From a press release:
FORMULA ONE TT WIN FOR JEFFERIES
David Jefferies won his seventh Isle of Man TT with victory in Saturday’s dramatic, record-breaking Formula One race over six laps of the historic 37.73-mile Mountain circuit.
The burly Yorkshireman led from start to finish in a race run at incredible speed as the top three riders all broke the lap record on the opening lap. Jefferies then set a new Formula One class and outright lap record on lap two, in 17 minutes 52.2 seconds, a speed of 126.68 mph.
But there was last lap drama as Jefferies slowed with his Suzuki stuck in third gear for the 10-mile run over the Mountain to the finish line.
Second place went to Honda’s John McGuinness as the 954 Fireblade rider chased a third TT victory as the annual TT races got under way after a two-year break due to foot and mouth disease forcing the cancellation of last year’s event.
McGuinness commented: “I’ve just lapped about 27 seconds faster than I’ve ever done, so I was trying. But David (Jefferies) was just on song today and there was nothing more I could do. But I think we can improve the machine for next Friday’s Senior TT race.”
Third place went to veteran Scotsman Jim Moodie but there was heartache for Honda’s Adrian Archibald, a fourth lap retirement at the start and finish pits area with an exhaust pipe problem. Ulsterman Archibald held third place
at the end of the second lap.
Formula One TT result (six laps 226.38 miles):
1. David Jefferies, GB (Suzuki) 1hr 50m 05.1s, 123.38 mph
2. John McGuinness, GB (Honda) 1hr 50m 41.6s, 122.70 mph
3. Jim Moodie, GB (Yamaha) 1hr 51m 09.6s, 122.19 mph
4. Ian Lougher, GB (Suzuki) 1hr 51m 14.8s, 122.09 mph
5. Richard Quayle, GB (Suzuki) 1hr 53m 05.6s, 120.10 mph
6. Jason Griffiths, GB (Yamaha) 1hr 54m 02.2s, 119.10 mph
7. Richard Britton, GB (Suzuki) 1hr 54m 04.2s, 119.07 mph
8. Simon Smith, GB (Suzuki) 1hr 54m 06.1s, 119.04 mph
9. Iain Duffus, GB (Yamaha) 1hr 54m 15.2s, 118.88 mph
10. Chris Heath, GB (Yamaha) 1hr 54m 27.2s, 118.67mph.
More, from a Honda press release:
HONDA RACING NEWS
Saturday 1 June
Douglas, Isle of Man
Jefferies twice betters his outright TT record then hangs on to win:
David Jefferies, despite a technical problem on the final lap, comfortably won the opening race of this year’s Isle of Man TT Racing Festival, the TT Formula One race, decided over six demanding laps of the public roads 37.73 mile Mountain Course.
The Yorkshireman had set a fiercesome pace from the off, but John McGuinness, riding the 954cc Honda Fireblade, that last year had taken him
to victory in the Macau Grand Prix, was always running in second place, and the Lancastrian closed dramatically on the final dash over Snaefel as his rival slowed with a gear-selector problem.
Jefferies, who had shattered his own outright record in his final lap of practice on the eve of the race, maintained that pace as he charged away
from the start, topping 190 miles an hour on several sections of the course, but on the opening lap, McGuinness was threatening.
That opening lap was completed in a record time of 18 minutes precisely, an average speed of 125.76 mph, with Honda rider McGuinness little more than 11 seconds adrift, but in almost perfect conditions, Jefferies, twice a triple
winner in his last two visits to the Island was upping the tempo and finding even more speed from his Suzuki GSX-R1000.
His second tour of the Island had been completed in an amazing 17m 52.2s, and the record had increased to an average of 126.68mph, and as the leading duo pitted for fuel and tyres, they were separated by half a minute. Adrian Archibald, riding a similar Fireblade to McGuinness was running a solid third at that point, ahead of Ian Lougher and Jim Moodie.
Jefferies had stretched his advantage to 54 seconds at half distance, but though McGuinness was running strongly, Archibald was slowing marginally, dropping back to fifth place, and by the end of the next lap, the Ulsterman was forced to quit with a holed exhaust as he pulled into the
pits.
At the head of the pack, Jefferies held a one minute lead as he refuelled, telling his pit-crew he “would keep going normally, like I always do.” He maintained his advantage over the fifth lap, but on the final lap, as he charged through the Ramsey Hairpin, the race leader experienced gear
selection problems.
It was just as well that his advantage over McGuinness at that point was 79 seconds as he endured a lonely, relatively slow final last ride over Snaefell to the finish in Douglas: “I thought the end of the race seemed to get further and further away. All the time I was saying please, please, let me keep going or it will be a case of nearly but not quite.”
Despite riding the last ten miles with his bike in third gear, Jefferies completed the 226.38 mile race at an average speed of 123.38mph, taking his seventh victory by 36 seconds from McGuinness who admitted: “I gave everything in the race, trying my hardest. The Honda was working well an I enjoyed it. The conditions were good, though a bit blustery over the top. A win would have been better than second, but it is a solid start, and now I am looking forward to the rest of the festival and feeling confident.”
Moodie, riding the V&M Yamaha, took third, 28 seconds down on McGuinness, with Ian Lougher (Suzuki GSX-R1000) fourth, just ahead of local riders Richard Quayle (Suzuki GSX-R1000) and Jason Griffiths (Yamaha R7)
Sidecar racing is an important part of the TT tradition, and in the 90th Anniversary year of the first use of the Mountain Course, Rob Fisher (LMS Yamaha) took his ninth victory, as he and passenger Rick Long comfortably took the victory in the three lapper, finishing 20 seconds clear of Ian Bell and Neil Carpenter (Yamaha).
Gary Horspole and Ken Leigh (Shelbourne Honda) took third place, with the Manx crew of David Molyneux, who was bidding to add to his seven race winning pedigree, and Colin Hardman having to settle for fourth – for the DMR Honda powered crew it had been a traumatic day, with Hardman suffering hand injuries in an earlier road accident, but bravely deciding to race on.