Tourist Trophy – Tourist Trophy 2018: record victory (s) for Hickman at the Senior TT –

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Tourist Trophy 2018: record win (s) for Hickman at the Senior TT

Tourist Trophy - Tourist Trophy 2018: record victory (s) for Hickman at the Senior TT -

The 2018 Tourist Trophy concluded on Friday with a final and thrilling Superbike race. The two new stars of motorcycle road racing, Dean Harrison and Peter Hickman, fought to the end… Site looks back on this memorable Senior TT race !

TT 2018: second Superbike race (6 laps)

Last year at the Tourist Trophy, the Senior TT race was marked by the victory of … and "over" his best enemy Ian Hutchinson, who won the first 2017 Superbike race but almost lost everything in the second !

Remember that "Hutchy" had fallen and was fracture crushed the left femur. Just recovered to participate in the Tourist Trophy 2018, had preferred to get off his motorcycle after four laps during the opening Superbike race.

Tourist Trophy - Tourist Trophy 2018: record victory (s) for Hickman at the Senior TT -

For the grand final last Friday, Hutchinson was again content to cover four loops: 243 terminals all the same, almost fully, with one leg free of his external fixators for only five weeks! A real feat. Or sheer madness ?!

Winner of the first two races this year (Superbike and Supersport), Michael Dunlop on his BMW n ° 6 started as favorite for the ultimate and prestigious "Senior TT Race". However, Dean Harrison’s new all-time record and Peter Hickman’s impressive Superstock victory left doubts about the course and outcome of the race….

Tourist Trophy - Tourist Trophy 2018: record victory (s) for Hickman at the Senior TT -

By completing the first lap at an astounding average of 133.678 mph, Dean Harrison (Kawasaki n ° 5) takes control of the race … but Peter Hickman (BMW n ° 10) concedes him only one second and four tenths! Michael Dunlop’s "start-up" is – a hint – quieter: he is 3rd at 13 seconds behind "Hicky".

Quicker on the first two-thirds of the course, Dean and his Ninja grab a two-second lead. But Peter and his "Double R" make up for it entirely on the mountainous section: when refueling, the two leading men are still separated by 1.4 seconds and are the only ones to have turned under 17 minutes.

Tourist Trophy - Tourist Trophy 2018: record victory (s) for Hickman at the Senior TT -

Connor Cummins (Honda n ° 1) had a better second lap than Michael Dunlop, so that the Manx driver settled on "his" provisional podium. Joshua Brookes takes advantage of the retirement of David Johnson (BMW n ° 9) to hoist his Norton n ° 11 in the "Top Five", in front of the first private driver Sam West (BMW n ° 27). Rookie Davey Todd impresses with eighth place !

Leaving full of gas and motivation (!), Dean Harrison is more than eight seconds ahead of Peter Hickman at the level of the Ramsey hairpin, but the BMW rider recovers three in the mountain. The duettists complete the first half of the race in less than 52 minutes: the foundations for a new record for the event are laid…

Tourist Trophy - Tourist Trophy 2018: record victory (s) for Hickman at the Senior TT -

The fourth lap is also the fastest ever recorded on the Isle of Man: Hickman breaks Harrison’s recent record by turning at 134.456 mph on average. At the second refueling, the gap between the two new stars of the Tourist Trophy drops to 1.4 seconds !

Cummins is soon a minute behind the inseparable (?) Leaders, but also 30 seconds ahead of Dunlop who is clearly not at his best. First man of the "TiTi" to be lowered under 17 minutes, the n ° 6 BMW has just turned in 17 ’21 against 16′ 50 for his colleague BMW n ° 10.

Tourist Trophy - Tourist Trophy 2018: record victory (s) for Hickman at the Senior TT -

The pilots refuel a second time and set off for the last two laps. Harrison took advantage of his speed in the villages and the undergrowth at the start of the course to take to the open sea (6.2 sec at Glen Helen) but the gap fell to a small second in the Ramsey hairpin … But the first latecomers appear !

With one lap of the checkered flag, the fight for victory remains more intense than ever: Harrison begins the final loop with a tiny two seconds ahead of Hickman. ZX-10RR scratches two seconds in nine miles, then comes close to six seconds ahead as it goes eight miles away…

Tourist Trophy - Tourist Trophy 2018: record victory (s) for Hickman at the Senior TT -

The S1000RR then reduced its delay to two seconds as Ramsey passed and took the lead for the very first time in the race, on the penultimate sector leading to Bungalow and for just 0.834 seconds! At the last intermediate (Cronk ny Mona), the German missile precedes the Japanese bomb by less than two seconds !

Dean Harrison crosses the finish line first, after a record lap (134.918 mph) which lasts less than a minute: Peter Hickman completes his last lap of the "Snaefell Moutain" in 16 ‘42.778, ie at a average speed of 135.452 mph (217.989 km / h) !

Tourist Trophy - Tourist Trophy 2018: record victory (s) for Hickman at the Senior TT -

Already a member of the very "select" 134 mph club founded by his best enemy Dean during the first Superbike 2018 round, the winner of this fabulous Senior TT is in turn opening his own 135 mph club. Good luck to those who wish to enter…

Peter Hickman also sets the new record for the event by covering the six laps in 1h 43’08.065, 48 seconds less than Michael Dunlop in 2016! Leader for five and a half laps, Dean Harrison is only four seconds behind in the end.

Tourist Trophy - Tourist Trophy 2018: record victory (s) for Hickman at the Senior TT -

Connor Cummins also broke the Dunlop record and finished third with a respectable 30 seconds behind the new "King of the moutain". Fourth at 40 seconds, "MD" consoles himself by winning the championship which bears the name of his legendary uncle Joey Dunlop, thanks to his three new TT victories (18 in all).

The Top 5 is completed by 2015 British Superbike champion Josh Brookes. At the controls of his shiny and "vociferous" Norton V4 RR SG7, he became the fastest Australian in the Tourist Trophy! He won incidentally but hands down the competition for the most beautiful mustache…

Tourist Trophy - Tourist Trophy 2018: record victory (s) for Hickman at the Senior TT -

In passing, we salute the remarkable performance of "newcomer" Davey Todd who finished his second Superbike race in a brilliant ninth place. With his turn at 128.379 mph, the No. 80 Suzuki rider became the second fastest rider in the history of the Tourist Trophy, behind a certain Peter Hickman. You said promising ?!

Finally, let’s conclude this report with further congratulations to our former pilot – champion! – rally: Julien Toniutti who finished this Senior TT in an impressive 24th place. The fastest "Frenchie" on the "TiTi" took advantage of the last lap to improve his best time: 18’10. Sorry, 18’09.922 !

Tourist Trophy - Tourist Trophy 2018: record victory (s) for Hickman at the Senior TT -

The average speed of BMW driver no.56 thus reached 124.622 mph. In other words, for the first time in his short career at the Tourist Trophy (only three participations, but MNC wishes him a lot of happier others), Julien crosses the 200 km / h mark. It causes, no ?!

Peter Hickman, winner:
“I knew Dean was quick and we expected Michael to be there too. I’ve been strong on the mountain all week, I had my own pace up there but the gap kept growing. . I thought if I could gain a few seconds in the first sectors, so as to be in the five or six seconds, then I could win. And that’s what happened. I’m really happy, obviously. . That makes two victories this week, of which the most important. This week, we gave a lot of work to people (officials, press managers, journalists, etc. Editor’s note!) By rewriting the record books ".

Dean Harrison, 2nd:
"Everything was going really well, then I got stuck behind a few latecomers but I can’t use that as an excuse. I accept the blow, I’m not disappointed, I’m happy. I have the pace to run. up front I’m in heaven. Pete is a great pilot, I knew I wouldn’t escape. I wondered where Michael Dunlop was, I thought he would join us today ".

Conor Cummins, 3rd:
“The pace was hot today, but I wasn’t surprised. I was focused on completing six clear laps. I got underway and my pit stops were amazing. I’m very happy, we will come back next year to do it again ".

Top 10 Superbike 2 (Senior TT)

  1. # 10 Peter Hickman – BMW / Smiths Racing – 01: 43: 08.065 (131.700 mph)
  2. # 5 Dean Harrison – Kawasaki / Silicone Engineering – 01: 43: 10.126 – (131.656 mph)
  3. # 1 Conor Cummins – Honda / padgettsmotorcycles.com – 01: 44: 50.559 (129.554 mph)
  4. # 6 Michael Dunlop – BMW / Tyco BMW – 01: 45: 45.315 (128.436 mph)
  5. # 11 – Joshua Brookes – Norton / Norton Motorcycles – 01: 46: 09.904 (127.940 mph)
  6. # 7 Gary Johnson – Kawasaki / RAF Regular & Reserves – 01: 47: 06.818 (126.807 mph)
  7. # 12 Martin Jessopp – BMW / Riders Motorcycles BMW – 01: 47: 58.408 (125.798 mph)
  8. # 16 Jamie Coward – BMW / Team Penz13.com – 01: 48: 27.787 (125.230 mph)
  9. # 80 Davey Todd – Suzuki / Burrows Engineering Racing – 01: 49: 00.059 (124.612 mph)
  10. # 32 Brian McCormack – BMW / Vanfleet Transport – 01: 49: 04.383 (124.529 mph)

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