2016 Isle of Man TT Tuesday Practice Results, May 31
When the Superbike class riders took their first laps Monday of the 2016 Isle of Man TT, BMW S1000RR and Honda CBR1000RR machinery filled the top-six positions. Leading the opening charge with a 129.964mph average lap speed around the 37.73-mile Mountain Course was newly signed Tyco BMW pilot Ian Hutchinson, an 11-time TT winner.
“Hutchy” showed much comfort aboard the #4 S1000RR once again on Tuesday during the second day of practice/qualifying for the Superbike class, the Brit becoming the first rider of 2016 to post a 130mph lap. On his third time around the circuit Tuesday, Hutchinson posted a 130.626mph to earn the quickest time.
Hutchinson was over a second quickest than 23-time TT winner John McGuinness, the #1 Honda Racing CBR10000RR SP Fireblade pilot earning second fastest with a 129.618mph.
Unlike Monday’s sessions that were dominated by BMW and Honda, Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R motorcycles got into the mix Tuesday. GBmoto Racing Kawasaki’s Peter Hickman was third quickest, posting a 129.550mph. Hickman was followed by McGuinness’ teammate Conor Cummins (129.169) and Silicone Engineering’s Dean Harrison (129.022).
As for the man who finished second on Monday, Hawk Racing BMW’s Michael Dunlop, the 11-time TT winner had some mechanical issues, and didn’t post any Superbike times on Tuesday.
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Rounding out the top 10 in the Superbike class were sixth-place Bruce Anstey on the Valvoline Racing by Padgetts Motorcycles Honda RC213V-S (128.976); Jackson Racing Honda’s Steve Mercer (128.546); Bathams SMT Racing BMW’s Michael Rutter (127.392); Quattro Plant Muc-Off Kawasaki’s James Hillier (127.144); and Devitt RC Express Racing’s Ivan Lintin (125.499).
As for the American Mark Miller aboard the Splitlath EBR, he was 49th quickest with a lap time of 117.696, three tenths of a mph slower than Monday.
Next was the Superstock class; it only took Hutchinson one lap aboard his S1000RR superstock machine to claim first. Hutchinson, who won three TTs last season at the 2015 IOM TT (both supersport and the superstock races), stopped the clock at 128.429.
Fellow BMW pilot Michael Rutter (Bathams SMT Racing) finished just behind with a best lap of 128.429mph, followed by GBmoto Racing Kawasaki’s Peter Hickman, who was over a mph slower than Rutter. Rounding out the top five in the Superstock TT class were two additional Kawasaki ZX-10R Ninjas – the Devitt RC Express Racing machine piloted by Ivan Lintin (125.499) and the RTR & JVC Racing machine piloted by Daniel Hegarty (125.315).
The Lightweight and Supersport classes rode last on Tuesday; last year’s Lightweight TT winner, Ivan Lintin, topped the Lightweight class aboard his Kawasaki ER6 with a lap of exactly 118mph. Riders Motorcycles Kawasaki’s Martin Jessopp followed in second (114.871), with CCM Motorsport Paton’s Stefano Bonetti in third (114.611).
In the Supersport class, Anstey was quickest with a speed of 124.51mph aboard his Padgett’s Motorcycles Honda CBR600RR, finishing just ahead of Kawasaki’s Dean Harrison (124.207) and Team Traction Control Yamaha’s Ian Hutchinson (123.757).
McGuinness earned fourth aboard the Jackson Racing Honda CBR600RR, the “Morecambe Missile” followed closely by MD Racing Yamaha YZF-R6 pilot Michael Dunlop (123.170mph).
The IOMTT reports that Frank Gallagher (32nd) and Kamil Holan (Cruickshanks) both came off their machines in the session but both were reported as unhurt.
Practice/qualifying continues Wednesday, June 1, with the Superbike/Superstock/Supersport/Newcomers (all classes except Lightweight) setting off from the start/finish for Bray Hill at 4:20 p.m. local time.
Photos by Wayne Freestone