Ian Hutchinson made history on Friday when he became the first man to win 5 TT Races in a week after clinching a shortened 4-lap Dainese Senior race in what was a dramatic day’s racing on the Isle of Man. Hutchinson took the lead from the start and when close challengers John McGuinness and Conor Cummins retired and crashed respectively he was able to ease off in the closing stages to come home 37.77 seconds clear of Ryan Farquhar and Bruce Anstey. He beat the record of 11 time champion Phillip McCallen who was previously the only man in the race’s 103 year history to win 4 races in a week, which he achieved in 1996. The initial 6-lap race got underway under blue skies and beautiful sunshine again and spectators were set for a thriller as Hutchinson, McGuinness, Cummins and Guy Martin went head to head over the first two laps. With all four lapping at over 130mph, there were less than six seconds splitting the quartet after the first pit stop, McGuinness leading the way from Martin, Cummins and Hutchinson. However, Martin was reported as missing at Glen Helen third time around and news came through that he had been involved in an incident at Ballagarey. With the bike having caught fire, the hedge was also alight and the race was red flagged with the fire brigade dispatched to the scene as the whole Island held their breath in concern for one of the sport’s most popular stars. Fortunately, news filtered through that the 29-year old was conscious and talking to medics, a later statement confirming that he had bruising to his lungs and minor fractures to his spine, a huge relief to all concerned. With the race stopped, the circuit had to be cleared before racing could commence again and, when it was, at 3pm, it was reduced to 4 laps. On the restart, Hutchinson again stole the early initiative but it was close and his advantage over McGuinness at Glen Helen was just half a second. Cummins was only a tenth further back in third with Donald in fourth and Michael Dunlop and Ryan Farquhar in fifth and sixth – just three seconds splitting the top six. By Ramsey Hairpin, Hutchinson had edged 1.14s clear and McGuinness held a similar advantage over Cummins, the gap between those two 1.5 seconds. As the riders flashed across Glencrutchery Road for the first time, Hutchinson led with an opening lap of 131.487mph but it was close with McGuinness only 0.61s adrift, the 15-times winner having clawed back some time over the Mountain. Cummins was still in contention, only two seconds behind in third whilst Keith Amor was now up in to fourth closely followed by Farquhar and Anstey, both of whom had retired from the earlier abandoned race. Hutchinson eked out a further two seconds on the second run to Glen Helen but no sooner had he passed the timing beam than McGuinness was out, the HM Plant Honda having coasted to a halt just on the exit of the left hander. This promoted Cummins up to second but he found himself 3 seconds behind as they reached Ramsey. Amor, Farquhar and Anstey were all promoted up the order with Ian Lougher now in sixth but there was further drama when Cummins had failed to reach the Bungalow. The local hero had crashed at the Verandah although he too was conscious and talking to the medics, reported as having arm and leg injuries. This allowed Hutchinson’s lead to rocket up to 27 seconds, another 131mph+ lap helping him on his way. Amor was close to his first ever 130mph lap in second with Farquhar, Anstey, Lougher and Michael Rutter now occupying the leading six positions. After the pit stop, Hutchinson’s lead over Amor had increased but the Scotsman was still trying and he reduced the deficit steadily around the third lap although the Bingley man was seemingly in control of everything, still over 21 seconds to the good as they went in to their final lap. At Glen Helen, the gap had increased to 31 seconds but Amor’s hopes of a Superbike podium were dashed when, remarkably, he too coasted to a halt after passing through the timing point, joining team-mate McGuinness on the sidelines. Farquhar and Anstey now found themselves in second and third, both looking to end their week’s on a high. Hutchinson was able to almost cruise round his final lap of TT2010 and he crossed the line standing on the footpegs, adopting a Superman stance for what is truly an amazing feat. Farquhar and Anstey were celebrating too, the former recording his first ever Superbike podium at the TT and the latter ending a difficult week on a positive note. Lougher completed yet another TT year with a strong set of results, taking fourth in the Senior with Michael Rutter bringing home his Superstock-spec Honda in fifth. Meanwhile, Dan Stewart replicated his sixth place finish of 12 months ago for another top class TT result with Adrian Archibald, Dan Kneen, Davy Morgan and James McBride, the final two the first two privateers past the chequered flag. David Johnson was again the first newcomer to finish, as he had been in the previous four races, the Australian taking an excellent 16th place overall in the race. He also finished as the fastest newcomer overall with his final lap of 123.838mph his fastest of the week. With five wins from five, Hutchinson was the comfortable winner of the overall TT Championship taking the Joey Dunlop Trophy by a whopping 61 points from Michael Dunlop and Farquhar. Finally, in the race for the Privateers Championship, it was McBride who took the trophy, his second place in today’s Senior giving him a total of 80 points, ten ahead of Moore with Morgan in third. Jenny Tinmouth extended her title as the fastest women around the course with a final lap of 119.945mph. The A and E consultant at Noble’s hospital reported that Guy Martin had sustained bruising to both lungs and some minor fractures in his upper spine, following his accident at Ballagarey but was otherwise OK. He is expected to be in hospital for a few days and but thanked his fans from his hospital bed for all their support and reassured them that the incident had nothing to do with a lack of commitment from him! More, from a press release issued by Keith Amor’s publicist: Amor’s Senior TT hopes dashed by final lap retirement Keith Amor’s hopes of ending his 2010 Isle of Man TT race campaign on a high were dashed when he was denied a podium position in the Senior TT with a final lap retirement. Riding the HM Plant Honda, Keith had recorded a personal best lap of the Mountain Course of 129.801mph which helped propel him to second but, with just 28 miles of the race to go, he was forced to stop with mechanical problems, a disappointing end to what had otherwise been an excellent week on the Island for the Falkirk rider. The first attempt at running the race was stopped on the third lap after an incident involving Guy Martin at Ballagarey but, thankfully, he wasn’t seriously injured although with the trackside bales having caught fire, the fire brigade had to attend to clear the scene. When it was re-started at 3pm, it was reduced to 4 laps in distance and although he was only in eighth place at Glen Helen, by the end of the opening lap he had fought his way up to fourth with a lap of 129.725mph. There was drama on the second lap when second placed John McGuinness retired at Glen Helen and Conor Cummins crashed at the Verandah and this promoted Keith up to second as he narrowly missed out on his first 130mph lap of the Mountain Course at 129.801mph. At this stage he was 27 seconds behind race leader Ian Hutchinson but on the third lap, Keith began to claw back some of this deficit and, aided too by a superb pit stop, the gap was 21 seconds going in to the last lap. However, as he approached Glen Helen for the last time, Keith coasted to the halt with a brake problem and his race was over, cruely denied another rostrum finish. Talking afterwards, Keith said: “I’m so disappointed that the week has ended like this as the bike was working so well and we were really ‘on it’ today. The boys at HM Plant have worked so hard this fortnight trying to improve the bike for me and the further adjustments we made for today’s race worked and the bike and Dunlop tyres were mega. The first start was going ok but I was only a few seconds behind Guy when he went down and as I crested the rise just before Ballagarey I saw a big puff of smoke in the air and the marshals running – I was so relieved when I got to the corner and saw him trying to crawl to the side of the road as I at least knew he was conscious and moving.” “I regrouped in time for the re-start and was ready to go and really got stuck in on the first lap. I made a couple of small mistakes but when John and then Conor went out, I was suddenly in second and all was well and looking good. However, on the final lap when I went through the traffic lights at Ballacraine, it felt like the rear brake was jamming on and the bike started to slow down. I tried to free it up and carry on but the bike kept slowing so I had to pull in at Glen Helen. I’m gutted, especially for all the boys at HM Plant. they’ve made me feel so welcome this fortnight and my crew chief Adrian Gorst is the most professional person I’ve worked with so I’ve learnt a lot and it’s been a pleasure to have been involved with the team. My own team have also worked incredibly hard and we’ve had some strong results so I’ll be back next year to try and get on to that top step.” Keith now has a well deserved break before his next meeting, the Skerries 100, which takes place on Saturday 3rd July.