By Delayed only slightly by oil been dusted away at Ballig Bridge, Tuesday evening’s Superbike practice session of TT 2018 was nothing short of sensational.
Carrying on his great form from Monday evening, Silicone Engineering Racing’s Dean Harrison prior to unofficially blitzing the Superbike TT lap record, lapped from a standing start for the first time at just over the 133 mph mark.
Harrison’s second lap would see him create a moment in history, as he became unofficially only the second rider to lap the fabled Mountain Course at under 17 minutes.
Photo by Jim Gibson
His lap speed of 133.462 mph, time wise 16 minutes 57.728 seconds also unofficially, makes him the second quickest racer in TT history.
Mountain Course lap record holder Michael Dunlop standing start lap of 132.319 mph was just enough for him to finish second fastest in front of Tyco BMW team mate Dan Kneen, who were using unofficially a lot here, clinched his first ever 132 mph lap, lapping at 132.258 mph.
Smiths Racing’s Peter Hickman (132.169) also dipped over the 132 mph mark in finishing fourth quickest, whilst fifth, sixth and seventh fastest Padgetts Conor Cummins (129.756), Bathams SMT Racing’s Michael Rutter (129.583) and Gulf BMW’s David Johnson (129.36) all showed accomplished pace.
Photo by Nick Wheeler
Eighth and ninth on the practice leader board James Hillier (129.181), Norton’s Josh Brookes (128.59) same as Rutter, Johnson and Cummins, both looked in solid, consistent form aboard their respective ZX-10RR Kawasaki, SG7 Norton mounts.
The remaining final spot within the ten quickest Superbike competitors of a truly memorable evening of competition was Market Rasen’s Phil Crowe (128.472) who impressed many in outpacing the likes of Martin Jessopp (128.144), Honda Racing’s Ian Hutchinson (127.038) and Gary Johnson (126.566).
Photo by Mark Corlett
Tuesday evening Superbike practice results, are as follows:
1 Dean Harrison 133.462
2 Michael Dunlop 132.319
3 Dan Kneen 132.258
4 Peter Hickman 132.169
5 Conor Cummins 129.756
6 Michael Rutter 129.583
7 David Johnson 129.360
8 James Hillier 129.181
9 Josh Brookes 128.590
10 Phil Crowe 128.472
11 Martin Jessopp 128.144
12 Derek Sheils 127.575
13 Jamie Coward 127.554
14 Shaun Anderson 127.167
15 Ian Hutchinson 127.038
16 Lee Johnston 126.873
17 Gary Johnson 126.566
18 Sam West 126.562
19 Daley Mathison 125.608
20 Dan Cooper 125.265
21 Dominic Herbertson 124.782
22 James Cowton 124.519
23 Derek McGee 124.456
24 Rob Hodson 124.252
25 Brian McCormack 123.586
26 Danny Webb 123.413
27 Kamil Holan 123.215
28 Michael Sweeney 123.163
29 Stefano Bonetti 122.727
30 Steve Mercer 122.549
31 Davey Todd 121.972
32 Ryan Kneen 121.972
33 Mark Parrett 121.771
34 Barry Evans 121.644
35 Michael Evans 121.636
36 Ian Lougher 121.600
37 Raul Torras 121.556
38 Tom Weeden 121.032
39 Barry Furber 120.587
40 Andy Dudgeon 120.577
41 Craig Neve 120.513
42 Bjorn Gunnarsson 120.484
43 Marc Ironside 120.375
44 Darren Cooper 120.143
45 Frank Gallagher 120.096
46 Dave Hewson 119.781
47 Michael Booth 119.651
48 David Jackson 119.606
49 George Spence 119.506
50 Rhys Hardisty 119.412
51 Adrian Harrison 119.306
52 Adam Lyon 119.217
53 Fabrice Miguet 118.861
54 Paul Williams 118.446
55 Josh Daley 118.411
56 Ian Pattinson 118.265
57 Julien Toniutti 118.243
58 Richard Wilson 118.216
59 Eric Wilson 117.309
60 Paul Jordan 117.056
61 Matt Mylchreest 116.921
62 Davy Morgan 116.673
63 Richard Charlton 115.774
64 AJ Venter 115.563
65 Mike Norbury 115.554
66 Dave Madsen Mygdal 114.616
67 Michal Dokoupil 112.239
Words by Stevie Rial
