David Johnson tops Superstock QP | Hickman top SBK

• Peter Hickman records his best ever lap at 132.806
• Dave Johnson tops Superstock at 129.202
• Conor Cummins 131.175 and Dunlop 130.959
• Josh Brookes 6th in SBK and 5th in SS
• Ivan Lintin quickest Supersport at 123.222
• Birchalls lead Sidecar qualifying

Thursday evening’s qualifying session at the 2018 Isle of Man TT Races, fuelled by Monster Energy, saw Peter Hickman post the evening’s fastest time in the Superbike class with a lap of 132.806mph, a new personal best lap for the Smiths Racing BMW rider, albeit unofficially as it was not set in a race.

The overnight rain and morning mist had long gone by the time the session got underway at 6.20pm and clear skies and sunshine were again the order of the day although damp patches remained on the exit of Ramsey Hairpin, the Nook and Governor’s Bridge.

First to leave the line on this occasion were Michael Rutter (Bathams Racing BMW) and Hickman, quickly followed by Lee Johnston (Honda Racing) and Derek Sheils (Penz13.com BMW), Martin Jessopp (Riders Motorcycles BMW) and Gary Johnson (RAF Regular & Reserve Kawasaki).

James Hillier (Quattro Plant JG Speedfit Kawasaki) and David Johnson (Gulf BMW) were also away early with man of the week Dean Harrison (Silicone Engineering Kawasaki) and Michael Dunlop (Tyco BMW) slightly further back.

Hickman was first to complete a lap at 131.113mph and he’d opened up a large gap on the road over Rutter who lapped at 127.475mph. Harrison and Dunlop were both over 130mph though, lapping at 130.612mph and 130.606mph respectively while Josh Brookes also had a good opening lap on the Norton at 129.174mph.

Hickman and Rutter both elected to go straight through with Harrison and Dunlop pulling in to change machines. Hickman was taking full advantage of the clear road in front him with his second lap – an excellent 132.81mph – an unofficial personal best and the second fastest lap of the week to date. Rutter was a retirement though, stopping at Cruickshanks although he did manage to get back to register another qualifying lap.

Harrison was also over 130mph second time around – this time on his Superstock mount, while Conor Cummins was again impressing on his Padgetts Honda Superbike at 131.18mph. David Johnson (129.63) and Hillier (128.06) also had strong second laps as did newcomer Davey Todd who set his best lap of the week at 123.995mph. Fellow newcomer David Jackson was also above 120mph for the first time but Adam Lyon retired at Cronk y Voddy.

As the session wore on, speeds were reduced due to an incident involving Chris Petty at St Ninians which left debris in the road but Hickman went to the top of the Superstock times briefly with a lap of 128.38mph. However, this was ultimately bettered by South Australia’s David Johnson who posted a lap of 129.20mph.

Late laps on the Superbike came from Cummins (130.59) and Dunlop (130.959) and although not many of the top group went out on their Supersport machines, Ivan Lintin put in the quickest lap of the night at 123.22mph which put him ahead of Lee Johnston (123.02) and Adam McLean (121.894).

2018 TT Results – Superbike Qualifying Thursday

1. Peter Hickman BMW/Smiths Racing BMW 132.806
2. Conor Cummins Honda/padgettsmotorcycles 131.175
3. Michael Dunlop BMW/Tyco BMW 130.959
4. Dean Harrison Kawasaki/Silicone Engineering 130.612
5. David Johnson BMW/Gulf BMW 129.632
6. Joshua Brookes Norton/Norton Motorcycles 129.174
7. James Hillier Kawasaki/Quattro JG Speedfit Kawa 128.065
8. Philip Crowe BMW/HandTrans-Chapman Racing 127.648
9. Michael Rutter BMW/Bathams BMW 127.475
10. Lee Johnston Honda/Honda Racing 127.232
11. Martin Jessopp BMW/Riders Motorcycles BMW 127.100
12. Shaun Anderson Suzuki/Anderson Developments 126.990
13. Sam West BMW/PRL / Worthington 126.983
14. Derek Sheils BMW/Team Penz13 BMW 126.785
15. Gary Johnson Kawasaki/RAF Reserves Kawasaki 126.771
16. Derek McGee Kawasaki/McGee/Doyne Racing 126.376
17. Ian Hutchinson Honda/Honda Racing 126.040
18. Jamie Coward BMW/Team Penz13 BMW 125.869
19. Ivan Lintin Kawasaki/Dafabet Devitt Racing 125.712
20. Dominic Herbertson BMW/WH Racing 125.591

2018 TT Results – Superstock Qualifying Thursday

1. David Johnson BMW/Gulf BMW  129.202
2. Peter Hickman BMW/Smiths Racing BMW  128.381
3. Dean Harrison Kawasaki/Silicone Engineering 128.246
4. Michael Dunlop BMW/MD Racing  128.012
5. Shaun Anderson Suzuki/Anderson Developments 126.990
6. Ian Hutchinson Honda/Honda Racing 126.728
7. Jamie Coward BMW/Team Penz13.com BMW 125.869
8. Philip Crowe BMW/Lee Jackson 125.772
9. Ivan Lintin Kawasaki/Dafabet Devitt 125.712
10.  Dominic Herbertson BMW/WH 125.591
11. Lee Johnston Honda/Honda Racing  124.776
12. James Hillier Kawasaki/Quattro JG Speedfit Kawa 124.774
13. Brian McCormack BMW/Vanfleet Transport 124.573
14. Kamil Holan BMW/McRace 124.571
15. Mark Parrett BMW/C & C Ltd IOM  124.530

2018 TT Results – Supersport Qualifying Thursday

1. Ivan Lintin Kawasaki/Dafabet Devitt Racing  123.222
2. Jamie Coward Yamaha/Prez Racing  123.208
3. Lee Johnston Honda/padgettsmotorcycles.com  123.023
4. Dominic Herbertson Triumph/WH Racing  122.75
5. Joshua Brookes Yamaha/McAMS Yamaha 122.699
6. Adam McLean Kawasaki/McAdoo Racing  121.894
7. Sam West Kawasaki/PRL / Worthington  121.671
8. Julian Trummer Honda/TC Racing / DP Coldplaning  120.720
9. Joey Thompson Kawasaki/Team ILR  120.613
10. Michael Sweeney Yamaha/MJR Racing  120.559

Sidecars

At 7.48pm, it was the turn of the Formula Two Sidecars and Ben and Tom Birchall led the field away from Tim Reeves/Mark Wilkes, Peter Founds/Jevan Walmsley and Dave Molyneux/Dan Sayle.

The Birchalls were the quickest on the opening lap with a speed of 115.48mph whilst Reeves/Wilkes finally completed a lap at TT2018 with 114.06. Founds and Molyneux both lapped in excess of 111mph and Lewis Blackstock/Patrick Rosney lapped the Mountain Course quicker than ever before with a lap of 110.69mph.

Second time around and the Birchalls upped their pace to 116.554mph, the fastest lap of the week so far, with Reeves/Wilkes increasing their speed to 114.369mph. Molyneux/Sayle were also upping their game at 113.155mph. John Holden/Lee Cain had a steady first lap but made changes for their second lap which was 114.513mph.

Meanwhile, the French female pairing of Estelle Leblond/Melanie Farnier recorded a strong lap at 107.886mph with last year’s best newcomers Gary and Daryl Gibson also going well with their first 107mph+lap. Leading debutantes of 2018, Michael Jackson/Harry Payne improved to 104.83mph before retiring on their second lap.

2018 TT Results – Sidecar Qualifying Thursday

1. Ben Birchall / Tom Bircha Honda/IEG Racing 116.55
2. John Holden / Lee Cain Honda/Silicone 115.14
3. Tim Reeves / Mark Wilke Honda/Carl Cox 114.369
4. Dave Molyneux / Daniel Yamaha/A&J Racing 113.155
5. Peter Founds / Jevan Wa DDM/Trustland Group 111.783

TT Zero

A number of the electric TT Zero machines also had their first outings. As expected Mugen were to the fore with Michael Rutter posting an impressive opening lap of 116.049 while his Mugen teammate Lee Johnston was also over the’ton’ at 101.108 but the Japanese outfit were bisected by an impressive performance by Daley Mathison on the University of Nottingham UON 02.

James Cowton (84.365mph) riding the Brunel BX 15 and Adam Child (74.869) on the Moto Corsa Ego also completed their first qualifying laps but Shaun Anderson broke down on the Mountain Box while Team Mirai’s Ian Lougher got as far as Hillberry before retiring.

2018 TT Results – TT Zero Qualifying Thursday

1. Michael Rutter Mugen/Mugen 116.049
2. Daley Mathison University of Nottingham 103.144
3. Lee Johnston Mugen  101.108
4. James Cowton Brunel/Brunel Racing TT Zero  84.365
5. Adam Child Moto Corsa/MCN / Moto Corsa  74.869

Images by Dave Kneen