Tourist Trophy 2019: Hickman and Dunlop shine on day two

The rain continues to shake up the 2019 Tourist Trophy program … and Peter Hickman continues to dominate! Yesterday (Thursday), the n ° 60 Triumph and BMW won in Supersport then in Superstock. In the Lightweight category, on the other hand, Michael Dunlop on Paton offered himself a 19th success.

The 100th edition of the Tourist Trophy, which had already started badly, continues with difficulty: the far too humid weather since the beginning of last week on the Isle of Man (in the Irish Sea) has again forced the organizers to review their entire program.

On Wednesday, the nerves of the drivers, the teams, the race management and the fans were again put to the test: due to the track impassable road, the second round of Supersport scheduled for the morning and the Lightweight race in the evening were in turn postponed to the next day…

• MNC special file :
• MNC of June 4, 2019 :
• MNC of June 4, 2019 :

Yesterday, some daring TT riders were entitled to three races: in addition to the SSP and LTW shifted by one day, the only Superstock event was also held. But to be able to drive everyone (sidecar and electric motorcycles as a bonus), the races have been drastically shortened.

Second Supersport race

Site readers – who, as everyone knows, are a little luckier than others – know that the first round of Supersport was stopped at the end of the second round because of the rain. But the second round was unfortunately not longer.

Big difference with Monday, however: the drivers knew from the start that they were going for two laps instead of four, meaning that they would not have to refuel and that they had to – could – give everything. .. while being wary of some areas that have remained wet !

The first lap was animated mainly by Peter Hickman on his Daytona 675, James Hillier and Dean Harrison on their ZX-6R: the three men fought with strokes of tenths of a second on each sector to be at the top of the race timesheet !

In this first lap, we noted the abandonment of Ian Hutchinson, betrayed by his official Honda. Bad luck for the miraculous driver (5 victories in 5 races in the 2010 TT) and miraculous (he shifts his gears with the right foot following a terrible accident), who could not however covet the victory or even the podium…

At the start of the second round, Harrison took the lead, still followed – if not equaled – by Hickman. Hillier then gave up a little ground … or time in fact, since the pilots are racing against the clock in the Tourist Trophy above all! Local Cummins, private Coward and winner of the first race Johnston completed the Top 6.

The final sprint – or rather the final of the sprint – was played between the two best drivers of the moment, Hickman and Harrison, the former with only 0.3 seconds ahead of Ballaugh and Ramsey, then 0.9 sec. at Bungalow. On the lookout for the slightest mistake or fear, Hillier always stood a handful of seconds behind the leading duo..

It was in the final third of the course that Hickman managed to get rid – slightly – of his opponent, eventually beating Harrison by just 3.3 seconds. Hillier confirms his expertise in 600 cc and climbs again on the SSP podium, this time in third place (2nd in SSP1).

“I gave so much to try to win a Supersport race here, and I was not far away on Monday, that I am delighted to get it today,” said Hickman after the race, especially thanking Triumph for its particular support this year "which made a big difference".

"The bike was top, absolutely brilliant", insists Hicky: "I just had to stick my fingers out in the first sectors", on which his main rival, Dean Harrison, is always extremely swift regardless of his motorbike.

"I had already ridden at 128 mph in Supersport, but given the lack of rolling it is quite special. I only did six laps on this bike during the entire fortnight of competition," said Hickman, author of a second victory on this TT2019 … But don’t we say "never two without three" ?

Superstock Race

Started at the end of the day, the STK event was won much more easily by Peter Hickman. "I have been very strong in the Superstock category for the past two years", notes the n ° 60, claiming that "BMW makes an excellent bike and the team prepares it very well".

This winter, however, the Smiths team received the all-new S1000RR: it was not guaranteed that their rider would immediately perform on the handlebars of the new BMW 2019, right? The point is that from his first outing, at the North West 200 three weeks ago, Hickman had won…

"All the credit goes to the team for making it work so well right out of the box. It was great to ride here, under the sun," notes the BMW driver who preferred not to participate to the NW200 Superbike race because of the wet track and the risks involved.

But did Peter even realize that the roads on the Isle of Man were finally completely dry yesterday late afternoon? Le Journal moto du Net strongly doubts it, as "Hicky" flew over the event and vaporized the competition…

Starting off extremely strong, Hickman was already nine seconds ahead of his best foe, Dean Harrison, at the end of the first lap. The race being reduced to three laps instead of four, the management had decided to establish refueling at the end of this first loop..

The pit lane unfortunately cost James Hillier dearly, then third at the controls of his # 5 ZX-10R: speeding in the pit lane earned him a penalty of 30 seconds. Michael Dunlop took the opportunity to climb temporarily on the podium, the first of this year for the Northern Irishman !

One lap later, just before refueling, the advance of BMW n ° 60 over Kawasaki n ° 2 peaked at 16.5 seconds! Fortunately for the spectators, the fight for the third step of the podium was much tighter: David Johnson and his official Honda n ° 9 gradually climbed back on the BMW n ° 6…

Comfortably installed in the lead, Hickman would have had a lot of fun at the end of the race: "I don’t feel like I have to push too hard on the Superstock. I had a little head start on the last two laps and I could "cruiser" in a way "… At 211.5 km / h on average all the same in the last lap, Editor’s note !

Unable to put pressure on Hickman, Harrison secured a solid second place, as in Supersport. "Deano" is impatiently awaiting the final of the Tourist Trophy 2019 to take his revenge: the Senior TT will be the only 2019 event to go as planned over six laps.

Third place in the Superstock was finally snatched by David Johnson in the last sector of the last lap. A real feat on the part of the Australian who climbs on his first podium in TT, beating Michael Dunlop "himself" by two tiny tenths of a second !

Lightweight Race

Earlier in the afternoon, the same Michael Dunlop had regained confidence by winning the Lightweight (or Supertwin) race. Because until then, in the main categories, "MD" had not particularly shone at TT 2019: 6th in SBK1 and 5th in SSP1 Monday, again 6th in SSP2 Thursday morning…

"I was starting to believe that I would never fight for the top three again, let alone win," said Dunlop after the LTW race. "It’s been a tough week. I struggled to spend time on the track and my wrist injury also bothered me.".

Site also imagines that another even deeper injury could destabilize, possibly restrain the son of the late Robert and nephew of the legendary Joey: the absence of his big brother William, who died on the Skerries 100 last July….

Like the Supersport, the Lightweight race was limited to two laps instead of four. A new sprint therefore, which opposed from the first kilometers Michael Dunlop on his Paton n ° 6 to Jamie Coward on his KTS n ° 15. KMR team mates Johnson and Johnston (!) Vied for third place.

Winner at the North West 200 in this original but very official category, Stefano Bonnetti coveted the podium occupied by Lee Johnston halfway through, while Gary Johnson lost to Paul Jordan. But the Italian could not attack Johnston, nor defend himself against Jordan … and veteran Michael Rutter !

Outpaced until the second pass through the village of Ramsey, Dunlop returned to the lead in the mountainous and very rolling part of the route. The Northern Irishman completed his second lap three tenths of a second off the record … which he himself had set during his victorious race last year !

Jamie Coward secured a magnificent second place just 1.3 seconds behind the winner. Relegated to 25 seconds from Dunlop, Lee Johnston however confirmed his extreme skill at the controls of "small" motorcycles and also climbed on the podium, his second of the week.

This second victory in a row in Lightweight is Michael Dunlop’s 19th victory in the Tourist Trophy. He thus consolidates third place in the list of the most victorious drivers, behind John McGuinness (23) and Joey Dunlop (26) but ahead of Dave Molyneux (17) and Ian Hutchinson (16).

Hired by Norton this year alongside "lord" John McGuinness (23 wins on the clock) and promising Davey Todd (second fastest debutant in TT history behind a certain Hickman), Peter Hickman was precisely not able to play wins. But he will be back at the forefront for the Superbike final, the Senior TT … To be continued on MNC: stay tuned.

To conclude this second day of racing on the Isle of Man, let us finally note the three Top 20 achieved by our compatriot Xavier Denis at the controls of his machines prepared by the Optimark Road Racing team. Congratulations also to Morgan Govignon and Nicolas Pautet who worthily represented the "Frenchies" on the Isle of Man !

Tourist Trophy 2019 results

Supersport Race 2 (Thursday 6 June)

Superstock Race (Thursday June 6)

Lightweight Race (Thursday June 6)

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