HARRISON HEADS UP THE LEADERBOARD
With ideal conditions once again, the fourth qualifying session for this year’s Classic TT Races saw Nathan Harrison fastest with a lap of 126.611mph on the Greenall Racing Kawasaki in the Formula 1 Classic session.
But it was Mike Browne who caught the eye in the Historic Senior class, his lap of 112.984mph on the Peter Lodge Racing Norton less than four seconds outside the class lap record.
Mike Browne captured the attention in the Historic Senior
And whilst it was Michael Dunlop who topped the Lightweight class, fifth-placed Craig Neve made the headlines as his lap of 111.673mph on the 400cc Callmac Scaffolding Kawasaki was the fourth quickest ever seen by a 400cc machine around the Mountain Course.
Michael Dunlop topped the lightweight leaderboard.
Just as he had done in previous sessions, Harrison led the field away in the opening Formula 1 Classic session followed by Rob Hodson (SMT by Key Racing Ducati) and Dunlop (WizNorton Racing). Harrison was quickest to Glen Helen, but Hodson pulled in and retired at the first timing point.
Ian Hutchinson, Neve, Jamie Coward, Brian McCormack and Michael Evans were also away early, with Rhys Hardisty the first of the 250s to get another lap of the Mountain Course. Browne and Adam McLean were also out on their 250cc Yamahas.
Harrison’s opening lap of 126.611mph was the quickest standing start lap of the week so far, but further back a little bit of history, albeit unofficially, was being made as Dunlop lapped at 123.505mph – the quickest ever lap by a 588cc Norton rotary machine around the Mountain Course.
Elsewhere, Coward (125.879mph), Dominic Herbertson (124.943mph) and Hutchinson (124.762mph) were on the pace and, with Dunlop in fifth place, McCormack (122.794mph), Neve (121.561mph), Joe Yeardsley (118.298mph), Paul Williams (118.088mph) and Joey Thompson (117.314mph) completed the top ten after the first lap.
Herbertson (124.735mph) and Hutchinson (124.722mph) set almost identical laps second time around as Yeardsley (120.150mph), Williams (119.125mph), Thompson (118.952mph) and Frenchman Amalric Blanc (118.318mph) all improved.
McLean was quickest in the Lightweight class at 112.324mph ahead of Dan Sayle (111.100mph) and the leading 400 of Paul Cassidy (108.753mph), but Browne was out of luck again and failed to complete the first lap.
Cassidy improved to 109.362mph second time around, but it was Dunlop who made the headlines again as a lap of 116.309mph, just a fraction outside his time from yesterday, saw him top the leaderboard once more. His lap was 41.4s quicker than McLean’s.
However, the 250cc machines were able to go out in the second session as well, and it was Stuart Hall who ended second quickest with a fine lap of 114.890mph. McLean ended up fourth as Michael Sweeney placed third with a lap of 112.800mph.
The big news though was Neve’s lap of 111.673mph which placed him fifth quickest overall and made him the first 400cc rider to break the 110mph barrier this week. Only three riders have gone faster on a 400cc machine around the Mountain Course: Jim Moodie, Brian Reid and John McGuinness, with Moodie’s lap record of 112.40mph set in 1993.
In the Historic Senior class, Browne elevated himself into the pre-race favourites category with two 111mph+ laps, the second of which was 112.984mph. That was the quickest lap of the week so far and just 3.8s outside John McGuinness’s class lap record of 113.342mph.
McGuinness was second quickest in the session at 112.248mph, which put him ahead of McLean (109.767mph), Shaun Anderson (109.699mph), Ian Lougher (108.719mph) and Paul Jordan (103.742mph).
Jordan also had a strong run as he topped the Historic Junior leaderboard with a lap of 102.962mph on the Davies Motorsport Honda. That put him ahead of fellow Honda riders Michael Evans (101.619mph), McLean (99.364mph), Maurizio Bottalico (98.846mph), Dan Sayle (98.101mph) and Will Loder (97.862mph).
Paul Jordan took a 102.962mph on the Davies Motorsport Honda
