IOMTT: Superbike TT race results

THE FLYING KIWI Bruce Anstey was certainly flying yesterday as he won his first ever Superbike TT race ahead of PBM’s Ian Hutchinson.

Despite leading for much of the race, Hutchinson soon found himself in second with Anstey taking the lead at the beginning of the fifth lap and two laps later he took his 10th TT victory and first Superbike TT win by 10.9s ahead of Hutchinson. James Hillier finished in third.

After a three-minute delay, the race got underway at 2.03pm and Hutchinson who led at Glen Helen by just 0.2s from Anstey with Hillier in third just half a second further back. Unfortunately, it was reported that Guy Martin had retired at Ballagary on the opening lap with technical issues.

At Ramsey it was Hillier who had taken over at the front with his advantage over Anstey half a second with Hutchinson back in third only a further half a second adrift.

The opening lap saw Hutchinson complete a 130.959mph lap from a standing start giving him the lead after the run over the Mountain. Anstey was then 1.2s behind as Hillier slotted into third. Dunlop moved up to fourth with John McGuinness fifth, Gary Johnson sixth.

Second lap saw Hutchinson eke out a lead at each of the commentary points with a near identical lap of 130.901mph. The gap over Anstey increased to up to 4.4s as the riders came in for their first pit stop. Hillier maintained third, four seconds down on Anstey who had now caught McGuinness on the road. The 21-times TT winner remained in fifth behind Dunlop. Johnson held onto sixth from Conor Cummins and William Dunlop.

The gap between the leaders remained the same all the way through lap three, except Hutchinson’s lead increased to 4.79s. Dunlop was up into third, 13 seconds adrift with Hillier two seconds behind. McGuinness was joined by Honda team-mate Cummins in the top six.

It was clear Anstey was getting into a rhythm on lap four as he began to reel Hutchinson in with a lap speed of 131.333mph. Anstey was only 0.2s behind Hutchinson coming into the second pit stop and thanks to his Valvoline Racing by Padgetts team, they turned that deficit into an advantage. By Glen Helen the flying Kiwi was 2.5 seconds clear of Hutchinson at Glen Helen.

The 45-year-old was in close company with McGuinness, Hillier and Dunlop on the roads, but still managed to pull a few tenths out at each commentary point. Anstey’s win was becoming more secure until Dunlop began to put in a final charge.

Anstey’s lea was up to 5.5s at Ballaugh on the final lap and with a final, flying lap of 131.797mph, he crossed the line with a comfortable 10.9s clear of Hutchinson who was back on a TT podium for the first time since 2010.

Dunlop was missing on the final lap, but McGuinness, William Dunlop and Michael Rutter competed the top six as a red flag was reported at the Nook and on Cronk-y-voddy and no other riders completed the last lap.

A backmarker, Scott Wilson, and Dunlop became tangled at the Nook, which led to the red flag around the circuit. Dunlop hitched a ride in an ambulance back to the grandstand where he was said to be ‘badly limping’ with no other visible injuries.

Following the Dunlop incident, which resulted in the red flag, seventh place onwards was taken from the end of the fifth lap and so Dan Kneen, Peter Hickman, Lee Johnston and David Johnson completed the top ten. 

Gary Johnson was reported to have crashed out on the last lap at Guthries, but was reported as OK and will be fit for tomorrow’s races.  

Andy Lawson was taken by airmed to Nobles with neck and arm injuries after an accident at Guthries whilst Scott Wilson, who was the second rider involved in the incident at the Nook, was taken by airmed to Nobles with a reported broken clavicle.

Race results – top 20:

1. Bruce Anstey Honda / Valvoline Racing by Padgetts Moto 01:45:29.902 128.749mph

2. Ian Hutchinson Kawasaki / Paul Bird Motorsport Ltd 01:45:40.879 128.526mph

3. James Hillier Kawasaki / Quattro Plant Muc-Off Kawasaki 01:46:29.410 127.550mph

4. John McGuinness Honda / Honda Racing 01:46:42.757 127.284mph

5. William Dunlop BMW / Tyco BMW Motorrad Racing 01:47:41.221 126.132mph
6. Michael Rutter BMW / Penz13.com Bathams 01:48:04.608 125.677mph

7. Dan Kneen Honda / Valvoline Padgetts Honda 01:30:20.463 125.292mph

8. Peter Hickman BMW / Briggs Equipment UK BMW 01:30:50.199 124.608mph

9. Lee Johnston BMW / East Coast Construction / Burdens 01:31:01.982 124.339mph

10. David Johnson BMW / Smiths Racing 01:31:06.559 124.235mph

11. Jamie Hamilton Suzuki / Cookstown Burrows Engineering R 01:31:41.955 123.436mph

12. Steve Mercer Honda / Steve Mercer 01:32:28.759 122.395mph

13. Daniel Hegarty Kawasaki / Downshift/Team ILR 01:32:30.956 122.346mph

14. Russ Mountford Kawasaki / Silicone Engineering Racing 01:33:21.989 121.232mph

15. Daniel Cooper Honda / Dan Cooper Racing/Space Centre 01:33:25.168 121.163mph

16. Alan Bonner Kawasaki / thepeoplesbike.com 01:33:41.089 120.820mph

17. Ryan Kneen Kawasaki / Charmer Builders Ltd 01:33:56.290 120.494mph

18. Cameron Donald Norton / NORTON 01:34:11.495 120.170mph

19. Stefano Bonetti Kawasaki / Rock and Road Racing 01:34:22.634 119.934mph

20. Christopher Dixon Honda / Dave Milling Motorcycles Ltd 01:34:34.640 119.680mph