dunlop slowly turned to the advantage of the former: the Honda rider was then a good five seconds ahead of the BMW. Gary Johnson having given up, Davey Todd reached the Top 5, just ahead of Michael Rutter.
Thirteenth at the end of the first lap and 19th one lap later, Ian Hutchinson chose not to start from the pits, his physical condition not allowing him to fight at his usual level. "Jimbo" Hillier on the contrary, came out the knife between his teeth and the sticks of dynamite in the buttocks, in the same second as Coward and McCormack then in fight for the 7th place.
At the end of the 3rd lap, that is to say halfway, Hickman’s lead over Harrison increased to 13.5 seconds! Cummins also significantly distanced his pursuer: Dunlop was relegated to almost 16 seconds. Todd continued his brilliant run and completed the next lap seven seconds faster than Rutter.
In this same 4th lap, Hickman extended his lead over Harrison to almost 18 seconds! But after a second passage in the pits to fill up with gasoline and change the rear tire, the fabulous mechanics suddenly seized up … Harrison took 11 seconds back from the leader in the first sector of the 5th lap !
So far, his new S1000RR "had been great but the temperature was very high. We had this coolant problem and we couldn’t solve it. It doesn’t make sense", explained the then forced pilot. to spare his "Double R" to finish the race…
"I could only open the throttle only halfway, it was a job," regretted the pilot, who is accustomed to rolling almost all the time. "The last two laps seemed like an eternity to me. Well done to Dean, he gets the victory he was looking for in heavy displacement".
Under these conditions, Harrison had no trouble reducing his delay to a second at Ballaugh and then taking command of the race. Proof that the BMW n ° 60 was running under revs: Sulby‘s "Speed Trap" only "flashed" it at 159 mph, against 30 more for the ZX-10R n ° 2 !
Aware of no longer riding for the win, Hickman nevertheless continued to negotiate at best on his S1000RR to try to save his second place against Cummins. But Peter eventually did, completing his six laps less than six seconds faster than Connor. !
Relegated to around thirty seconds, Michael Dunlop had to accept a new fourth place, his second in 2019 with that obtained in Superstock the day before. James Hillier could be delighted to have climbed up to 5th place, 2.5 seconds ahead of a remarkable Davey Todd, already a member of the "131 mph club" for his second TT participation..
The "Top Ten" of this final confrontation of the Tourist Trophy 2019 was completed by veteran Michael Rutter, Jamie Coward (author of his first lap at 130mph), Brian McCormack (128 mph for his part) and Dominic Herbertson (nice fellow).
Despite his misadventure on the Senior TT, Peter Hickman is rewarded with his exemplary week on the Isle of Man: the record holder for the "Moutain Course" (135.452 mph or 217.989 km / h during the Senior TT 2018) wins the Trophy Joey Dunlop whom he raised in 2017, but sold to Michael Dunlop last year.
Winner of the first Superbike race and third of the first Supersport round on Monday 4 June, winner of the second SSP round and the Superstock race on Thursday 6, and finally second of the second Superbike race on Friday 7, Hickman totals 111 points (out of 125) against 98 for Harrison and 69 for Hillier.
In the ranking of private pilots, Coward achieved the full card (125) thanks to his two 8th places on the first day of competition in SBK and SSP, a 5th then a 9th on the second day in SSP then STK, and his 8th place on the third day in SBK. He also becomes the fastest Yamaha rider in the Tourist Trophy.
Finally, on the French side, Site once again salutes the prowess of Morgan Govignon on the handlebars of his BMW (he finished 32nd in the Senior TT, 12 minutes from the "King" Hikman) … as well as his prose on the keyboard of his smartphone. !
The Frenchies complete their "TiTi"
"I’ll make it short for today, we’re bending before we jump into the boat. Just to say how much this last race saved my TT, our TT … I’m happy, proud of what we have This first time in 1000 was off to a bad start, but this Senior, those fucking 6 laps on this kind of monster made me smile for a year, "Momo tells his friends (to Facebook)..
"Three years ago, this time of 18 ’33 would have enabled me to be the fastest Frenchman on the Isle of Man, shoulder to shoulder with MiG. For a first, that would have been great … But there, I’m just behind, at 4 seconds (he made 18’29 in 2018), in his aspi, and far behind my buddy Ju (18’09, sorry sir) ". Julien Toniutti remains the "Fastest Frenchie" !
"Mister" Govignon is therefore third in the French classification: "It’s a good place, a good place. My place, neither more nor less. And it’s perfect. Thank you to all the friends who follow us, help us, support us, support us. Life is good, damn it … "
The results of the last race are less satisfactory for Xavier Denis: "only the distance of the Senior will have been respected, with 7 non-starting drivers and 21 withdrawals at the finish. I will unfortunately be part of it", regrets the Optimark Racing driver. , author of four Top 20s in 2019 !
"Plagued with brake problems on the 1000 all day Thursday, the origin of our problem could not be found due to lack of time, driving and parts. The first lap was arduous, and to entering the second loop, I realized that the game was not worth the candle. I decided not to make the same mistakes as in 2016 and 2017 and I rallied Grandstand in slow motion to finish this 2019 TT there "… safe and sound !
This 100th edition leaves a bittersweet taste to our compatriot … But he notes in conclusion that "it leaves a year of respite for Julien who keeps the French record, hoping that he will be able to defend his chances at the TT 2020". Case to follow on MNC, stay tuned !
Superbike Race 2 – Senior TT (Friday June 7th)
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