By Bruce Anstey charged to the top of the Superbike time sheets, on Friday evening, securing the first lap speed in excess of 129 mph at TT 2017, lapping at 129.212 aboard the exotic Padgetts RC213V-S Honda.
The machine which is in essence a Moto GP spec bike, that any road user can buy, albeit if you have a lot of money! looked extremely impressive this evening with the 11 times TT winner, on board.
Photo by Rod Neill
Michael Dunlop, chipping away with the Bennetts Suzuki, finished second quickest, courtesy of lapping from a standing start an average speed of 128.576 mph.
Bathams SMT Racing’s Michael Rutter was third quickest, whilst fourth and fifth fastest JG Speedfit Kawasaki’s James Hillier and Conor Cummins, both looked in good form, lapping in excess of 127 mph. A feat also achieved by Silicone Engineering Racing’s Dean Harrison.
Peter Hickman was seventh fastest, Lee Johnston finished eighth quickest as William Dunlop, once again firmly lead the Yamaha challenge, in finishing ninth on the time sheets.
Concluding the top ten in practice, was Penz 13 BMW’s Dan Kneen.
Added standout lap speeds recorded tonight included McAdoo Kawasaki’s James Cowton lapping at 124.454, Shaun Anderson (123.531) and Danny Webb (123.017).
There was drama early, with pace setter on lap 1 up to Glen Helen, Ian Hutchinson, encountering problems with his Tyco BMW steed at Governors Dip, curtailing any further Superbike track time.
Norton’s David Johnson was another high profile early retirement, at Barregarrow.
TT 2017 – Friday Practice – Superbike Results:
1 Bruce Anstey 129.212
2 Michael Dunlop 128.576
3 Michael Rutter 127.39
4 James Hillier 127.308
5 Conor Cummins 127.227
6 Dean Harrison 127.203
7 Peter Hickman 126.978
8 Lee Johnston 126.975
9 William Dunlop 126.011
10 Dan Kneen 125.944
11 Gary Johnson 125.741
12 Ivan Lintin 125.54
13 Steve Mercer 125.174
14 Martin Jessopp 124.89
15 James Cowton 124.454
16 Dan Hegarty 124.288
17 Horst Saiger 124.034
18 Dan Stewart 124.025
19 Jamie Coward 123.924
20 Shaun Anderson 123.531
21 Brian McCormack 123.117
22 Guy Martin 123.112
23 Derek Sheils 123.035
24 Danny Webb 123.017
25 Phil Crowe 122.773
26 Alan Bonner 122.526
27 Stefano Bonetti 121.862
28 Daley Mathison 121.787
29 Michael Sweeney 121.429
30 Andy Dudgeon 121.297
31 Dominic Herbertson 121.216
32 Mark Parrett 121.135
33 Ryan Kneen 120.592
34 Joe Akroyd 120.425
35 Kamil Holan 120.354
36 Davy Morgan 120.273
37 Jim Hodson 120.152
38 Dan Cooper 119.976
39 Jochem Van Den Hoek 119.686
40 Barry Furber 119.65
Words by Stevie Rial
