Michael Dunlop has taken victory in today’s Senior TT in a race that was re-started over four laps after Ian Hutchinson was taken to hospital with a broken femur after a crash at the 27th milestone.
Dunlop scorched to a 13s win over Peter Hickman, who made it five podiums from five races, with Dean Harrison in third place after Bruce Anstey retired at the end of lap two with engine problems.
The Ballymoney man had gone the wrong way with his suspension settings in the first race and had been struggling but some tweaks before the re-start saw the Bennetts Suzuki flying from the first sector and Dunlop was never headed.
A fastest lap of 132.903mph on lap two looked to have broken Hickman’s charge but the Smith’s BMW man responded with his own 132.254 but he just didn’t have enough pace to challenge Dunlop.
Harrison put in a 132.019 on his fourth lap to cap off his second Superbike podium of the week on the Silicone Kawasaki while James Hiller changed his rear shock before the re-start and took fourth place.
BSN columnist Michael Rutter ended his TT fortnight with fifth place while Josh Brookes won the battle of the Nortons in sixth place, heading team-mate David Johnson in seventh by just 2.678s after four laps.
Dunlop led at Glen Helen on lap one by just 0.642s from Anstey with Harrison in third place, the top six covered by less than three seconds. At Ballaugh, Dunlop was off and extended his lead to 1.679s as Hickman moved into second place at Ramsey and Conor Cummins taking sixth from Hillier.
With a 132.292mph opening lap, Dunlop was 4.268s ahead at the Grandstand with the next three in the 131mph bracket and Rutter in fifth on a 130.367. Hillier swapped places with Cummins for sixth at Glen Helen on lap two and the order was then set until Anstey dropped out.
Cummins was promoted sixth but that lasted until Glen Helen on lap three when Brookes vaulted both the Manxman and Johnson, and from then on it was a battle of the Nortons.
Brookes held it until Ballaugh Bridge on lap four when Johnson went past with a fast sector but Brookes pulled it back to 0.327s at Ramsey. And then the Bringelly man took charge on the run to the Bungalow, opening a gap to just under a a second before recording his first 130mph lap to secure sixth. The 130.883 was also Norton’s quickest ever at the TT.
Cummins ended in eighth place with Martin Jessopp passing William Dunlop for ninth place late on. Jamie Coward took 11th with Dan Kneen 12th. Daley Mathison, Dan Hegarty and James Cowton completed the top 15.
