After a relatively low-key start to his TT campaign – retirement in the Superbike race and seventh in the opening Supersport encounter – Conor Cummins was most definitely back to his best in Monday evening’s Superstock race.
The Milenco by Padgetts Honda rider took second place behind Peter Hickman and postde a new personal best lap, in excess of 133mph, around the Mountain Course.
Sixth at Glen Helen on the opening lap, the Ramsey man quickly got in his stride and from that moment on, he steadily moved forward and worked his way up the leaderboard. An opening lap of 130.214mph put him in third place behind team-mate Davey Todd and there was just 3.2s behind them heading into the third and final lap.
Race leader and eventual winner Peter Hickman was some 19.1s ahead of him at that stage but that didn’t stop Cummins trying his utmost on the final 37.73-miles. With clear track ahead of him, Cummins got the deficit down to less than 12 seconds at one stage and although he ultimately had to settle for second, a final lap of 113.116mph bettered his previous best lap of 132.610mph from the 2019 Senior and also moved him up to the fourth quickest rider of all time.
“What a Stocker that bike is,” he smiled afterwards. “133mph is pretty insane but the Padgetts boys put in so many hours and work round the clock so a big thanks to them for their incredible effort. I just twist the throttle.
“I was trying but I wasn’t doing anything I don’t normally do and it felt really nice and smooth. The start number of 11 helped me as I had some nice clear road ahead of me and could just do my own thing. It literally was just man, machine and track.”
“The only issue I had was at the start when the new red light system was flashing and I wasn’t sure if I should go or not. It put me on the back foot a bit so the first few miles of the race weren’t straightforward but after that, I rode my socks off and kept it nice and smooth. The team and my family have been right behind me, as always, and this result makes it all worthwhile.
The result made up for the Superbike race when Cummins was forced to retire on the descent from the Mountain on just the second lap – [the engine just stopped as I clicked fourth gear heading towards Brandish' – and he’ll now be in confident mood for the rest of the week.
