DUNLOP AGAIN PROVES HE’S THE MAN TO BEAT IN SUPERBIKE CLASSIC TT WITH HARRISON, LOUGHER AND RUTTER ALL TO THE FORE
Michael Dunlop again set the pace in the second qualifying session for the 2016 Classic TT presented by Bennetts, topping the board in the Superbike class. Ian Lougher also again topped the board in the Lightweight class while Dean Harrison and Michael Rutter posted the best times in the Senior and Junior sessions respectively.
A revision to the schedule for Tuesday’s qualifying session for the 2016 Classic TT Races presented by Bennetts saw the Superbike and Lightweight machines out first on the Mountain Course.
Conditions for the second qualifying were clearly testing with Clerk of the Course Gary Thompson reporting damp patches particularly under the trees around the course although the low mist reported on the Mountain earlier in the day had lifted.
Dan Kneen and Jamie Coward were first away on the Mistral Racing Kawasakis followed by Danny Webb on the Team Classic Suzuki and Michael Rutter on the Harris Yamaha. William Dunlop, a late entry, also went out on a ZXR Kawasaki.
Michael Dunlop seemed unaffected by the conditions and was fastest to the first timing point at Glen Helen, ultimately completing an opening lap of 122.650 (18:27.440) on the Team Classic Suzuki XR69, which proved to be the fastest time of the night.
Dean Harrison on the Silicone Engineering Kawasaki (121.101), Michael Rutter (120.763), James Hillier on the Mistral Racing Kawasaki (120.336) and Ivan Lintin (120.160) on the Devitt RC Express Racing Kawasaki all posted laps over 120mph on their opening laps in the Superbike class.
Bruce Anstey, however, was reported to be an early retirement at Barregarrow on his opening lap on the Valvoline Racing by Padgetts Motorcycles Yamaha YZR 500 but Michael Rutter (120.163) and Michael Dunlop (116.996) both managed to get an additional lap although both were slower than their opening laps.
In the Lightweight Classic TT session, which ran concurrently to the Superbikes, Ian Lougher improved marginally on his previous evening’s time to top the board with 113.893mph (19:52.597) on his second lap of the session from experienced campaigner Phil Harvey (107.649) and fellow Welshman Paul Owen (103.405).
In the Senior Classic TT session that got underway at 7.10pm after a short delay, John McGuinness was an early retiree at Ballacraine on the Winfield Paton. Even though the weather was beginning to close in, and it was noticeably darker at the grandstand, many of the Classic TT competitors were still able to get vital qualifying laps in.
Dean Harrison topped the Senior Classic TT board on the Black Eagle Racing MV from McGuinness’s Winfield team-mate Conor Cummins, who again posted a solid lap (104.857) and Jamie Coward on the Ted Woof Manx Norton (104.628).
Michael Rutter on the Ripley Land Racing Honda continued his dominance of the Junior Class with the only ton of the evening (100.182) from William Dunlop (96.885) and Dave Moffitt (96.232).
Classic TT Grandstand tickets are available for Friday’s final qualifying session priced at £5. All prior qualifying sessions are free for the main Grandstand. There are also race day tickets available for both Classic TT race days on Saturday 27th and Monday 29th August as well as VIP and Platinum hospitality tickets. To purchase tickets go to iomtt.com or phone Duke Marketing on (00 44) 1624 640011