2024 Isle of Man TT
Superstock TT Race One
Davey Todd bagged a superb first ever TT win today in the RL360 Superstock TT. The Milwaukee BMW man proved his quick practice pace was no fluke as he led from start to finish to join the illustrious list of riders who have lifted the famous silver lady trophy.
All the talk in recent years has been about Peter Hickman, Michael Dunlop and Dean Harrison, and quite rightly so; the trio had won 30 of the previous 31 TT races between them before this afternoon. But Todd’s win today confirmed that the Saltburn man has made the giant leap to that level, and we now have four genuine TT titans all vying for glory… has the standard ever been so competitive?
Weather conditions have played havoc with this year’s schedule, with rain and damp patches causing the programme for the past few days to be rejigged and then rejigged again.
This morning, the second Sidecar TT initially got underway, and the leading crews were on their way over the mountain when reigning world champions Todd Ellis and Emmanuelle Clement came to grief at the Waterworks. Their outfit blocked the road, causing a red flag, but thankfully, the pair were unhurt.
As the field made their way back to the paddock escorted by marshals, it was announced that the Superstock TT would go ahead at midday, and the sidecars would have to wait until later in the day to get back on track.
News of a further 15-minute delay for the Stock bikes was met with groans all around the course. There were reports of oil on the circuit on the approach to Rhencullen, which needed to be cleaned up. As the sun shone down on the island, it felt as though we were wasting this window of opportunity, but nothing could be done.
Eventually, the Stock race finally got underway at 1215, and when it did, it was worth waiting for.
As the leaders hit Glen Helen for the first time, just 8s covered the top 10. Todd led from Dunlop by 1.5s with Peter Hickman in 3rd just one-tenth back. Harrison was a further 0.3s behind in 4th, with James Hillier, Jamie Coward, Josh Brookes, Mike Browne, Dom Herbertson and John McGuinness all in contention.
Hillier had already caught Ian Hutchinson by Glen Helen, such was the pace. The 2024 TT has proved to be a real baptism of fire for the returning Bingley Bullet, who had to take a year out after suffering a stroke at the start of last season. Hutchy has completed 17 laps of practice so far this year but is not quite on the pace of the leaders yet.
Race leader Davey Todd caught Josh Brookes on the run to Ballaugh. By the time they reached the famous humpback bridge, Hickman had taken over second position from Michael Dunlop and was just 0.5s off the front. From that point on, Hickman made it his job to take the race to Todd, and the BMW duo were 1 and 2 for the rest of the race.
Josh Brookes was clocked at 198 MPH on the Sulby straight and was really motoring. The Aussie was embroiled in a proper fight for 6th with Hillier, Coward and Mike Browne.
Todd and Hickman were almost level at the Bungalow, but amazingly, Davey managed to take time out of Hicky on the run over the mountain, something few have managed to do in recent times. McGuinness, Coward and Harrison were together as they headed around the Veranda, and the three Fireblades powering across Snaefell together made for a stirring sight.
Dean Harrison and Michael Dunlop were scrapping it out for third, and Deano was two-hundredths of a second up on Dunlop at Ramsey. However, by the time they got to the grandstand, MD was back in third and just ahead of Hillier on the road.
The field all pitted at the end of that first lap (it was compulsory to do so), and thankfully, the race win wouldn’t be affected by any drama such as we saw in Sunday’s SBK TT. Todd’s camp would have been full of trepidation that the big M 1000 RR wouldn’t fire, while Dunlop would have been eying the Arai helmet’s man with disdain as he went about his work. But thankfully the lead riders had no issues and were soon back on the road.
Unfortunately, Josh Brookes did have problems, and he lost 1m30s during the stop. By the time he got on the road, he was down in 16th and out of contention. Jamie Coward’s transponder became faulty, and it was proving difficult to gauge where he stood in the race.
By Glen Helen, Todd’s lead was out to 4.8s, but by Ballaugh, Hicky had cut it in half, and it appeared that the FHO BMW man was on the charge. You’d have been forgiven for thinking at this point that it was only a matter of time before big Peter grabbed the race by the scruff of the neck and brushed Todd aside (it’s happened so often). However, Todd would not back down and matched Hicky mile after mile, with the gap barely fluctuating on either side of 2.5s for the rest of lap 2.
The crowd could barely contain themselves as the front two sped past the Grandstand and down Bray Hill to start the final lap. At GlenHelen, the gap was still 2.5 seconds, but on the run to Ballaugh, Hickman once again found 2s that Todd didn’t have, and the difference was cut to just half a second.
‘The race is on!’ cried anchorman Chris Boyd in the commentary booth.
Again, it was hard not to think that Hickman would simply dominate Todd from then on. It has simply been the script so many times before. However, Todd was proving to be a hard nut to crack and fought back on the road to Ramsey and pulled the gap back to 1.1s with just 13 miles to go.
The difference remained the same at the Bungalow, but Todd somehow found another second on the run down the mountain, and by the time they crossed the line, it was 2.2 seconds. Todd took the flag to beat Hickman in a straight fight, fair and square.
Few have gone toe-to-toe with the outright lap record holder in that manner and come out on top, but the British Superstock Championship leader was unflappable and got the job done in a highly impressive manner that showed a level of maturity we have never seen from him before at the TT.
“Say that again!” was all he could muster when Chris Kinley told him he had won. “This is a dream!”
It was the first TT win in many years for the TAS team from Northern Ireland, with whom Cameron Donald scored his double win in 2009. Michael Dunlop, David Jefferies, and Bruce Anstey are also among the many riders who have tasted victory champagne while riding for TAS at the TT.
Peter Hickman
“The BMW worked well in the race and I did feel really good, but we didn’t have enough for Davey today, but that’s the way it goes sometimes. We’ve won five Superstock races in a row, and we’ve finally been beaten, the more that was going to go on for, the more likely it was that we would be beaten. However, it was a BMW who beat us and it’s great for Davey to get his first win and also for the event as a whole that we have a new winner. We’ve got another chance tomorrow for the second Superstock race, so we’ll see if we can take it to them then.”
Michael Dunlop came home third, 18s behind Todd and Hickman, and was disappointed by his Honda’s performance. “It just doesn’t have it,” he said.
1. Davey Todd
2. Peter Hickman +2.207s
3. Michael Dunlop +19.948s
Dean Harrison was 4th, just 3.6s back ahead of James Hillier.
Dean Harrison
“That’s the fastest I have ever been on a Superstock bike which is good, and if I can keep improving that’ll put us in a stronger position for the next one. I just need to get up to those speeds from the start and keep building. We’ve got two or three ideas to make the bike a bit better for tomorrow’s race and I think we can make another step. I’m going faster than I’ve ever been in each category and we are heading in the right direction.”
Jamie Coward eventually slotted into 6th after much confusion regarding his position after the aforementioned transponder issues.
Jamie Coward
“I really enjoyed the Superstock race and after a good start, I’d soon caught John (McGuinness) on the road and when Dean (Harrison) came by the first lap went well. I lost a bit of time behind John later in the race when I had to follow him from Quarry Bends all the way to Ramsey as it just wasn’t safe to pass until then. I got my head down and did 132.4mph on the last lap so it’s nice to be in the 132’s again. There was nothing between James and myself once more and the bike was great so it was a strong result.”
John McGuinness was also setting personal best superstock sectors all around the Mountain Course on his way to a final lap of 132.037 mph. A new quickest lap in this class for the Morecambe Missile at fifty-two years of age. He also had another solid finish of seventh.
John McGuinness MBE
“I’m super happy to get another solid finish, and I’ve just set a new personal best lap time on a stocker, too, so there is plenty to be happy about! These three-lap races feel like a bit of a sprint! The first lap I wasn’t too keen to stick my neck out to be honest, there were a few damp bits and there was a lot of dust down in places too. Then when I came into the pits and the team absolutely nailed the stop, I couldn’t believe that I’d jumped Dean in the pits. I stuck my leg out and let him through and I just tried to stick on the back of him. To come home with a seventh and a personal best stocker lap, I’m chuffed to bits, job’s a dream. I’m also over the moon for Toddy to have got his first win.”
Josh Brookes finished a disappointed 11th after his long stay in the pits.
Josh Brookes
“Today’s race was frustrating to be honest, but that’s how it goes sometimes. The pit stop cost me a lot of time, but I wasn’t going as quick as I would have liked to anyway, so I didn’t lose positions in the race purely because of the pit stop, I just couldn’t go as fast as I’d anticipated, maybe the track conditions were a bit off, but I can’t be sure. Something was off today we weren’t as fast as we have been, so we’ve got to look into things overnight and see what we can do to improve the pace for tomorrow’s race.”
After the race, the sidecar TT was rerun. But following that, the weather closed in yet again, and the heavens opened, meaning Supersport Race Two was postponed until Friday morning. That’s had a knock-on effect on the rest of the schedule, and the second SuperTwins race has also been pushed back to Saturday, with the Blue Riband Senior cut to four laps.
As rain fell all over the island, breaking news broke that Conor Cummins had withdrawn from the event. It’s unclear what his reasons are.
Conor Cummins
“I have withdrawn from the 2024 Isle of Man TT Races with immediate effect, and will provide an update on my plans for the remainder of the season in the coming weeks. I’d like to thank all my sponsors and family for their continued support and wish my fellow competitors the best for the remainder of the TT.”
Cummins still backs himself to win a TT and will not have been happy with 8th in today’s race. Perhaps he has looked at his 2023 team-mate winning the race and decided he needs a move himself. Whatever the reason for his TT exit, it’s a big loss to the event not to have the two-metre man on the grid.
2024 Isle of Man TT
Superstock TT Race One Results
- Davey Todd
- Peter Hickman +2.207s
- Michael Dunlop +19.948s
- Dean Harrison +23.557s
- James Hillier +56.148s
- Jamie Coward (no transponder)
- John McGuinness +76.148s
- Conor Cummins +81.622s
- Dominic Herbertson +101.314s
- Mike Browne +112.167s
- Josh Brookes +125.027s
- Paul Jordan +138.652s
- Ian Hutchinson +161.308s
- Rob Hodson +167.537s
- Shaun Anderson +172.695s
