2011 Isle of Man TT: Final Practice Times

2011 Isle of Man TT

No rain or oil spills prevented the final 2011 Isle of Man TT qualifying practice from getting underway Friday. And when the sessions were complete for the Superbike IOMTT class, four riders broke the 130-mph barrier, one over 131 mph.

These IOMTT times became the overall fastest times of the week-long practice, minus Thursday’s cancellation due to oil on the track from the sidecar class.

Leading the pack with a late-session fast lap was the man who was quickest all week, Padgett Honda’s Bruce Anstey. The CBR1000RR rider actually completed his quickest lap during his final time around the 37.73-mile Mountain Course, a time when most riders are cooling down.

Anstey’s final IOMTT practice lap was an average of 131.431. He was followed by 15-time IOMTT winner John McGuinness on the Honda TT Legends CBR1000RR; McGuinness would set a lap of 130.631 mph.

The two others to break the 130-mph barrier were Relentless Suzuki’s Guy Martin (130.075) and Michael Dunlop (130.024).

These will be the IOMTT favorites heading into tomorrow’s first race of 2011 Isle of Man TT, the 6-lap Dainese Superbike race.

John McGuinness (Honda TT Legends CBR1000RR) says: "I’m as prepared as I’m going to be for the race. The bike’s working terrifically and I’ve had a reasonably good practice week. If the sun shines tomorrow (Saturday) I’m going to have to be going really fast to win it.

"There’s some really competitive boys out there who’ve been going really fast in practice but I want to win it as much as any of them. I’m starting number one so I’m the man to chase and as soon as the flag drops I’ll be away as fast as I can. I definitely want to win it – it’s what I’m here for."

As for McGuinness’ teammate, Keith Amor, things weren’t so lucky. Amor sustained a highside at Quarterbridge after hitting a patch of oil on his superstock Honda machine. The result was a painful separation of the shoulder joint, ending his session and leaving him out of practice on Thursday, Honda TT legends reports. Amor’s doctor gave him the OK to race, so if he has strenght he’s expected to compete on Saturday.

In the Superstock class, Michael Dunlop had the fastest overall aboard the Street Sweep Kawasaki ZX-10R with a 130.024 mph. In Supersport, it was again Michael Dunlop, but on the Street Sweep Yamaha YZF-R6 (125.464).

2011 IOMTT Practice Times: Fastest Overall

Superbike:

  • Anstey 131.431
  • McGuinness 130.615
  • Martin 130.075

Superstock:

  • M Dunlop 130.024
  • Johnson 128.554
  • Anstey 127.694

Supersport:

  • M Dunlop 125.464
  • Donald 125.110
  • Anstey 124.236

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