McGuinness makes it 20 in epic Senior TT Honda TT Legends rider John McGuinness wrapped up the 2013 Isle of Man TT races with a superb win in today’s Senior race, taking his 20th TT win and 41st podium in total. Team-mate Michael Dunlop took a close second place to end with four wins and a second from his five races whilst third Honda TT Legends rider Michael Rutter placed sixth, posting his first 130mph+ lap in the process. The initial race was red flagged after a racing incident and so the race was re-run at the later time of 4.30pm and it was Dunlop who led from McGuinness at the end of the opening lap, the gap between the duo just 1.4s. There was little to choose between the team-mates in the early stages but a lap of 131.272mph gave McGuinness a 2.3s lead at the end of the second lap as the riders came in for their first pit stop. Dunlop took back a third of a second on the third lap but another 131mph+ lap by McGuinness fourth time around saw the lead go up to six seconds and it gave him the breathing space he needed. The Morecambe Missile added another four seconds to his lead in the final two laps and he was able to come home for his sixth Senior race victory, one fewer than Mike Hailwood. Dunlop was comfortable in second and with Kiwi Bruce Anstey in third it was another Honda 1-2-3. Rutter, meanwhile, had, arguably, one of his finest ever TT rides and on the opening lap he broke the 130mph barrier for the first time, a lap of 130.137mph on the Honda TT Legends CBR1000RR placing him in an excellent fourth. Although he slipped back two places by half race distance, two more 130mph+ laps, including a final lap of 130.637mph saw him take sixth place at the chequered flag. John McGuinness “It feels absolutely fantastic to win today and if there’s one race to win, it’s the Senior. I’ve had a good week but a win’s escaped me so do it today with the sun shining and thousands of fans waving me all the way is brilliant. The conditions were incredible, the bike was fantastic and with two superb pit stops we got the job done. I still feel really sharp and I hit all my apexes on the final lap so with a Honda 1-2-3, the job’s a dream!” Michael Dunlop “It was a good, enjoyable race and John rode lovely so fair play to him. I had him in sight early on and there wasn’t much between us but I got held up a bit by backmarkers, catching them at the wrong times, and I lost a bit of time there and at the pit stops. No excuses though, the bike was mint and I’m going home with four wins and a second place so I can’t complain with how my week’s gone.” Michael Rutter “I’m thrilled to get sixth place and get my first 130mph lap but it was a hard race as, apart from passing a couple of the later runners, I never saw anyone the entire race! Lapping on your own is never easy and I’d have loved to have been involved in the dices on the roads like John and Michael were in but I’m happy enough. The bike never missed a beat and I’ve really enjoyed myself at this year’s TT.” More, from another press release issued by Honda Racing: TT success for Honda and the Honda TT Legends The 2013 Isle of Man TT has been a resounding success for Honda and the Honda TT Legends, with six out of the seven solo races being won by the team’s riders and seven of the nine solo and sidecar races being won on Honda machinery. Honda’s tally of TT wins now stands at 170. The week began in spectacular style on Saturday with the Superbike race, which ended in an all-Honda podium. Honda TT Legends’ Michael Dunlop stormed to victory to bring home his first TT win for Honda, 30 years after his uncle Joey Dunlop achieved the same feat. Team-mate John McGuinness took third place behind Wilson Craig Honda’s Cameron Donald and in doing so set a new outright lap record of 131.67mph. Saturday also hosted the first of the Sidecar races with quadruple World Champion Tim Reeves taking his first TT victory alongside passenger Dan Sayle aboard their Honda-based machine. The following day saw the first of the Supersport races with Michael Dunlop securing his second win of the week, this time with his own MD Racing Honda team. By the afternoon and the end of the Superstock race, his double had become a hat-trick as he took yet another win and set a stunning new lap record of 131.220mph. McGuinness was also on the podium in third with HM Plant Honda by Padgett’s Motorcycles. After a day of rest, the races returned on Wednesday with the TT Zero Challenge, the second Sidecar event and the final Supersport battle. Honda TT Legends’ riders Michael Rutter and John McGuinness impressed on their respective electric bikes, with Rutter snatching the win from McGuinness by just 1.67 seconds. The Sidecar race saw former World Champions Ben and Tom Birchall leading from start to finish aboard their Honda machinery to take their first TT victory. In the Supersport race, Michael Dunlop put in another blistering performance with his MD Racing Honda to secure the win and set another new lap record of 128.667mph. Bruce Anstey and John McGuinness – both riding for HM Plant Honda by Padgett’s Motorcycles – placed second and third respectively to complete another all-Honda podium. With the majority of the racing complete, all eyes turned to the final and most anticipated battle of the Isle of Man TT – the six-lap Senior. With four wins already in the bag, Michael Dunlop was aiming for five out of five, while John McGuinness was on the hunt for his 20th TT victory. It was McGuinness who triumphed in the final race, which was delayed following a red flag after an incident on Bray Hill on the opening lap. The Morcambe Missile’s 20th TT win and 41st podium coming after an epic battle with Michael Dunlop, who finished second to crown an incredible personal week, with Kiwi Bruce Anstey completing yet another Honda 1-2-3. More, from the Isle Of Man TT Press Office: JOHN McGUINNESS TAKES 20th ISLE OF MAN TT RACES VICTORY AFTER POKERSTARS SENIOR TT IS RESTARTED FOLLOWING BRAY HILL INCIDENT John McGuinness took his 20th Isle of Man TT race victory on Friday when he won the Pokerstars Senior race by ten seconds from team-mate Michael Dunlop, to make it a record 41 podiums in total. Bruce Anstey took third place, and set the fastest lap of the race at 131.531mph, as he got the better of Lightweight TT race winner James Hillier by 0.978s on the final run down the Mountain. After the initial race was red flagged due to an incident at Bray Hill involving rider Jonathan Howarth in which ten spectators were injured, the race got underway at 4.30pm and the first few laps were nothing short of superb as the gaps between the leading riders were minimal. It was Gary Johnson who grabbed the lead at Glen Helen by 0.5s from William Dunlop with Michael Dunlop just 0.05s further back! Michael Rutter slotted into fourth as McGuinness found himself down in fifth. It was all change at Ramsey though as Michael Dunlop hit the front for the first time, Johnson now second and McGuinness third. At the end of the lap, the order was still with the first five riders all over 130mph and only seven seconds between them, Dunlop leading from McGuinness, Johnson, Rutter and Guy Martin. McGuinness began to make his move on the second lap and, after edging ahead by just five hundredths of a second at Ballaugh, he completed his second lap at 131.272mph to open up a 2.4s lead. Dunlop was 4.8s ahead of Martin with Bruce Anstey up to fourth and ahead of Rutter as Johnson was forced to retire with a broken foot assembly. Another slick pit stop by McGuinness’ Honda TT Legends crew saw him leave the pits with a bigger lead but by Glen Helen the gap was down to half a second although McGuinness had doubled this by Ramsey. It was nip and tuck all the way and at half race distance there was two seconds between the duo, Anstey in third ahead of Martin and Hillier, who had relegated Rutter to sixth. On the fourth lap, McGuiness appeared to have broken Dunlop slightly and, for the first time, his lead increased the whole way round. Leading on the road with Hillier right in his wheeltracks, the pair lapped at over 131mph as they came into their second pit stop and whilst it allowed McGuinness to go seven seconds clear of Dunlop, it also allowed Hillier to not only move up to fourth but also close up on Anstey. Fifth time around and McGuinness’ lead crept up to the ten second mark, Hillier continued to have a great education behind the current King of the Mountain whilst the thousands of fans around the track were also being treated to an on-track duel between Anstey and Donald. McGuinness and Dunlop looked safe but third place was anyone’s and as the riders headed into their sixth and final lap, Hillier had nosed ahead albeit by the tiny margin of 0.16s! The final lap saw the leading four riders all lap in excess of 131mph, Hillier and Anstey both setting personal best laps, but it was McGuinness who was celebrating the most as he took his 20th TT win, and his 41st podium, by 10.1s. Dunlop ended his phenomenal week with a second place and, in a thrilling last lap, Anstey set the fastest lap of the race, 131.531mph, to get the better of Hillier for third. Martin took fifth with Rutter in sixth, the Midlands rider delighted with his first 130mph+ laps. William Dunlop took seventh from Dean Harrison and Dan Stewart with Australian David Johnson securing his best TT result in tenth. Lee Johnston was the best of the Privateer’s in 11th and that allowed him to take that particular Championship by ten points from Dan Kneen, who took 12th in today’s race. The race was delayed by 3 1/2 hours following the incident on Bray Hill. The Race organisers issued the following statement: “ACU Events Ltd can confirm that 10 spectators were injured during an incident in the Senior TT Race. The rider Jonathan Howarth sustained a minor fracture. The race was red flagged and emergency services were immediately in attendance at the scene. The ten spectators and the rider were taken to hospital with injuries ranging from slight to serious but not life threatening. Four of the spectators have been discharged, five of the injured have been kept in hospital and one remains under observation in the emergency department.” Pokerstars Senior TT – Official Result Sheet Pos No. Rider Machine/Entrant Time Speed Replica 1 3 John McGuinness Honda/Honda TT Legends 01:45:20.394 128.943 Silver 2 6 Michael Dunlop Honda/Honda TT Legends 01:45:30.486 128.737 Silver 3 5 Bruce Anstey Honda/HM Plant Honda by Padgett 01:45:37.999 128.584 Silver 4 1 James Hillier Kawasaki/Quattro Plant Kawasaki 01:45:38.977 128.565 Silver 5 4 Guy Martin Suzuki/Tyco Suzuki 01:46:14.371 127.851 Silver 6 8 Michael Rutter Honda/Honda TT Legends 01:46:35.167 127.435 Silver 7 11 William Dunlop Yamaha/Milwaukee Yamaha Super 01:47:11.428 126.716 Silver 8 14 Dean Harrison Kawasaki/ 01:48:42.322 124.951 Silver 9 9 Dan Stewart Honda/SMT / Wilcock Racing 01:49:28.127 124.079 Silver 10 16 David Johnson Kawasaki/PR Racing LLOYD & JO 01:49:34.111 123.966 Silver 11 58 Lee Johnston Honda/East Coast Construction 01:49:58.663 123.505 Silver 12 12 Dan Kneen Suzuki/Marks Bloom Racing 01:50:13.986 123.219 Silver 13 17 Simon Andrews Honda/Honda RAF Reserves Raci 01:51:00.510 122.358 Bronze 14 20 Davy Morgan Suzuki/STRANGFORD CARAVAN 01:51:03.678 122.300 Bronze 15 32 Stephen Thompson Other/Cookstown B E Racing 01:51:58.780 121.297 Bronze 16 26 Brian McCormack Kawasaki/KMR Kawasaki Powered 01:52:28.307 120.766 Bronze 17 23 Ian Pattinson BMW/WEARDALE RACING 01:52:36.639 120.617 Bronze 18 18 Mark Parrett BMW/C and C LTD 01:52:41.232 120.535 Bronze 19 18 Ben Wylie BMW/AFC Motorsport/PerCup Coff 01:52:47.369 120.426 Bronze 20 15 Ian Lougher Honda/ILR 01:52:47.778 120.419 Bronze 21 31 Jimmy Storrar Honda/Wilson Craig Racing 01:53:07.369 120.071 Bronze 22 29 Robert Barber BMW/Swinton Bikes 01:53:27.834 119.710 Bronze 23 88 Horst Saiger* Kawasaki/Saiger-Racing.com Kaw 01:53:33.088 119.618 Bronze 24 21 Ian Mackman Norton/NORTON MOTORCYCLES 01:53:42.822 119.447 Bronze 25 35 Gavin Hunt* Kawasaki/JAR Kawasaki 01:53:46.312 119.386 Bronze 26 52 Herve Gantner BMW/Penz13.com 01:53:53.914 119.253 Bronze 27 22 Paul Shoesmith BMW/Ice Valley by Motorsave Trad 01:53:56.184 119.214 Bronze 28 30 Russ Mountford Honda/SHR Racing 01:54:12.124 118.937 Bronze 29 44 Derek Sheils Kawasaki/ 01:54:20.847 118.785 Bronze 30 45 Paul Owen Honda/Team #98 01:54:27.906 118.663 Bronze 31 36 Gary Carswell Honda/ 01:54:32.289 118.588 Bronze 32 27 Kiaran Hankin Honda/Khhire 01:54:38.492 118.481 Bronze 33 54 Steve Heneghan Kawasaki/Quattro Plant Kawasaki 01:55:05.673 118.014 Bronze 34 48 David Hewson Aprilia/David Hewson Ltd 01:55:16.350 117.832 Bronze 35 41 Grant Wagstaff Kawasaki/Ducks Cross Racing 01:55:38.932 117.449 Bronze 36 38 Daniel Hegarty Norton/Norton Motorcycles 01:55:59.120 117.108 37 42 Mark Miller Aprilia/Splitlath Redmond Racing 01:56:02.137 117.057 38 79 John Ingram Suzuki/Morello Services 01:56:06.740 116.980 39 87 Nuno Caetano Kawasaki/Team of Portugal by KS 01:56:07.473 116.968 40 61 Fabrice Miguet Kawasaki/TEAM KAWASAKI MIG 01:56:18.216 116.787 41 64 David Madsen-Mygdal Honda/ 01:56:30.258 116.586 42 75 James McCullagh Honda/JKJ Honda 01:56:33.155 116.538 43 80 Michael Niblett Kawasaki/Astro Racing 01:57:50.303 115.266 44 63 Alan Connor Yamaha/CONNOR RACING 01:58:01.844 115.079 45 83 Graham English BMW/Fix Auto Collision 01:58:28.274 114.651 46 66 Paul Duckett Honda/Duckett Roofing 01:58:53.453 114.246 47 77 Neal Champion Kawasaki/Frasers Motorcycles 01:59:41.071 113.488 48 56 Eric Wilson Kawasaki/David Hewson Limited 02:00:36.142 112.625 49 59 Allann Venter* Honda/DP Coldplaning/TC Racing 01:39:54.751 113.289 50 86 James Hurrell Kawasaki/ENANJAY RACING 01:42:12.701 110.741 Best Lap – 5 Bruce Anstey 17:12.671 131.531mph Total Laps – 331 Total Mileage – 12488.63 OFFICIAL RESULTS Gary Thompson, Clerk of the Course Fri Jun 7 19:27:47 2013