Dunlop sets the best time ever for a Superbike, dominates for 4 laps but it’s not enough: Hickman wins, Todd second and Dean Harrison third. Extraordinary race, 360 km of emotions
June 2, 2024
SIf we had told you about a race where a motorbike on the verge of a podium refuses to restart after a pit stop and where the leading rider stops on the edge of the track to adjust his visor while the race is underway, you would accuse us of clickbait. Instead it is the TTwhich in Superbikes of today gave birth to one exciting odyssey which led the way for all 6 laps (over 60 km) of the race.
Part regularly and with the legendary John McGuinness at number 1, the Superbike race was immediately based on Dean Harrison’s desire to do his utmost to bring Honda Racing UK the victory that has been missing in SBK for a while. Davey Todd for his part pushed hard from the first lap (he was perhaps the only one to put his elbow on the ground at the Bungalow), James Hillier was looking for redemption after a bittersweet Supersport, similarly to Peter Hickman whose race yesterday had delivered subpar performances, but it was Michael Dunlop who, starting with his usual number 6, showed off a concrete supremacy.
Leading for the first lap, Davey Todd is soon grabbed by Michael Dunlop that breaks record times sector by sector: a steamroller. In the meantime, Hickman doesn’t push too hard, but holds the position with a short delay also caused by the first pit stop. With Todd and Harrison behind them, Dunlop continues to push, setting a new (provisional) SBK record but thedrama awaits him at the second pit stop: a visor latch mechanism is not closed properly after replacement and the Ballymoney rider is forced to stop a few tens of meters later to have exited the pit lane for take off your helmet and gloves and adjust the visor correctly, losing all the advantage he had accumulated (over 25 seconds) on Todd and Hickman. At the same pit stop Todd’s motorcycle initially refuses to start to restart a few seconds late.
“Hicky” at this point becomes more incisive (even if after the race he admits that he didn’t know about Dunlop’s difficulties) and that’s it: he goes on to win the race with 5.8 seconds ahead of Todd and a further 5.2 seconds ahead of Dean Harrison’s Honda. Very honestly, Peter in an interview after the race will talk about “double gift”, although the FHO Racing BMW driver’s victory is far from undeserved as he lapped with a best lap of 135.534mph (Todd got a 135.664mph). AND Dunlop? Despite everything, MD6 finished fourth, obtaining the record for a Superbike with 135,970mph! Certainly disappointed, but these are things that happen at the TT and the Northern Irishman will certainly have the next races to attempt an assault on the absolute record for victories at the Tourist Trophy (27) which is now just a step away.
