DUNLOP ASSERTS HIMSELF AS GREATEST OF ALL TIME WITH 28TH TT WIN IN THE MONSTER ENERGY SUPERSPORT TT RACE 2
Michael Dunlop took his 28th victory at the Isle of Man TT Races on Saturday afternoon when he won the Monster Energy Supersport TT Race 2 by just under four seconds, the MD Racing Yamaha rider taking his sixth successive Supersport win and 13th in total.
He saw off the challenge of Dean Harrison (Honda Racing UK) as Davey Todd (Powertoolmate Ducati) completed the podium in third.
After a delay due to small, isolated showers at various parts of the Mountain Course, the two-lap race eventually got underway at 13:00 and it was Dunlop who grabbed the early initiative, heading Todd by 0.558 seconds round Glen Helen for the first time. James Hillier (Bournemouth Kawasaki) was only 0.136 seconds adrift in third with Harrison just another 0.3s back in fourth as just one second covered the top four. Peter Hickman (Trooper Triumph by PHR Performance) and Jamie Coward (KTS Racing powered by Steadplan Triumph) lay in fifth and sixth, the duo separated by half a second.
On the first run to Ballaugh, Dunlop still led with the gap to Todd now 0.8 seconds as Harrison overhauled Hillier for third, albeit by just three tenths of a second. Hickman was losing ground in fifth but now had James Hind (North Lincs Components Suzuki) close behind him on time, the gap between them only 0.2 seconds.
Further back Mike Browne (Boyce Precision Engineering/Russell Racing Yamaha) and Michael Evans (Smith Racing Triumph) were running well in eighth and ninth, but Dominic Herbertson retired the Burrows Engineering/RK Racing Yamaha) shortly afterwards at Kerromoar.
At Ramsey Hairpin, Dunlop doubled his advantage over Todd with Harrison a similar distance back in third and with an opening lap of 127.389mph, the Northern Irishman led. However, his lead had been cut by new second placed rider Harrison (127.281mph) to just 0.9 seconds.
Todd (127.119mph) had slipped back to third, 1.3 seconds behind Harrison, with Hickman, Coward and Hillier now the running order behind. Behind them, the remainder of the top ten now read Browne, Hind, Paul Jordan (Jackson Racing Honda) and Evans. 2023 Senior Manx GP winner Joe Yeardsley was also running well in 13th on the Spin Arena Yamaha.
As the riders reached Glen Helen for the second and final time, Dunlop stretched his lead to 1.79 seconds with Todd still well in touch, the gap between second and third almost identical. The race for fourth was red hot too with Hickman less than half a second ahead of Coward.
Dunlop doubled his lead between Glen Helen and Ballaugh, the lead moving up to 3.2 seconds, with Todd taking half a second back on Harrison but it now looked like it was Dunlop’s race to lose. The gap between Hickman and Coward remained at half a second with just half a lap to go but Hind’s good run came to end as he stopped at Ballacraine.
At Ramsey, Dunlop increased his lead by another 1.5s and he wasn’t to be denied his sixth successive Supersport victory, a second lap of 129.071mph seeing come home 3.889 seconds clear of Harrison who saw off the challenge of Todd by 2.34 seconds. Coward’s strong ride saw him set his best ever Supersport lap, 128.668mph, as he took an excellent fourth ahead of Hickman and Hillier.
Browne, Jordan, Evans and Josh Brookes on the second Boyce Precision Engineering machine completed the top ten, less than three quarters of a second separating the latter two. Other strong rides came from Yeardsley (12th), the Manxman setting a new personal best lap of the Mountain Course at 123.268mph, and Craig Neve (15th) who was having his first ride since a spill in qualifying.
Joey Thompson (17th), Barry Furber (19th) and Frenchman Eddy Ferre (21st) also scored good results with newcomer Loris Majcan taking 34th with a strong final lap of 118.053mph.
