Dean Harrison bagged his first Senior TT win on the Isle of Man today after Peter Hickman’s BMW began to fail on lap five and a near-18s lead was turned into a 53s deficit at the end the six-lap clash with Conor Cummins closing fast in third place.
Hickman was unable to use the hybrid Superstock/Superbike with which he won the Superbike TT on Saturday after scrutineers stripped his race-winning Superstock S1000RR down to nuts and bolts last night, so he was forced to use the full Superbike on which he hadn’t completed many laps.
It had been a two-horse race from the off but Hickman superiority on the run from Ramsey to the Bunglow had been responsible for over half of the 17s lead the Smiths Racing rider had built up by the end of the fourth lap.
But disaster struck as Hickman ran out to Glen Helen on lap five as his bike began to overheat and over 11,000rpm it began to throw water out so Hickman had to throttle it back and just try to keep Milenco by Padgetts Honda man Conor Cummins behind him.
At the end, Harrison was 53.062s ahead of Hickman who, in turn, was only 5.817s ahead of Cummins with Michael Dunlop a further 27.830s further back.
James Hillier - who had a nightmare first lap - took fifth place by just 2.568s from Davey Todd on the second Milenco by Padgetts Honda.
Veteran Michael Rutter was three minutes behind the leader in seventh with Jamie Coward, Brian McCormack and Dominic Herbertson completing the top ten.
Hickman and Harrison had opened a five-second gap over Cummins as they raced to Glen Helen on lap one with Dunlop just behind and Rutter in fifth.
The pair were only split by two-tenths at Ramsey but on the run to the Bunglow, Hickman pulled a second on Harrison which set the precedent for the rest of the race before Hickman.s bike went sick.
An opening lap of 134.28mph saw Hickman with a 2.209s lead on the end of lap one but Harrison hauled him back to a 1.990s advantage by Ballaugh on lap two. David Johnson clawed his way up to fifth place before retiring at the Bedstead and Honda team-mate Ian Hutchinson also retired on the same lap.
By the Bungalow, Hickman was 6.524s in the lead as Todd replaced Johnson in fifth place,. Hillier was recovering from his first-lap disaster and was slowly making his way back into the top ten.
On lap three, Hickman was 10.034s ahead at Glen Helen and increased that to 12.298s at the Bungalow. As they pitted on lap four, the lead was 17.683 but then it was disaster for Hickman as his BMW began to overheat and at Glen Helen on lap five the lead was less than eight seconds.
At Ballaugh, it was 1.1s and by Ramsey, Harrison was past and 7.877s in the lead. The Bradford man never looked back and added the Senior trophy to his cabinet. Hillier, meanwhile, took over from Todd in fifth place but at Ramsey on lap six, Todd was back in front.
Howveer, Hillier got the hammer down and managed to pull back the lead to cross the line in fifth place.
John McGuinness was forced to retire the Norton on lap one.
Results:
Dunlop Senior - conditions dry
1 2 Dean Harrison Kawasaki / Silicone Engineering 01:43:49.521 130.824 Silver
2 10 Peter Hickman BMW / Smiths Racing BMW 01:44:42.583 129.719 Silver
3 1 Conor Cummins Honda / Milenco by Padgett's Motorcycles 01:44:48.400 129.599 Silver
4 6 Michael Dunlop BMW / Tyco BMW 01:45:16.230 129.028 Silver
5 5 James Hillier Kawasaki / Quattro Plant Wicked Coatings 01:46:19.873 127.740 Silver
6 18 Davey Todd BMW / Penz13.com 01:46:22.441 127.689 Silver
7 8 Michael Rutter Honda / Bathams Racing 01:46:53.092 127.079 Silver
8 15 Jamie Coward Yamaha / Prez Racing 01:47:03.082 126.881 Silver
9 22 Brian McCormack BMW / ON-1 Racing 01:47:39.492 126.166 Silver
10 20 Dominic Herbertson Kawasaki / Davies Motorsport / Belgrave M 01:47:58.783 125.790 Silver
11 7 Gary Johnson Kawasaki / RAF Regular & Reserves / Lee 01:48:31.186 125.164 Silver
12 17 Shaun Anderson BMW / NW Racing 01:49:48.261 123.700 Bronze
13 16 Derek Sheils Suzuki / Burrows Engineering with RK Raci 01:49:57.265 123.531 Bronze
14 31 Mike Booth Kawasaki / BSK Pro 01:50:44.891 122.646 Bronze
15 25 Michael Sweeney BMW / MJR Racing 01:51:03.728 122.299 Bronze
16 40 Horst Saiger Yamaha / iXS 01:51:04.879 122.278 Bronze
17 29 Mark Parrett BMW / C and C Ltd. 01:51:45.117 121.544 Bronze
18 39 Joe Akroyd Kawasaki / Joe Akroyd Racing 01:51:50.223 121.452 Bronze
19 50 David Jackson BMW / Action Racing 01:51:52.831 121.405 Bronze
20 33 Frank Gallagher Kawasaki / Performance Racing Achterhoe 01:51:54.645 121.372 Bronze
21 34 Julian Trummer Honda / TC Racing / DP Coldplaning 01:52:22.962 120.862 Bronze
22 36 Marc Ironside Suzuki / V.G. Mathers 01:52:29.738 120.741 Bronze
23 67 Jay Lawrence Suzuki / Buildbase Suzuki / Carl Cox Motor 01:52:34.243 120.660 Bronze
24 55 Michael Russell Suzuki / 240 Volts / Swindon Karting 01:52:56.626 120.262 Bronze
25 47 David Hewson BMW / Obsession Engineering Ltd. 01:53:16.831 119.904 Bronze
26 48 Tom Weeden Suzuki / Burrows Engineering with RK Raci 01:53:19.540 119.856 Bronze
27 62 Richard Wilson BMW / G&C Higgins / Wiz Norton Racing 01:53:37.304 119.544 Bronze
28 52 Mark Goodings Kawasaki / Mark Goodings Kawasaki 01:54:08.276 119.003 Bronze
29 70 Lukas Maurer* Kawasaki / Blau Power Bikes 01:54:28.653 118.650
30 61 Josh Daley Kawasaki / Josh Daley Racing 01:54:55.625 118.186
31 53 Adrian Harrison Kawasaki / Aireborough Motor Co 01:55:07.603 117.981
32 44 Morgan Govignon BMW / MC Fleur de Lys - La Parenthèse M 01:55:49.639 117.268
33 63 George Spence Yamaha / Dod Spence Racing 01:56:00.856 117.079
34 42 Barry Furber Kawasaki / DC Auto Repairs Newtown 01:56:10.361 116.919
