MCGUINNESS STATES HIS CASE WITH FASTEST QUALIFYING LAP TO DATE Gorgeous sun and blue sky met the competitors for Wednesday evening’s practice session and conditions were perfect for the third night of the 2010 Isle of Man TT Races. Indeed, the biggest problem was going to be the ever present Manx population of flies who were again out in force! Riders were warned of a few damp patches at Quarry Bends and Governor’s Bridge but with close to ideal conditions, it was almost inevitable that the 130mph would be broken and so it was but, surprisingly, only by John McGuinness on his second lap. It was William Dunlop and Bruce Anstey who got the session underway promptly at 6.20pm, the Northern Irishman on his 600cc machine and the Kiwi on his Superbike. Following them were John McGuinness and Michael Dunlop, Ian Lougher and Cameron Donald, Keith Amor and Daniel Kneen and Adrian Archibald and Carl Rennie, all Superbike mounted with the exception of Kneen who was out on his 600. McGuinness was the first to complete a lap at 129.265mph with Anstey and Donald not too far behind at 127.915mph and 128.011mph respectively. Michael Dunlop, Lougher, Amor and Archibald were all above 126mph but Guy Martin was close to McGuinness’ pace at 129.145mph, Ian Hutchinson also going well at 128.018mph. Second time around and McGuinness really showed his class with a lap of 130.242mph, Hutchinson increasing his speed to 128.735mph and Archibald to 128.618mph. Martin had called in to the pits at the end of his first lap but got no further than Quarter Bridge on his second before pulling off, eventually going back out on his Superstock bike. Davy Morgan was also in trouble retiring at Sulby Bridge. McGuinness and Hutchinson both swapped to their 600cc Supersport bikes, the latter going second quickest on the night with a lap just over 125mph. It was that man Michael Dunlop who was quickest here and he was marginally faster than Hutchinson at 125.087mph. Meanwhile, Amor posted an impressive time on his BMW Superstock bike at 127.525mph. Most of the riders were able to get back out for a fifth lap and Hutchinson went back out on his Superbike recording a lap of 129.164mph to go second quickest on the night. Amor was close to 128mph on the HM Plant Honda but Ryan Farquhar was flying on his Superstock Kawasaki and a lap of 128.076mph saw him go quickest, that speed also the Northern Irishman’s fastest ever lap of the Mountain Course, albeit unofficially. Conor Cummins posted a late lap of 127.010mph with Gary Johnson also having a better run after problems earlier in the week, the AIM Racing rider lapping at 126.488mph, just quicker than Dan Stewart, who also recorded his fastest ever lap. The newcomers again continued to make good progress and this time it was Stephen Thompson who was quickest at 115.114mph. Herve Ganther and James Hurrell both lapped in excess of 111mph with Clinton Pienaar also over 110mph for the first timer whilst former British 125cc Champion Dan Cooper impressed on the 600cc Suzuki at 111.026mph. In the sidecars it was Dave Molyneux and Patrick Farrance who again led the field away from John Holden/Andy Winkle and Klaus Klaffenbock/Dan Sayle but Tim Reeves and Dipash Chauhan were again in trouble on the opening lap, stopping at Kirk Michael to make adjustments. Molyneux’s first lap was 113.917mph but went quicker second time around at 114.748mph whilst Klaffenbock’s impressive week continued with a best lap of 113.576mph, another, unofficial, personal best. Holden and Simon Neary were again above 112mph with Reeves able to get going to lap at 109.028mph on his second lap. Gary Bryan and Roy Hanks were two more retirements. Brian McCormack, Scott Wilson and Paul Shoesmith were all involved in an incident at Waterworks but were reported as OK, Jenny Tinmouth’s bike ended up in a hedge at Sulby Bridge, Takahiro Itami came off at Braddan Oak, Brendan Cretu at Nook and Steven McIlvenna at Governors Bridge but all were reported as OK. In the Carl Fenwick’s passenger Keir Pedley sustained leg injuries at Cruickshanks and was taken by airmed to hospital. Provisional Times: Poker Stars Superbike TT 1 John McGuinness (1000 HM Plant Honda) 130.242mph 2 Ian Hutchinson (1000 Padgetts Honda) 129.164mph 3 Guy Martin (1000 Wilson Craig Honda) 129.145mph 4 Adrian Archibald (1000 AMA Racing Suzuki) 128.618mph 5 Cameron Donald (1000 Relentless by TAS Suzuki) 128.011mph 6 Keith Amor (1000 HM Plant Honda) 127.925mph Monster Energy Supersport TT 1 Michael Dunlop (600 Street Sweep/Hardship Racing Yamaha) 125.087mph 2 Ian Hutchinson (600 Padgetts Honda) 125.020mph 3 John McGuinness (600 Padgetts Honda) 123.128mph 4 William Dunlop (600 CD Racing Yamaha) 122.639mph 5 Conor Cummins (600 McAdoo Kawasaki) 122.554mph 6 Adrian Archibald (600 AMA Racing Yamaha) 122.300mph Royal London 360? Superstock TT 1 Ryan Farquhar (1000 KMR Kawasaki) 128.076mph 2 Keith Amor (1000 WA Corless/Jackson Racing BMW) 127.525mph 3 Guy Martin (1000 Wilson Craig Honda) 127.503mph 4 Ian Lougher (1000 Blackhorse Kawasaki) 126.216mph 5 Cameron Donald (1000 Relentless by TAS Suzuki) 126.012mph 6 Michael Rutter (1000 HM Plant Honda) 125.495mph Sure Sidecar TT 1 Dave Molyneux/Patrick Farrance (600 DMR Kawasaki) 114.748mph 2 Klaus Klaffenbock/Dan Sayle (600 Manx Gas/A&J Racing Honda) 113.576mph 3 John Holden/Andy Winkle (600 Holden Racing/TAS Suzuki) 112.737mph 4 Simon Neary/Paul Knapton (600 Dave Hudspeth Carpets/Nick Crowe Racing Honda) 112.071mph 5 Conrad Harrison/Kerry Williams (600 Printer Roller Services Honda) 110.810mph 6 Tony Elmer/Darren Marshall (600 Croc a Tile Yamaha) 109.253mph More, from a press release issued by John McGuinness’ publicist: McGuinness sets TT pace After a steady start to the 2010 Isle of Man TT Races, Morecambe’s John McGuinness became the first man to lap at more than 130mph in practice this week when he set a scorching lap of 130.242mph during Wednesday evening’s third session. Conditions were perfect on the Island and McGuinness took full advantage to go almost 9 seconds quicker than his nearest rival. After Saturday’s opening, untimed session was wiped out by heavy rain and fog, John first took to the Mountain Course on Monday evening where he recorded two laps on his HM Plant Honda Superbike machine, the quickest at 127.090mph which was the third quickest on the night. Laps of 120.289mph and 124.523mph on the Padgetts Supersport and Superstock machines saw him fourth quickest in each class. Tuesday’s second practice session got underway on time at 6.20pm despite heavy rain and mist during the day but, except for a few damp patches, especially at Ramsey and Governor’s Bridge, conditions were again good. As always, John decided to exercise caution with the track surface less than 100% but again posted two laps on the Superbike machine, the best this time 125.546mph. He also went out on the Superstock machine although fuel problems kept him down in 16th place. Conditions were absolutely perfect on Wednesday evening with the whole of the Island bathed in beautiful sun and after setting the fastest lap of the week on his opening lap at 129.265mph, John went quicker still second time around to reassert his authority on the Superbike class and the lap of 130.242mph saw him comfortably top the leaderboard. Two laps on the Supersport machine saw him record a best speed of 123.128mph, the third quickest on the night, whilst a solitary lap of 124.973mph was good enough for 7th in the Superstock class. Speaking on Wednesday evening, John said: “Conditions were pretty good tonight and we made a few improvements to the bike so after having a look round on the first lap, everything felt right to push for a fast lap. I got held up in a couple of places and lost a bit of time from Ramsey to the Waterworks where there were yellow flags out so it could have been a good few seconds quicker. Conditions were good though, the tracks getting a fair bit of runner laid down now too so it was good to stick a 130mph lap in and get to the top, Practice doesn’t mean anything though so I just used the first couple of sessions to get dialled back in and we’re not a million miles away now. All 3 bikes are working well so let’s hope this good weather continues and we can finish practice strobgly in readiness for Saturday’s first race.” Practice continues on Thursday and Friday evening before the opening Superbike race takes place at 12pm on Saturday. More, from a press release issued by Keith Amor’s publicist: Amor pleased with TT Practice progress Keith Amor has been making steady progress during practice for the 2010 Isle of Man TT Races and the Scots ace has been on the leaderboard in all three of the solo classes so far, with Wednesday evening being his best showing so far on both the HM Plant Honda Superbike and WA Corless/Jackson Racing BMW Superstock machines. With Saturday’s traditional untimed session lost due to inclement weather, it was straight in to timed practice on Monday evening and Keith opted to concentrate on the HM Plant machine putting in 3 laps as he got used to the new machine and team whilst also re-acquainting himself with the fearsome Mountain Course. His best lap on the evening was 122.787mph whilst he also had his first taste of the 37 and 3/4-mile circuit on the BMW, lapping at a steady 121.610mph. Tuesday morning saw heavy rain and dense fog but it miraculously gave way to blue sky and sun for the 6.20pm start and, save for a few damp patches under the trees, conditions were good for the second session. With further adjustments made, Keith again went out on the HM Plant machine and after a lap of 124mph first time around, he improved to 126.043mph on his second lap. It was then straight on to the Supersport bike and his first time out this week on the Kojak Racing Honda, a best lap of 122.649mph seeing him go second fastest on the leaderboard. A gorgeous day on the Island saw Wednesday evening have the best conditions of the week thus far and Keith made the most of the good weather to feature prominently on the leaderboard once more putting in three laps on the Superbike and two on the Superstock. More changes to the suspension of the HM Plant Honda had been made and although he was able to go quicker at 127.925mph, they didn’t work as he had hoped and further changes are in store for Thursday’s penultimate session. The BMW was flying and two laps in excess of 127mph, the best at 127.525mph, saw him go second quickest overall. Speaking this evening, Keith said: “I took it really steady on Monday evening to get used to the circuit again and I learnt my lesson a couple of years ago – the first night of practice is all about enjoying yourself, not breaking lap records. I also had a new team and bike to get used but it was just nice to be back out on my favourite circuit and have a big smile back on my face! I’ve had no serious issues so far with the big bike and have just been trying to get it as rider friendly as possible. The more confident I can be with the bike, the faster I’ll be and although tonight was my best lap of the week, we’d gone the wrong way with the suspension – what worked for my team-mate John (McGuinness) didn’t work for me – so we’ll try something new again tomorrow night.” “My own boys have been working hard on the 600 and Stocker and the Supersport is already in the ball park, we just have a few refinements to make – compared to the big bike, it’s just a joy to ride around here. We’ve also got support from BMW Germany for the TT with Marc Bongers over to help us out with the Superstock bike. He’s been working with the BMW team from day one so knows the bike inside out and his help is going to be invaluable. Tonight was a good lap on the Stocker and there’s plenty more to come from it so all’s well there too. The course is in good condition and the Isle of Man Government have done a great job in improving it to make our lives a lot easier so, all in all, it’s so far, so good.” Keith will be back out for Thursday evening’s penultimate practice session but, prior to that, he’ll be a guest on Manx Radio tomorrow morning from 8am-9am, the show going out on 1368am and on www.iomtt.com