The first three solo races of the 2009 Isle of Man TT are in the books, with Honda’s John McGuiness winning the Dainese Superbike TT race, and Padgetts Honda rider Ian Hutchinson scoring a double on the day with victories in the Relentless Supersport TT and the Royal London 360 Superstock TT.
Rain forced postponement of the races that were scheduled to begin on Saturday, with the Superbike race running on Monday. McGuiness dominated the six-lap event, setting a new outright lap record of 17 minutes 21.29 seconds for an average speed of 130.442 mph. Coming in second was McGuiness’ HM Plant Honda teammate Steve Plater, with the Hydrex Honda of Guy Martin coming in third. Unfortunately the expected fierce competition for the Superbike win from Australian star Cameron Donald (who set the unofficial lap record during practice with an incredible 131 mph lap) was rendered moot when Donald crashed in the final practice session on Friday, dislocating his shoulder and taking him out of the races.
Several Americans finished well in the Superbike TT, with Mark Miller finishing 11th on his WA Corless/Jackson Racing Suzuki, just 0.09 seconds out of 10th place. Two-time AMA 750cc Superstock champion Jimmy Moore also finished 22nd on his JMF Milsport Yamaha R1.
In the Supersport TT that was the first of two solo races today, Padgetts Honda rider Hutchinson won an action-packed race that saw many top competitors drop out with various mechanical issues. Early favorite Michael Dunlop (son of the late Robert Dunlop, who was legendary Joey Dunlop’s brother) dropped out on the first lap with a blown engine, and then perennial contender Bruce Antsey set the first sub-18-minute lap on a 600 with his stunning second lap of 17 minute 53.23 second for an average speed of 126.549 mph on his Relentless Suzuki GSX-R600. Unfortunately, just a few miles away from the finish, Antsey reportedly ran out of fuel, handing the win to Hutchinson.
Moore finished in 14th place on his JMF Milsport Yamaha R6, while long-time TT competitor and former AMA Pro Thunder champion Tom Montano finished in 40th place on his Marks Bloom/Taj Mahal Racing Honda.
Hutchinson then went on to score two wins for the day with his thrilling victory in the Superstock TT race that saw four different leaders on the first lap, with the lap record for the class smashed repeatedly. Hutchinson finally came out on top by running an incredible 129.746 mph last lap, also getting the final say in setting the lap record. Americans also finished well in the Superstock race, with Miller coming in 12th just ahead of perennial contender Ian Lougher, and Moore finishing in 20th spot.
On Wednesday, the second of two Supersport races will be run (along with the second sidecar race), and on Friday, the first-ever TTXGP running electric motorcycles for one lap of the course will be held, followed by the Pokerstars Senior TT race finale.