IAN HUTCHINSON has won his third TT of the week in the second Supersport TT race in glorious sunshine on the Isle of Man today.
The Team Traction Control Yamaha rider took his 11th TT victory today by 14.8s from Bruce Anstey and Guy Martin who took his first podium of the week in third.
At Glen Helen on the opening lap it was the Quattro Plant Muc-Off Kawasaki of James Hillier which led the Supersport field. The gap over Hutchinson was only one second with Anstey in third only a tenth adrift. Gary Johnson, Martin and Dean Harrison completed the top six, but unfortunately Harrison retired at Ballaugh.
Hutchinson took the lead by a second from Hillier at Ramsey as Anstey closed to within two tenths of a second, however with an opening lap of 127.093mph, the Bingley bullet had a 3.8s advantage.
Anstey was now in second as Hillier slipped to four seconds adrift and Martin started to pile on the pressure. Johnson and Lee Johnston held onto fifth and sixth, but Michael Dunlop retired in the pits after one lap.
Hutchinson continued to press on during lap two before the pit stop and continued to extend his lead to complete the fastest lap of the race at 127.751mph. Anstey also completed a lap at over 127mph, but was still 8 seconds behind. Martin moved ahead of Hillier into third after the pit stop whilst Johnston and Johnston remained in fifth and sixth respectively.
Hutchinson managed to increase the lead by a couple of seconds by the time he got to Ramsey hairpin for the third time. However, Anstey’s Mountain sections were quicker and the advantage was down to 8.6s as they started their final lap.
Martin, Hillier, Johnson and Johnston placed third, fourth, fifth and sixth respectively whilst the Honda’s of John McGuinness, Conor Cummins and Dan Kneen battled it out for seventh.
Anstey was on a charge, but Hutchinson responded to take the chequered flag 14.8s ahead of the Flying Kiwi who took his fourth podium of the week in second. Martin put the Smiths Racing Triumph on the podium in third.
Hillier finished in fourth to take his best ever Supersport finish with Johnson and Johnston finishing fifth and sixth respectively. Cummins finished ahead of team-mate McGuinness by only 0.04s whilst Kneen and David Johnson completed the top ten. .
Hutchinson’s win saw him move on to 95 points in the race for the TT Championship, 23 points clear of Anstey with Hillier holding onto third on 52 points.
Dan Cooper continues to lead the TT Privateer’s Championship with 81 points, 11 clear of Jamie Hamilton as they finished 15th and 14th respectively.
Race results – top 20:
1. Ian Hutchinson Yamaha / Team Traction Control 01:11:58.750 125.803mph
2. Bruce Anstey Honda / Valvoline Racing by Padgetts Moto 01:12:13.570 125.373mph
3. Guy Martin Triumph / Smiths Racing 01:12:30.775 124.877mph
4. James Hillier Kawasaki / Quattro Plant Muc-Off Kawasaki 01:12:39.835 124.618mph
5. Gary Johnson Yamaha / TBC 01:12:53.400 124.231mph
6. Lee Johnston Triumph / East Coast Construction / Burden 01:13:07.207 123.840mph
7. Conor Cummins Honda / Jackson Racing 01:13:27.145 123.280mph
8. John McGuinness Honda / Honda/Jackson Racing 01:13:27.187 123.279mph
9. Dan Kneen Honda / Valvoline Padgetts Honda 01:13:29.162 123.223mph
10. David Johnson Triumph / Smiths Racing 01:13:31.628 123.155mph
11. Peter Hickman MV Agusta / Trooper Beer 01:13:37.747 122.984mph
12. Ivan Lintin Kawasaki / RC Express Racing 01:14:24.409 121.699mph
13. Cameron Donald Honda / PADGETTS 01:14:24.619 121.693mph
14. Jamie Hamilton Honda / Cookstown Burrows Engineering R 01:14:28.190 121.596mph
15. Daniel Cooper Honda / www.dancooperracing.com 01:14:32.340 121.483mph
16. James Cowton Honda / PRB By So Many Bikes Racing 01:14:40.850 121.252mph
17. Dan Stewart Honda / Wilcock Consulting 01:14:55.415 120.859mph
18. Michael Rutter Kawasaki / SMT/Carbridge Racing 01:15:08.045 120.521mph
19. Derek McGee* Honda / Wilson Craig Racing 01:15:41.575 119.631mph
20. Michal Dokoupil Yamaha / Motopoint Indi Racing Team 01:16:14.849 118.761mph
