Relentless Suzuki rider Cameron Donald has added his name to the Isle of Man TT history books, recording the first ever 131mph lap around the famous 37.73-mile circuit on his GSX-R1000 Superbike. Donald had increased his personal best to 129mph from a standing start during Thursday night’s practice, but the Melbourne rider’s flying lap followed later in the session, making him the current King of Mountain. Kiwi Bruce Anstey opened his Superbike session with a standing start lap of 126mph before upping the pace with a phenomenal personal best of 130.129mph. Anstey and Donald now join John McGuinness as the only three riders ever to have broken the 130mph barrier. Cameron Donald: “I can’t believe the lap was so good as I was just cruising and I also got caught behind a couple of top riders who were hard to pass. The lap felt really comfortable on my GSX-R1000 and I didn’t even look at the clock when I crossed the line. I’m not counting my chickens just yet, but this sets us up well for Saturday’s race.” Bruce Anstey: “The Superbike is now working really well, so we’re almost there. It’s obviously nice to have clocked a magical 130mph lap, but I have been cruising all night and I’m not even pushing hard yet; I’m saving myself for Saturday. The team has worked hard all week and I’m relaxed and in the right frame of mind.” Philip Neill – Team Principal: “Now we are back on track. Practice is not racing and as Cameron said to me afterwards, ‘it wasn’t a perfect lap’, but the GSX-R1000 Superbike is working well for both of the boys. I must admit, it is pleasing to have recorded the first ever 131mph lap; it’s a TT milestone not only for Cameron and TAS Racing, but also for Suzuki, Relentless and all our other loyal sponsors. Cameron and Bruce were awesome tonight, and after a few small problems that only ever occur at the TT, we are now looking forward to Saturday’s TT Superbike race with optimism.” More, from a press release issued by Steve Plater’s publicist: STEVE PLATER TT Thursday practice Thursday evening was the penultimate evening of practice for the Isle of Man TT races where Steve Plater kicks off his schedule of races with the six-lap Superbike TT which is set to start at noon on Saturday. Thursday evening saw Plater again put in some fast laps on the HM Plant Honda Superbike to better his personal best time set the previous day with a new time of 128.952mph, also registering a scorching 191.7mph through the speed trap at Sulby and that was from a standing start! Plater just completed one lap on the Superbike before heading out to give the HM Plant Honda 600cc Supersport machine a run where he completed two laps of the 37.73-mile mountain course, his best lap being the second where he registered a speed of 123.397mph. His final outing was on the Padgett’s Honda Fireblade in the Superstock class where he clocked up a fastest lap time of 123.338s on the first of the two laps. He completed five laps of the TT course in total coming into the pits at the end of the session for a welcome rest! “We had a good evening tonight,” said the ever-smiling Lincolnshire rider. “I managed to get out on all three bikes at some stage during the practice session and everything was A-OK. “Apart from the racing it’s been a constant round of PR appearances and photo calls. It has been a hectic week and it looks set to continue into Friday as we have more PR with the team then.” Speaking on Friday afternoon Plater said: “The weather forecast isn’t too great for this evening, it’s been spitting with rain and a bit cooler and overcast today but at the moment it’s dry so lets hope we can get a few more laps in tonight. “The forecast for Saturday is a bit dire, it says heavy and continuous rain if that’s the case then we won’t be racing as the visibility won’t be good over the mountain. Let’s hope they have got it wrong as we need a nice clear day to provide us with some excellent racing.” Steve will be out again tonight in the final session weather permitting and will take the Padgett’s Superstock out and then the HM Plant Honda Supersport around the course to make any final adjustments in preparation for Monday when he contests the Superstock TT and then the Supersport Junior TT in which he took his maiden win last year. More, from a press release issued by Hydrex Honda: MARTIN ALL SET FOR TT OPENER Hydrex Honda’s Guy Martin will go into tomorrow’s Isle of Man TT Superbike race as one of the pre-race favourites having lapped the Mountain Course during practice in excess of 129mph and the 27-year old will be hoping it’s the day he records his first ever TT win. With perfect weather conditions on the Island since practice began last Saturday, Guy has been steadily improving the handling on his Superbike machine and with the stability issues overcome, and with the performance more to his liking, a lap on Wednesday night of 129.168mph put him right in the ballpark. Although he is yet to break the magical 130mph barrier, he will line up for the 6-lap race as the fourth quickest rider and, starting at number 8, he will be in prime position to see his rivals ahead of him. Guy is also currently well placed for Monday’s Superstock race with his lap on Thursday evening of 126.054mph placing him fifth on the leaderboard. Speaking on Friday, Guy commented: “The weather has been absolutely mint all week and we’ve been able to concentrate fully on the set-up of the bikes. The good conditions have meant I’ve been able to go fast from the start in each session to get the best out of the bike and although we’ve had a few stability issues, we’ve been chipping away and have been going in the right direction each night. The big bike’s still not 100% but we’re not too far away and I’m confident a couple more tweaks prior to the race will put us in great shape. The boys have all been working hard so let’s hope tomorrow’s the day I get that first TT win.” Hydrex Honda team boss Shaun Muir added: “I’ve been very pleased with how Guy and his team have been working all week and the times have put us there or thereabouts in each class. He’s still looking for that last 1% but he always performs to his maximum in the races so I’m confident he’ll be at the sharp end come race day. We’re obviously hoping he can break his TT duck and get a win but podium places would also be a great result for everyone connected with the team so we’re hoping for a strong, and safe, race week.” The 6-lap Dainese Superbike race will get underway at 12.00pm tomorrow.