Dunlop Breaks Into 20-Win Bracket at Isle of Man TT
On Monday, MD Racing’s Dunlop made history by becoming just the third rider to break into the 20 wins bracket with victory in the first Supersport encounter. The second Supersport race, originally scheduled for Wednesday evening, was delayed to Friday morning due to uncertain weather conditions.
Shortened to two laps, the race saw John McGuinness lead the field off down Bray Hill on his SMT Honda, potentially for the final time as a TT rider. However, Supersport race one winner Dunlop took the lead on corrected times, holding a 0.158-second advantage over Peter Hickman on his Trooper Beer Triumph through Glen Helen.
“Reigniting their battle from the previous Supertwin race, Dunlop stretched his lead to four-tenths at Ballaugh and gained a further tenth into Ramsey. By the Bungalow, Dunlop’s advantage on his MD Racing Yamaha had grown to close to a second, but Hickman had cut that down to half a second as they started the final lap.”
Navigating through traffic, including Padgetts Racing Honda’s Davey Todd, Ian Hutchinson on his Russell Racing Yamaha, and McGuinness, proved a major challenge for Hickman. Dunlop seized the opportunity to open up a hefty 1.8-second advantage, while Dean Harrison on his DAO Racing Kawasaki ran comfortably in third.
Hickman rallied on the run to Ballaugh, reducing Dunlop’s lead to 1.3 seconds, but the latter gained three-tenths by the Ramsey split. Dunlop made the decisive break on the run to the Bungalow, extending his lead to 2.7 seconds over Hickman. Try as he might, Hickman couldn’t close the deficit, and Dunlop took the chequered flag 3.2 seconds clear.
Harrison completed the podium, 21.3 seconds behind Hickman, with Todd fourth and Jamie Coward taking his best result of the week in fifth on his KTS Yamaha. Conor Cummins, James Hillier, Dominic Herbertson, Mike Brown, and Paul Jordan rounded out the top 10. Class favourite Lee Johnston was forced to pull out at the end of the first lap, though the reason remains unclear.
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