2013 Isle of Man TT Monster Energy Supersport Race 1 Results
After winning his first-ever Superbike TT Sunday, which he took by over 40 seconds ahead of Cameron Donald and John McGuinness, Michael Dunlop continued his reign of the Mountain Monday during the first Monster Energy Supersport
Riding the MD Racing Honda CBR600RR, Dunlop took the lead at Ballaugh on the opening lap from brother William. And with a 127.525 mph lap on his second lap, he caught HM Plant Honda’s Bruce Anstey on the road and eventually took the win from the Kiwi by 10.3 seconds.
With perfect conditions on the 37.73-mile Mountain Course, the race got underway as scheduled at 10:45 a.m., and it was Milwaukee Yamaha YZR-R6 rider William Dunlop who led through Glen Helen on the opening lap.
His advantage over Anstey was 1.6 seconds, with Michael Dunlop a further 0.1 of a second back. Indeed, it was tight all the way down the leader board with less than four seconds covering the top ten.
On the run to Ramsey though, Michael Dunlop turned his deficit into a 1.5-second lead, with Anstey now in third, a further 0.5 of a second back from William but by the Grandstand, an opening lap of 126.431 mph extended his lead to 4.2 seconds.
Anstey had moved back into second by two seconds with Wilson Craig Honda’s Cameron Donald in fourth, just ahead of TYCO Suzuki GSX-R600 rider Guy Martin and a flying Bell Yamaha’s Dean Harrison.
On the second lap, Dunlop pressed on and could now see Anstey ahead on the road, his lap of 127.525 mph only a fraction outside his own lap record.
The lead was now close to ten seconds with William still holding onto third although the rest of the leader board was shuffling somewhat with Martin up to fourth ahead of Donald, HM Plant Honda’s John McGuinness, Harrison, Gary Johnson on the MV Agusta and Quattro Kawasaki’s James Hillier.
As they left the solitary pit stop, Dunlop and Anstey were together and the pair of them had caught McGuinness, Donald and Hillier on the road giving the thousands of fans around the course a tremendous sight and the dice allowed the battle for fourth to go all the way to the line.
The top three positions were all but secure on the final lap, McGuinness giving William Dunlop a brief scare for third as he closed to within four and half seconds although the latter responded to take the final podium spot by over seven seconds.
It all mean Michael Dunlop took his fifth TT victory, equalling the total of his father Robert, with Anstey and William rounding out the podium, the first time the two siblings have shared a TT rostrum.
McGuinness took a strong fourth with Hillier having another excellent ride into fifth as he overhauled Martin on the final lap. Donald slipped back to seventh with Harrison, Dan Stewart and Dan Cooper rounding out the top ten.
Cooper’s tenth place made him the first privateer home ahead of Dan Kneen (11th) and Robert Wilson (13th) but Kneen has now taken over the lead in the overall TT Privateers Championship.
2013 Isle of Man TT Supersport Race 1 Results:
1. (6) Michael Dunlop, Honda/MD Racing: 01:12:20.162, 125.182 mph
2. (5) Bruce Anstey, Honda/HM Plant Honda by Padgetts Motorcycle: 01:12:30.520, 124.884
3. (11) William Dunlop, Yamaha/Milwaukee Yamaha Superbike Team: 01:12:43.602, 124.510
4. (3) John McGuinness, Honda/HM Plant Honda by Padgetts Motorcycle: 01:12:50.749, 124.306
5. (1) James Hillier, Kawasaki/Quattro Plant Kawasaki: 01:13:13.320, 123.668
6. (4) Guy Martin, Suzuki/Tyco Suzuki: 01:13:17.846, 123.540
7. (2) Cameron Donald, Honda/Wilson Craig Racing: 01:13:36.985, 123.005
8. (14) Dean Harrison, Yamaha/Ian Bell Yamaha: 01:13:47.386, 122.716
9. (9) Dan Stewart, Honda/SMT / Wilcock Racing: 01:14:46.332, 121.104
10. (13) Daniel Cooper, Triumph/Centurion Racing: 01:15:14.098, 120.359
11. (12) Dan Kneen, Suzuki/Marks Bloom Racing: 01:15:19.911, 120.204
12. (43) Jamie Hamilton, Kawasaki/KMR Kawasaki Powered by Vauxh: 01:15:34.589, 119.815
13. (16) David Johnson, Triumph/Ace Cafe T3: 01:15:47.346, 119.479
14. (22) Robert Wilson, Kawasaki/Stoddart Racing Oban: 01:15:57.104, 119.223
15. (33) Davy Morgan, Yamaha/CSC Racing: 01:16:13.799, 118.788
16. (19) Oliver Linsdell, Flitwick Yamaha/SMV Engineering / Flitwick: 01:16:15.829, 118.735
17. (39) Ian Pattinson, Weardale Racing/Weardale Racing: 01:16:24.595, 118.508
18. (15) Ian Lougher, Honda/W.A Corless / Jackson Racing: 01:16:34.228, 118.260
19. (25) Robert Barber, Honda/Econolift: 01:16:37.305, 118.181
20. (28) Jamie Coward, Yamaha/Barnes Racing: 01:16:37.929, 118.165
