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"I have huge respect for the racers who ride this circuit flat out on Superbikes as it requires massive courage and concentration"
"It is dangerous and unbelievably fast and entirely different from the kind of track I am used to racing on"
-Valentino Rossi
'The reason I do it is because if you do it wrong, it will kill you.
If you think it's too dangerous then go home and cut your lawn and leave us to it.'
- Guy Martin
I always say to myself I'm only going to push it to my level and when I'm at that level, that's it. I can't go any faster. One day it's going to go up a gear and young kids are going to make me look pretty average, but until that happens I'll keep doing what I do.
If you're a normal chap looking in from the outside, it looks insane. People think we are lunatics. But when you're on the bike, you're just riding round, doing your thing. In the SuperStock race this week the bike wobbled at Crosby and my feet came off the pegs at 180mph, but I put it out of my mind in an instant.
- John McGuiness
37.379 miles a lap, Record holder - John McGuinness - 131.578mph
Friday, June 1
Superbike/Superstock/Supersport/ Newcomers (except Lightweight) Qualifying
Sidecar Qualifying
RACE WEEK
Saturday, June 2
11am - Dainese Superbike TT Race
2pm - Sure Sidecar TT Race 1
Supersport/Lightweight Qualifying
Monday, June 4
10.45am - Monster Energy Supersport TT Race 1
Sidecar Qualifying
2pm - Royal London 360 Superstock TT Race
Wednesday, June 6
10.45am - SES TT Zero Challenge
1pm - Monster Energy Supersport TT Race 2
3.15pm - Sure Sidecar TT Race 2
Senior Qualifying
Lightweight Qualifying
Friday, June 8
10.45am - BikerPetition.co.uk Lightweight TT Race
1.30pm - PokerStars Senior TT Race
28/05 - John McGuinness and Dave Molyneux, both multiple champions in the solo and sidecar classes respectively, topped the leaderboard in tonight’s qualifying session at the Isle of Man TT Races fuelled by Monster Energy. The pair, with 31 race wins between them both posted early warnings to their rivals ahead of Saturday’s first race day.
A dry, sunny evening met the competitors for Monday evening’s practice session with conditions described as good all around the course. Riders were again warned of wet tar at Guthrie’s whilst the setting sun would again cause a problem as the evening wore on.
The session was, of course, the first for the 600cc and 1000cc machines as well as the majority of the leading front runners and they were all keen to get their 2012 campaign underway although they had to wait an additional 20 minutes to allow marshals to get to their positions around the 37.73 miles.
First away were Ian Mackman and Michael Dunlop followed by Guy Martin, Ryan Farquhar, James Hillier and Cameron Donald, all six on their Superbikes. Next to go were Michael Rutter and John McGuinness, the former on his Superstock bike. Dan Stewart, the returning Ian Hutchinson for his first closed road lap since his 2010 exploits, Dan Kneen, Adrian Archibald, Simon Andrews and Bruce Anstey were also amongst the early runners.
Donald was the first man back at 125.069mph with Martin alongside him on the road but slightly slower at 123.965mph. Hillier was going well at 124.407mph with Farquhar on 123.125mph but McGuinness experienced problems, slowing through the Ballaugh to Ramsey section, and his eventual lap speed was a lowly 111.23mph. Meanwhile, Hutchinson was getting back into the groove with a lap of 121.92mph and the newcomers were also going well with James Storrar at 106.97mph and Karl Harris at 106.23mph.
Donald and Martin went straight through as did Dunlop and Hutchinson but Farquhar pulled in to make adjustments whilst McGuinness went back out on his Superstock machine as the Superbike was fixed. Hillier also switched to his Superstock Kawasaki.
Donald increased his speed to 126.379mph with Martin only improving slightly at 124.127mph. Dunlop was next through at 123.871mph whilst Hutchinson also improved to 123.025mph. Other good laps came from Gary Johnson, 123.78mph, and Simon Andrews on 122.25mph.
30th - Competitors were met with considerably different conditions for the third qualifying session at the 2012 Isle of Man TT Races fuelled by Monster Energy and although still dry, the temperature was down on the previous two nights and there were also a lot of grey clouds reported around the Mountain Course.
The action got underway shortly after the schduled start at 6.31 and Guy Martin and James Hillier were the first to set off down Glencrutchery Road, both on their Superbikes, with Gary Johnson and Ryan Farquhar behind them, Ian Mackman and Michael Dunlop, Ian Lougher and Adrian Archibald, William Dunlop and Michael Rutter and Ian Hutchinson and John Burrows the next pairs. All were on their 1000cc machines with the exception of Lougher and William Dunlop who were Supersport mounted. Conor Cummins was also back out, this time on his Superbike for the first time this week.
Despite reports of low cloud over the Mountain, speeds were unaffected and Martin continued to lead on the road with an opening lap of 128.448mph with Hillier crossing the line soon after at 127.811mph, his best ever lap around the Mountain Course. Johnson was next at 127.287mph with Anstey the quickest Superstock bike at over 126mph. John McGuinness was quickest through the Sulby speed trap at 190.1mph, posting a lap of 127.919mph but Cameron Donald who was quickest at 129.075mph with William Dunlop the fastest 600cc rider at 124.711mph.
Johnson, Farquhar, Donald and Dan Stewart pulled in to make adjustments as the newcomers continued to impress, notably Jamie Hamilton (118.563), Lee Johnston (116.57), Jimmy Storrar (116.55) and Karl Harris (115.820). Alessio Corradi and Daniel Hegarty recorded their first ever 120mph laps but Roger Maher was an early retirement at Sky Hill whilst Paul Owen had stopped to make adjustments at Kerromoar.
The majority of riders went straight through for a second lap and Martin improved slightly to 128.866mph although Hillier was slower at 127.165mph. Michael Dunlop improved his pace to 127.546mph and McGuinness was the first to break the 130mph barrier this week at 130.079mph despite later saying he’d lost a few seconds passing other riders. Ian Hutchinson posted 126.760mph whilst Stewart and Simon Andrews were also going well on their Superbikes at 127.453mph and 127.376mph.
Meanwhile, William Dunlop was flying on the 600cc bike with a lap of 126.184mph as Storrar and Johnston improved to 117.731mph and 117.527mph. But Donald’s second lap ended at Windy Corner with Ian Lougher stopping at the Bungalow.
31st - The veteran competitors showed the youngsters the way in Thursday’s Qualifying session for the 2012 Isle of Man TT Races. In the solo class Kiwi Bruce Anstey and evergreen Michael Rutter, both in their forties, posted the top Superbike times of the evening while fellow veteran Dave Molyneux overtook Tim Reeves fastest time of the week set the previous evening.
After rain and damp conditions started the day, the weather cleared up in time for Thursday’s practice session to get underway only slightly behind schedule at 6.25pm and this time it was the sidecars to sample the Mountain Course first. The first few competitors went off in numerical order, so Dave Molyneux/Patrick Farrance were first away followed by John Holden/Andy Winkle, Tim Reeves/Dan Sayle, Conrad Harrison/Mike Aylott, Ben and Tom Birchall and Gary Bryan/Jamie Winn first away. The Birchalls were back in action after their spill on Monday evening.
Molyneux led on the road and lapped at 112.198mph with Reeves slightly slower at 111.425 although he was quickest through the speed trap at 143.7mph. Conrad Harrison was also over 110mph with a lap of 110.496mph, Birchall and Greg Lambert were also over 108mph but Holden was again out of luck retiring at Kirk Michael whilst Andy King/Kenny Cole and Scott Lawrie/James Neave were also forced to stop.
Second time around, Molyneux upped the pace with his lap being 113.538mph, the quickest of the week, with Reeves on 112.218mph, Bryan 110.781mph and Birchall 110.027mph.
The chairs were able to get two laps in during the session before being flagged off and so, just after 7.10pm, the Supersport and Lightweight session commenced. Guy Martin and Bruce Anstey were the first away followed by William Dunlop, Ian Lougher, Rob Barber, John McGuinness, Michael Rutter and Ian Hutchinson. Lougher, Barber and Rutter were all on their Lightweight bikes as was James Hillier.
Dunlop was the quickest on the opening lap at 124.650mph closely followed by Anstey (123.649), Johnson (123.638), Martin (122.639) and McGuinness (122.349). Ryan Farquhar was also over 120mph whilst Lougher was the quickest Lightweight machine with a lap of 113.023mph. Hillier was only slightly slower at 112.952mph with Rutter also over 112mph.
However, the red flag was being displayed from the startline to Cronk y Voddy due to an incident at Sarah’s Cottage and there was a 25-minute delay before practice resumed at 8.05pm with the session for Superbike, Superstock and Supersport machines.
Michael Dunlop was forced to stop at Ramsey Hairpin when some debris got caught in his radiator but Gary Johnson, James Hillier and Ian Hutchinson had no such problems and all completed their laps in excess of 125mph although Guy Martin was the quickest at 126.939mph. William Dunlop was once again the quickest 600 but Dan Kneen was out at Quarterbridge.
With damp patches in the Glen Helen section, speeds were a bit down on the opening lap but, second time around, the pace quickened, none more so than Anstey and Rutter who circulated in close formation. The duo topped the Superbike session with speeds of 128.815mph and 128.072mph respectively and, although many of the fancied runners failed to go quicker, good laps were posted by David Johnson, Daniel Hegarty and Grant Wagstaff, with the latter posting a first ever 120mph+ lap.
Hutchinson, Lougher, Farquhar, Lee Johnston, Simon Fulton and Michael Niblett were all posted as retirements whilst Karl Harris was the fastest newcomer at 119.017mph.
Dean Lindley/Leon Fitzpatrick had an accident at Douglas Road Corner. Lindley was OK but Fitzpatrick was transported by Airmed to Nobles with back pain and possible fractures. Newcomer cott Lawrie and his passenger James Neave were attended to by a TM at Ballaugh but were both OK. In the incident that involved the red flag Stefan Holz was off at Sarah’s but was conscious with a right arm injury.
In a change to the schedule tomorrow’s final qualifying session will now be a split session with Sidecars out at 18.20, Lightweight and all solo newcomers at 19.15 to 19.55 and Superbike, Supersport and Superstock at 20.00 – 20.50 with all solo’s getting the chance to test Pit lane limiters.
Bruce Anstey in full flow
Saturday 2nd June
MCGUINNESS REIGNS SUPREME WITH 18TH ISLE OF MAN TT RACE WIN
John McGuinness won his 18th TT today when he took victory in the Dainese Superbike race at the Isle of Man TT Races fuelled by Monster Energy. The Honda TT Legends rider overcame an early challenge from Australian Cameron Donald. He was helped by two incredibly slick pit stops and extended his lead of six seconds at half race distance to 18 seconds and he was able to ease off slightly on the final lap to take the chequered flag – his 7th Superbike/Formula One race win – by 14 seconds. Donald put in his first 130mph+ laps to take a good second and New Zealand’s Bruce Anstey came home third after Guy Martin faded in the second half of the race with rear tyre problems.
The morning started in cool, cloudy conditions and a 15-minute delay was required before the race got underway at 11.15am and, when it did, it was McGuinness who led at Glen Helen, the Honda TT Legends rider holding a 1.3s advantage over Donald with Martin a further 0.66s back. James Hillier was going well in fourth with Michael Rutter and Bruce Anstey completing the top six.
At Ballaugh, Donald had reduced the lead to a mere 0.15s and by Ramsey it was almost the same, 0.35s the gap between the pair. Martin was still in third, the same margin adrift as he had been at Glen Helen, with Gary Johnson now edging out Padgetts Honda team-mate Anstey for fourth.
It was clear that there wasn’t going to be much between the leading trio at the end of the first lap and, sure enough, with all three posting 130mph+ laps, only 0.98s split them – however, it was Donald who now led by just 0.2s. Johnson, Anstey and Hillier completed the top six but Rutter was reported to have gearbox trouble and dropped out whilst Ryan Farquhar also pulled in to make adjustments. McGuinness’ team-mate Simon Andrews was also out having crashed at the Graham Memorial with the Honda Legends rider later reported to have a cracked shoulder, a broken wrist and a broken ankle.
McGuinness, who later admitted he was slightly cautious on the first lap, regained the lead with the fastest lap of the race, 130.382mph on the second lap. As he came into the pits for his first stop, the lead was 2.16s. Martin was a further three seconds back and after a superb pit stop, McGuinness’ lead shot up to 6 seconds. Anstey regained fourth from Johnson and William Dunlop held onto sixth.
Donald wasn’t going to roll over though and reduced the gap back to 3.8s at Glen Helen whilst news came through that Dan Stewart, Davy Morgan and Luis Carreira were just some of the riders to be penalised 30s for speeding in the pit lane. Throughout the third lap, McGuinness maintained his lead over Donald but Martin was dropping back and at the end of the third lap, McGuinness led Donald by a now ominous looking 6.2s, Martin’s challenge seemingly over as he was now 21 seconds behind Donald.
Anstey, Johnson and Dunlop completed the top six with Hillier, Ian Hutchinson, a flying Dean Harrison and Michael Dunlop completing the top ten. Farquhar called it a day as three of the newcomers – Jimmy Storrar, Karl Harris and Jamie Hamilton all posted their first ever 120mph laps.
By two thirds race distance, McGuinness was back in familiar territory, controlling affairs from the front, and with his lead extending at each timing point, he came into the pits at the end of lap ten seconds clear. With yet another superb pit stop, the lead was increased further still to 13 seconds but Martin was now in danger of losing third to Anstey. A rear spindle problem meant the Tyco Suzuki team couldn’t change the rear tyre and so he had to ride four laps on the same tyre. Stewart was again penalised 30s and that dropped him down the order to 12th.
There were no such problems for McGuinness though and with a lead of almost 17 seconds at Ramsey on the final lap, he was able to ride to his signals and come for his 18th TT win, 14.86s clear of Donald, the same 1-2 as twelve months ago. Anstey took over third on the fifth lap to make it a Honda 1-2-3 as Martin ended up 20s behind in fourth. Johnson and Dunlop were secure in fifth and sixth to make it five Hondas in the top 6.
Hillier held onto seventh with the returning Ian Hutchinson in eighth but, without doubt, one of the rides of the race was by Dean Harrison. In just his second TT, the 23-year lapped at over 126mph to take a brilliant ninth, with Michael Dunlop completing the top ten on his Kawasaki Superstock machine.
Harrison got maximum points in the race for the Privateer’s Championship whilst Karl Harris was the best of the newcomers in a fine 21st place.
