Isle of Man TT Qualifying
Friday
Qualifying for the Isle of Man TT was red-flagged on Friday evening after lap record holder Peter Hickman crashed heavily at Kerrowmoor on the opening lap of the session. An official announcement reported that Hickman was conscious and stable, but had been air-lifted to Noble’s hospital. It is clear that the TT lap record holder is pretty busted up and is likely now out of the TT.
Red flags are a rare occurrence at the TT, and when one is hung out, you know that nothing trivial has caused it. Tonight, when the news broke that the session had been stopped, it had a sobering effect as a solemn reverence swept across the thousands of spectators dotted around the course.
Everyone knew that it had to be one of the leaders, as many bikes were still on the Glencrutchey Road, yet to be flagged away. It’s an awful wait for all concerned in these situations. And those who remember the night we sadly lost David Jefferies in 2003 will have recognised an uncomfortably familiar feel in the air. So, the swift announcement that Hickman was conscious and stable is hopefully a good indication for the big Lincolnshire man and all TT fans.
Indeed, the organisers had planned to have bikes back on the circuit by 1930. But rain swept across the island (again), and that prompted Clerk of the Course, Gary Thompson, to make the call that there’d be no more action until the following day.
The commentary team had reported that Hickman’s bike was smoking, and they were surprised when he made it to Ballaugh. His crash happened just a few miles later, and there have been unconfirmed reports that the bellypan of the number 10 BMW may have been loose. We await an announcement for official information.
Earlier on Friday we had managed a full day of qualifying in sometimes sunny, but never rainy conditions. It made a welcome change for the riders to get a chance to attack the course and they all made good use of their time, despite some damp patches reported at Bradden, Keppel gate and Hillberry.
Davey Todd topped the Superbike session on Friday ahead of Hickman. In the early stages, the lead riders were taking it in turns to be fastest at each sector but it was a little confusing as some were on Stockers and others on Superbikes. In the end the 8Ten riders topped the charts in the blue ribbon class. But the fastest Superbike time of the week still belongs to Dean Harrison courtesy of his 133.069 mph lap on Wednesday.
Local hero Conor Cummins was a welcome 3rd on Friday ahead of an equally celebrated 4th quickest time for fellow Manxman, Nathan Harrison. Michael Dunlop seemed to be struggling with set-up on the World Superbike spec Rokit BMW in 5th (although it should be said that he caught traffic on the mountain during a flying lap). Shaun Anderson completed the top 6.
Honda racing’s Dean Harrison looked particularly determined and he set the fastest Superstock and Supersport times. His time on the CBR600RR was a new record for practice week in the class, which caused a stir amongst those in attendance.
Not to be outdone, Michael Dunlop almost (but not quite) equalled Harrison’s 128mph time from a standing start on the new for ’25 Milwaukee Ducati right at the end of the session. The Ballymoney man was just 3s short of Deano’s lap and 1.6s ahead of Peter Hickman in 3rd.
Dunlop has won every Supersport race in the post-covid era. However, all 6 of those victories have been clinched onboard his MD Racing Yamaha YZF-R6, and so the move to the V2 Panigale is a leap into the unknown. His standing start time will give him confidence that he has not made a mistake in switching to the Italian machine but he’ll be wary of Harrison and he’d be right to be.
Davey Todd surprised everyone with a new livery on his Padgett’s Honda. Painted in all blue ‘My Coolman’ colours, the Saltburn man banked the 4th fastest time of the session ahead of Aussie Josh Brookes in 5th.
Just like at the North West 200, Brookes has been fighting a losing battle with his Fireblades in the 1000cc races. No matter what the Jackson team tries, Brookes cannot get the stability he craves. You get the impression that he is yearning for his old BMW which he lapped at 134mph on last year.
However, the little Cbr600 is much more settled and that was evident in this high leader-board placing. James Hillier completed the top 6.
Dean Harrison looks fast on everything this year.
His lap of 132.853mph in Superstock laid down a marker for the field and it was only really the 8Ten BMWs of Peter Hickman and Dean Harrison who could keep up. The top 3 were the only riders in the class to lap at over 132mph, with Michael Dunlop apparently still getting his head around the BMW in 4th. MD’s fastest time just tipped over 130mph with Ian Hutchinson and the impressive Mike Browne completing the top 6 in the 129 bracket.
Hutchy is now lapping faster than at anytime since his Senior TT crash in 2017 and it bodes well for the Bingley Bullet’s fortunes this week.
Michael Dunlop managed to top the timesheets in the Supertwin class. The ‘Bull’ pulled into gasoline alley immediately after his fast Supersport lap and jumped on his little 650 Paton. He was last away and they shut the gate behind him as he went, effectively making him the sweeper at the end of practice.
Dunlop posted a time of 122.159 mph to put him at the head of the class ahead of Mikey Evans and Dominic Herbertson.
Tom Weeden was airlifted to hospital after crashing spectacularly at Glen Helen, causing the TV camera man to take avoiding action. Tom went feet first into a wall and posted an extensive list of injuries to his social media page from his hospital bed. They include tib and fib fractures and an ankle, vertebra, hand and finger ‘smashed to bits’.
“Will put a plaster on and hopefully get back out for qualifying tomorrow,” he joked. We wish him well.
In Sidecars, the Crowe brothers (as expected) blew the opposition away. For the first time ever, it was compulsory for the chairs to carry a full tank of fuel in this session. It’s a safety measure to ensure that nobody is racing down Bray Hill on lap 1 of the race with a heavy load for the first time all week.
The Crowes even started in pitlane, but despite all of that they still clocked a 119mph lap from a standing start. Next time around they broke the magic 120 mph barrier- the first outfit to do so in qualifying ever.
Despite running in a new engine on lap 1, Peter Founds and Jevan Walmsley set the 2nd fastest time ahead of Ben Birchall and new passenger, Patrick Rosney.
It’s been a stop/start TT so far this year with unpredictable weather doing its best to cause disruption when it can. The session that Hickman crashed in was only the 3rd qualifying session of the event so far, with racing originally supposed to commence tomorrow.
However, that has all changed. There will now be no racing on Saturday, with a double qualifying session pencilled in instead. The 6-lap Superbike race will kick the racing off on Mad Sunday with Saturday’s schedule now pushed back to Monday.
With uncertain weather forecast for the remainder of the week and low pressure swirling around the Atlantic ocean to the West of Ireland it looks likely that the timetable will be revised and revised again. You’d imagine that the Clerk of the Course will be in constant contact with the Manx Met office at Ronaldsway airport for up to date information during the following days.
But now, with the island in darkness and the fans making merry in the ale houses, we can only hope for positive news tomorrow on Peter Hickman’s condition. And if the road racing Gods are feeling generous, perhaps an unexpected twist in the 10-day weather forecast.
Superbike
Superstock
Supersport
SuperTwin
Sidecar
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L. Blackstock / O. Lawrence |
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R. Van der Donckt / V. Van der Donckt |
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W. Kranenburg / K. Koelsch |
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D. Marshall / L. Galligan |
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