HICKMAN HEADS THE TIMESHEETS AHEAD OF RACE DAY 1

Peter Hickman threw down the gauntlet in Friday evening’s qualifying session at the Isle of Man TT Races with the Monster Energy BMW by FHO Racing rider setting the fastest lap of the week on his Superstock machine with a speed of 134.638mph.

Hickman also topped the Superbike session at 132.863mph whilst it was Davey Todd (Powertoolmate Ducati) who was quickest in the Supersport class at 127.062mph. In the Supertwins, Michael Dunlop (121.882mph) was fastest on his MD Racing Paton with the Crowes (115.682mph) again quickest in the Sidecars ahead of the first three-wheel race tomorrow.

The Superbikes/Superstocks were back at the start of the schedule with Honda Racing UK’s Dean Harrison again leading the field away at 6.30pm with Jamie Coward, Peter Hickman, Ian Hutchinson, James Hillier, Josh Brookes, Davey Todd, David Johnson and Michael Dunlop hot on his heels. Hickman, Coward, Todd, Hutchinson, Johnson and Hillier were all on their Superstock machines.

Brookes was again registering more than 205mph through the Sulby speed trap and although team-mate Hickman overshot Signpost – when on for a 133mph lap – he still registered a speed of 130.859mph. That misdemeanour though meant Todd (132.976mph) topped the early Superstock leaderboard from Hickman, Hillier (130.048mph), Coward (129.703mph) and Johnson (128.261mph) whilst local rider Ryan Cringle (126.949mph) was also going well after setting his quickest ever lap.

Hickman strung it altogether on his second lap though, posting a superb speed of 134.638mph for the quickest lap of the week. Dunlop lapped at 132.674mph on his first lap on the Superstock machine to go third quickest with Coward putting in a late lap of 130.024mph to slot into fifth.

Good laps were coming in throughout the field including Michael Evans (127.157mph), Cringle, who improved to 127.034mph, Matt Stevenson (126.076mph) and Frenchman Amalric Blanc (125.791mph).

Meanwhile, Harrison (132.696mph) was quickest in the Superbike class after the opening lap followed by Dunlop (132.399mph), Brookes (131.071mph), John McGuinness MBE (129.067mph) and Dominic Herbertson (128.785mph) whilst Erno Kostamo increased his speed to 123.030mph.

Harrison was slower on his second lap, however McGuinness upped his speed to 130.745mph for his quickest lap of the week. Fellow 52-year old Michael Rutter was also enjoying his evening around the Mountain Course at 128.636mph – his quickest of 2024 after a troublesome few days with the Bathams Ales BMW.  

However, Hickman went out late in the session and ultimately ended up top of the leaderboard at 132.863mph. David Johnson (130.120mph) was another upping his pace on the Platinum Club Racing Kawasaki.

At 7.20pm, the Supersport/Supertwin class got their final session underway with Todd first to complete the lap at 127.062mph with Evans (125.358mph), on the Smith Racing Triumph, and James Hind (125.030mph) next to follow him across the line. The latter went quicker, 125.833mph, next time around whilst Harrison (124.940mph) and Hickman (124.554mpg) weren’t too far behind in fourth and fifth as Croatian newcomer Loris Majcan upped his speed to 115.831mph.

Rutter (116.876mph) was quickest initially in the Supertwin class before fellow Yamaha rider Paul Jordan (Rev2Race) knocked him off the top spot with a speed of 117.012mph. Coward took over at the top of the leaderboard after lapping at 120.378mph on the KTS Racing powered by Steadplan Kawasaki but he didn’t stay there as Dunlop (121.399mph) took over before heading out for another lap.

On that second lap, he proved he’s the man to beat in the class with a speed of 121.882mph and it was Coward who ended the night in second overall followed by Hickman (119.271mph), Todd (118.656mph), Rob Hodson (118.454mph) – none the worse for his earlier spill at Whitegates – and Mike Browne (117.963).

The Sidecars then took to the Mountain Course for their final session, which proved to be just a single lap due to low cloud descending over the mountain section. In the end the Crowes came out top from Founds/Walmsley (115.046), Founds/Gibbons (114.605), Gibson/Christie (112.310), Ellis/Clement (111.183) and Reeves/Wilkes (110.548) as many crews took the opportunity to run in engines and bed in brake pads and chains.