BROWNE TOPS SUPERSTOCK WHILE HARRISON AND DUNLOP DOMINATION CONTINUES
Competitors were faced with slightly different weather conditions for Friday’s fourth qualifying session at this year’s Isle of Man TT Races, with the blue sky and sun giving way to cloud around the majority of the Mountain Course, as well as cooler temperatures and increased wind speeds.
But one thing that did remain constant was Dean Harrison being fastest and the Honda Racing rider lapped at an impressive 134.877mph to post the fastest lap of qualifying week so far.
With race day getting ever closer, most riders opted to go out straight away on their Superbikes with Nathan Harrison first away on the H&H Motorcycles Honda followed by Dean Harrison, Josh Brookes (DAO Racing Honda) and Ian Hutchinson (Team RST BMW).
Mike Browne (Boyce Precision Engineering by Russell Racing Honda) was out on his Superstock machine as was Jamie Coward, the Rapid Honda rider back on track with a new engine fitted after problems on Wednesday. Michael Dunlop was another rider who experienced issues on Wednesday, and he went out on the Hawk Racing Honda Superbike.
Brookes seemingly had a few problems over the first few miles, the Australian more than half a minute down on the pace setting Dean Harrison at Glen Helen whilst Hutchinson was seen discarding a tank spacer on the approach to Ballacraine.
Dean Harrison’s opening lap was 133.653mph and he went straight through for another lap, his gap to Peter Hickman (8TEN Racing BMW) 13.7s, the 14-time winner lapping at 131.882mph which put him just over a second ahead of Dunlop (131.710mph). Browne was the quickest of the Superstock runners, the Irish rider posting a speed of 129.647mph which put him ahead of Paul Jordan (128.055mph) and Coward (128.007mph).
Ian Hutchinson set a 130mph lap on his Superbike for the first time this week
Two riders out of luck though were Conor Cummins (Conrod Motorsport BMW) and Dominic Herbertson (KTS Racing BMW), the duo having pulled off the course at Ballacraine and the Railway Inn respectively.
Most of the front runners carried on for a second lap but Dunlop and Nathan Harrison both pulled into the pits to make changes, the latter going back to a harder spring on the suspension after his first lap was slightly compromised due to the changes made since Wednesday.
Wind over the Mountain was clearly having an impact on speeds as all riders were dropping time after Ramsey, riders encountering a head wind along the Mountain Mile, but Dean Harrison’s second lap was 134.877mph with Hickman also setting his best lap of the week at 132.712mph although this was some 16s down on the Honda rider.
Dunlop (131.850mph), John McGuinness (130.903mph), Brookes (130.547mph) and Hutchinson (130.052mph) were also above 130mph on their second lap with Browne remaining the quickest Superstock rider, his second lap slightly quicker than his first at 129.798mph. Strong laps also came in from Marcus Simpson (127.297mph) and Maurizio Bottalico (126.243mph).
Some riders made it out on track for a third lap including Dunlop, continuing on his Superbike, and Hickman, Brookes, Hutchinson and David Johnson on their Superstock machines although Hutchinson made a brief stop at the Bungalow.
Dunlop’s lap of 132.149mph was his quickest of the week, despite being short lapped, with Hickman and Brookes going second and third quickest on the Superstock leaderboard at 129.725mph and 129.186mph respectively.
“The Superbike is feeling better than the Superstock bike, which is unusual,” said Hickman. “The Superstock’s not quite doing what I want it to and it’s not holding the line like I want it to do so I’m missing a few apexes. The changes we made after Wednesday made the bike worse, so we’ll go back the other way for the second session today.”
After a short break, the Supersport/Sportbike session got underway at 12.15pm, Dunlop onboard his Paton whilst other riders out in the Sportbike class included Michael Evans, the Manxman going out on the Flitwick Motorcycles/SMV Sportbike Yamaha after his spill at Greeba Castle on Wednesday, and David Johnson on the Team ILR/Frog Vehicle Developments Paton.
David Johnson was a late entry in the Sportbike class riding for Team ILR in place of Franco Bourne
Most of the leading contenders decided to go out first on their Supersport bike instead and Hickman (Swan Racing by PHR Performance Triumph) and Dean Harrison (Honda Racing) were only half a second apart on the 24 miles from the Grandstand to Ramsey. At the end of the lap, Hickman was 2.6s quicker with a lap of 127.215mph compared to Harrison’s 126.899mph, the latter losing a bit of time when he was trying to overtake Dunlop on the drop down the Mountain.
Paul Jordan (Jackson Racing powered by Prosper2 Ducati) had been leading on the road for the latter part of the lap, but he failed to complete it after he lost his chain on the run towards the Creg-ny-Baa whilst Dunlop, as expected, was the quickest Sportbike runner at 123.020mph, Evans second quickest at a solid 118.717mph.
Paul Jordan missed much of the session after his chain came off on the run to the Creg-ny-Baa
Dunlop switched to the Scars Racing Ducati Supersport machine with Hickman going the other way, rejoining the fray on the Swan Racing by PHR Performance Yamaha Sportbike. Brookes, Coward, Hutchinson and Browne all continued for a second lap on their Supersport mounts and Brookes’ lap of 126.848mph was his quickest ever in the middleweight class.
Dunlop’s lap of 126.366mph put him third quickest on the Supersport leaderboard with Hickman going second quickest in the Sportbike class at 120.803mph, Evans dropping to third but improving his lap speed on his second lap to 119.536mph.
Dunlop saved the best until last though and at the end of the session, he lapped at 128.351mph to reassert himself at the top of the Supersport leaderboard. Jordan, meanwhile, managed to get back to the pits in time to put in one lap on his Sportbike Aprilia with a lap of 120.649mph placing him third on that particular leaderboard behind Dunlop and Hickman.
