2022 Isle of Man TT Qualifying Results
Session one
After a long awaited return, the weather gods were smiling on competitors for the opening qualifying session of the 2022 Isle of Man TT Races fuelled by Monster Energy.
With sunshine all around the Island and it was Davey Todd (Milenco by Padgett’s Motorcycles) who topped the Superbike class with a speed of 127.492 mph ahead of Dean Harrison (DAO Racing Kawasaki, 126.984 mph) and John McGuinness MBE (Honda Racing UK, 124.955 mph).
Peter Hickman posted the third quickest lap of the afternoon, 126.49 mph, onboard the Gas Monkey Garage by FHO Racing machine, to lead the way in the Superstock category with Michael Dunlop (MD Racing) fastest in the Supersport class at 124.103 mph and Jamie Coward (KTS Racing by Steadplan) the pacesetter in the Supertwin division at 117.573 mph.
Meanwhile, newcomer Glenn Irwin had a superb first session with the Honda Racing UK rider lapping at a stunning 122.616 mph on his Superstock Fireblade. The flickering light beaming through the trees on the approach to Ramsey was Irwin’s biggest problem, the strobe effect causing him some discomfort, but with many sessions from here and the race days themselves generally starting much later in the day that should pose less problems as the event progresses.
At 1415, the main session got underway and it was Michael Rutter (Bathams Ales) who led the field away followed ten-seconds later by Harrison, the duo both Superbike-mounted. Lee Johnston was next to go on his Ashcourt Racing Yamaha Supersport machine with Ian Hutchinson (Milwaukee BMW Motorrad) and Michael Dunlop (Hawk Racing) in hot pursuit on their Superbikes.
First to complete the lap was Rutter at 121.111 mph with Harrison next across the line at 120.442, the Bradford rider immediately pulling back into the pits. They were both upstaged by Hutchinson who lapped at 122.315 mph but it was Hickman who was quickest of all, the outright lap record holder posting a speed of 124.786 mph on his Superstock mount.
The similarly mounted Milenco by Padgett’s Motorcycles duo of Conor Cummins and Todd slotted into second and third at 124.280 mph and 123.237 mph respectively. Meanwhile, Hutchinson was knocked off the top spot in the Superbike class by 23-time winner John McGuinness MBE with the Honda Racing UK man lapping at 122.819 mph.
Jamie Coward moved into third at 122.105 mph with Dominic Herbertson (121.501 mph) and Derek Sheils (121.276 mph) pushing Rutter down to sixth. Quickest newcomer overall on the first lap was Loughlin at 111.136 mph which was half a second quicker than Irwin’s 111.093 mph.
Second time around and, understandably, the pace increased at the head of the field and it was again the three Superstock riders of Hickman, Cummins and Todd who were quickest overall, Hickman’s lap of 126.485mph putting him 2.5s quicker than Cummins (126.19). Todd was a further second back in third (126.072) with all three lapping under 18 minutes.
McGuinness (124.955) was again the quickest in the Superbike class followed by Hutchinson (123.435), Sam West (123.1) and Sheils (123.047). Irwin’s second lap, on his Superstock Honda, was an impressive 116.463mph with the Supersport-mounted Loughlin upping his speed to 113.179 mph, whilst Ward had now broken the 110mph barrier with a lap of 111.381 mph.
Harrison was back out on track on his Superbike machine and his second lap of 124.393 mph put him second quickest behind McGuinness, but Hickman was encountering issues on his Superbike as he toured round Ramsey Hairpin. James Hillier then bumped Harrison briefly back to third, the RICH Energy OMG Racing man lapping at 124.831 mph, but on his third lap Harrison not only went quickest in the Superbike class but also overall with a speed of 126.984 mph.
Hickman made it back to the pits and returned to the fray on his Superstock BMW but Cummins wasn’t as lucky as he stopped at the Mountain Box. Team-mate Todd was faring better though and after lapping at 126.752 mph, his final lap of 127.492 mph sent him quickest overall, with West moving up to third in the Superbikes with 125.216 mph. Irwin’s fifth lap saw him break the 121 mph barrier to slot into 13th overall in the Superstock class.
We believe Michael Dunlop is the only high profile defector from Dunlop after the tyre company chose to withdraw their slick tyres from the event and offer their riders only treaded tyres. The other Dunlop runners ran the D213 GP Pro treaded rubber, including fastest man of the day Davey Todd.
John McGuinness
“That definitely got my attention, that first lap down Bray Hill! Wow! I haven’t been on a Superbike for a while, 2016 I think was last time I was on something that was competitive and I felt confident with. And after four laps I feel like I’ve been run over! This places pulls muscles you forgot you ever had. But look at the weather, feel the atmosphere in the paddock, it’s a cool place to be, and out there on the track I’ve never seen so many people trackside for the first day of practice! It’s cool to see, great to be back.
“The new Fireblade is feeling good, it’s faster, sharper, and the Superbike certainly gets your attention, it’s that fast and of course demanding. I’m also learning some new stuff, there’s a lot of nice new tech that’s come with this bike. So I’m happy to be inside the top five in both classes today, that’s probably down to experience, and for sure the pace will get faster and faster as the week goes on, but it’s good to be at the sharp end and to have four good safe laps under our belt. I’ll just need to digest what’s gone on today, what the bikes were doing – I’ll need to sleep on it, lie in bed and let it come back to me! But no question, the bikes are good and it’s great to back here at the TT.”
Glenn Irwin
“First impressions – it’s absolutely mental! For now, I’m just learning the course but I’m really happy with the homework I’ve done on this, it’s really helped. I know where I’m going, but what I need to understand is how these guys take some of these big corners flat out. But all that will come with time, for now I’m concentrating on hitting my markers.
“I’m not paying any attention to the lap times, but ninth, that’s alright isn’t it!? I came in after that first newcomers lap saying I didn’t like the sections under the trees, I still feel that way, it’s easy to be drawn into the hedges, because the straights aren’t straight and then there’s the strobe effect, I’ve never raced under so many trees. So I’ve put in the maximum laps I could and I’ve learned lots by following the guys as they’ve come past. I think my favourite corner so far would be Cronk ny Mona (the left after Hillberry) – they say never go over the white line or you might crash, so I don’t go over it, but I enjoy really sitting on it!
“So I’ve had lots of fun today. The Superbike felt good and the Superstock I felt very comfortable on, so I think we can improve it a lot over the week.”
Isle of Man TT Qualifying Results
Superbike
- Davey Todd 127.492
- Dean Harrison 126.984
- Samuel West 125.216
- John McGuinness 124.955
- James Hillier 124.831
- Ian Hutchinson 124.666
- Jamie Coward 124.522
- Michael Dunlop 124.469
- Derek Sheils 124.213
- Phillip Crowe 124.08
- Nathan Harrison 122.94
- Dominic Herbertson 122.624
- Glenn Irwin 122.616
- Michael Sweeney 122.593
- Brian McCormack 122.505
- Lee Johnston 122.127
- Shaun Anderson 121.325
- Michael Rutter 121.111
- Rob Hodson 120.789
- Paul Jordan 120.48
Isle of Man TT Qualifying Results
Superstock
- Peter Hickman 126.49
- Conor Cummins 126.19
- Davey Todd 126.072
- John McGuinness 125.527
- Brian McCormack 123.115
- Michael Rutter 122.451
- James Hillier 122.271
- Shaun Anderson 122.107
- Glenn Irwin 121.535
- Nathan Harrison 121.5
- Phillip Crowe 121.187
- Michael Dunlop 120.607
- Craig Neve 119.437
- Rhys Hardisty 114.378
- Forest Dunn 111.734
Supersport/SuperTwin
At 15.30, it was the turn of the Supersport/ Supertwin qualifying session with Dunlop (122.512 mph) the quickest Supersport runner in the early stages from Harrison (122.042 mph) and Coward (121.925 mph). Gary Johnson (Dafabet Racing) was setting the pace in the Supertwins at 114.43 mph followed by Aprilia-mounted Stefano Bonetti (113.446 mph) and the Paton of Rutter (112.316 mph).
On the second lap, Coward moved to the top of the Supersport speeds with a lap of 123.311 mph but only briefly as Dunlop’s second lap was 124.103 mph and there was change too in the Supertwins with Bonetti upping his speed to 114.121 mph and John Barton slotting in behind at 113.931 mph.
As the solo session came to a conclusion, there was no change at the top of the Supersport leaderboard but Hickman (K2 Trooper Beer by PHR Performance) moved into third with a speed of 122.949mph.
Late laps though from both Coward and Michael Dunlop (MD Racing) at 117.753 mph and 116.631 mph respectively moved them up to first and second in the Supertwins category with Johnson slipping back to third ahead of Dominic Herbertson, James Hind and Rutter. Newcomer Loughlin also impressed with the seventh fastest time (113.361) on the Team ILR/Mark Coverdale Paton.
Rennie Scaysbrook is the only Aussie in the field this year and got out for his Newcomers Lap but did not record a time when the timed sessions got underway.
Isle of Man TT Qualifying Results
Supersport
- Michael Dunlop 124.103
- Jamie Coward 123.311
- Peter Hickman 122.949
- Dean Harrison 122.042
- James Hillier 121.494
- Lee Johnston 120.846
- Rob Hodson 120.519
- Dominic Herbertson 120.473
- Paul Jordan 120.423
- Gary Johnson 119.886
- Michael Evans 119.46
- Michael Sweeney 119.253
- John McGuinness 118.71
- Mike Browne 118.631
- Nathan Harrison 117.913
Isle of Man TT Qualifying Results
SuperTwin
- Jamie Coward 117.573
- Michael Dunlop 116.631
- Gary Johnson 115.937
- Dominic Herbertson 115.552
- James Hind 115.08
- Michael Rutter 114.874
- Stefano Bonetti 114.121
- John Barton 113.931
- Joseph Loughlin 113.361
- Pierre Yves Bian 112.65
Sidecars
With the sun continuing to shine, the Sidecar class got their first session underway at 16.30pm, the newcomers having had their speed-controlled laps at the beginning of the afternoon but Ryan and Callum Crowe (Haven Homes) were early casualties stopping in Kirk Michael village.
Leading the way on the road were the Birchalls on their Haith Honda and they completed their opening lap at 110.427 mph but that was only good enough for second with Peter Founds/Jevan Walmsley (FHO Racing) going quickest at 112.426 mph. Tim Reeves with newcomer passenger Kevin Rousseau had an encouraging start at 109.107 mph to go fourth.
That put them one place behind newcomer driver Lee Crawford, with Scott Hardie in the chair, who put in a stunning lap of 109.292 mph whilst fellow newcomer Harry Payne, partnered by Mark Wilkes, was also going well at exactly 108 mph. That put them eighth quickest behind regulars Gary Bryan/Phil Hyde, Conrad Harrison/Andrew Winkle and Lewis Blackstock/Patrick Rosney.
On the second lap, the Birchalls improved to 111.908 mph with Payne/Wilkes jumping up to a sensational third at 110.364 mph. They were the only three crews to break the 110mph barrier with Bryan/Hyde, Crawford/Hardie and Reeves/Rousseau completing the top six.
Isle of Man TT Qualifying Results
Sidecars
- Founds/Walmsley 112.426
- Birchall/Birchall 111.908
- Payne/Wilkes 110.364
- Bryan/Hyde 109.665
- Crawford/Hardie 109.292
Competitors will be back in action Monday evening, as they look forward to five nights of Qualifying next week, before the first race of the TT fortnight takes place on Saturday 4 June, with the six-lap RST Superbike TT Race.
