SBK
IoM Superbike: Six of the best for Honda on first day of Centenary TT
05 giugno 2007  Riding the HM Plant Honda CBR1000RR, the 34 year old Morecambe rider was always in control of the race despite his early anxieties about damp patches on parts of the 37.73 mile Mountain Course that had twice had hour long delays before the action, originally scheduled for Saturday finally began. For Honda, it was total domination as their riders packed the top six finishing positions but it was McGuinness who took pride of place as he won the race at a record speed of 125.550mph, also upping the Superbike lap record to 128.279mph on the second lap. McGuinness set the early pace, despite a scary moment or two on the opening lap as his Fireblade stepped out of line in the damp, but by then he was running two seconds ahead of the determined Guy Martin, aboard the Hydrex backed Fireblade with Ian Hutchinson on the second HM Plant machine running third. The leader used his tried and tested method of trying to break the opposition on that opening lap: "It has worked well before, so why not again. I got my head down and went for it, riding as hard as I could, though being a bit careful in the damp bits. I had a few moments on the first lap including a big slide at the thirteenth milestone when the back end of the bike came round on me, but I kept it going." Said the elated McGuinness. He was in charge, running ten seconds clear after two laps, and with his team slick and well drilled, he gained more time over Martin as they both pitted for fuel and to change the rear wheel. Going into the third lap McGuinness was 17-seconds ahead and pulling further clear and had increased his advantage by a further nine seconds after four laps. Martin was not giving up, and was riding hard, but McGuinness maintained his lead and going into the final lap, he was 28.9seconds clear at Glen Helen, maintaining that into Ramsey and then easing back slightly over Snaefell to take the victory by 25.94secs. "It's unbelievable," said an emotional McGuinness. "I'm not getting any younger and they made me work for this one. I'd trained hard all winter to be ready for them and it is well worth it all. I had to ride really hard and gave it everything. In places it was a bit damp, and they are not really my conditions, but here we are and enjoying it.” "To win this race is a tremendous feeling. It will go do in the history books as the first win in the Centenary event and that means an awful lot for me and for Honda, this victory is a testament to their preparation." McGuinness, who now lies third in the list of all time winners, adrift of Joey Dunlop (26) and Mike Hailwood (14), was given a tremendous reception by the 50,000, now sun-drenched, spectators "I've never seen so many. Seeing them all there waving to my on that last lap left me feeling really emotional. Winning is always special, this one is even more so. I'm just glad that I could put on such a show for them and give them the victory," said the victorious Englishman. Martin gave his all and took a worthy second place, his best finish on the TT, with Hutchinson a solid third and running some 19 seconds ahead of Martin Finnegan aboard the Alpha Boiler Honda CBR1000RR. Ian Lougher, riding a similar bike in Stobart Colours was fifth from Ryan Farquhar on the Mark Johns Motors backed Fireblade. Guy Martin said of his race: 'I'm not here to make the numbers up and wanted to win but happy enough with second. Looking back I didn't push hard enough on the first lap - I've got a lot to learn but Friday's Senior race is the one to win. You're nobody till you've won a six lapper. John is the man around here, and he had the better pit stops.” Adrian Archibald, riding Suzuki; local rider Conor Cummins, Ian Armstrong and the TT debut making Steve Plater, all aboard Yamahas, completed the top ten. Dave Molyneux, returning to the TT after a big crash in practice for last year's event, became the second twelve times winner as he and Rick Long charged through from fourth on the opening lap to win the three lap sidecar race by some 6.5 seconds aboard their HM Plant Honda powered outfit. Molyneux: It's a weird feeling to take the win - I rode my heart out and have never been so committed as I was into the corners here during that race. I was determined after the crash of last year, but had problems through practice and expected Nick Crowe to have the race in the bag. This was the most unexpected win in my career." John Holden and Andrew Winkle, LCR Suzuki, led for much of the race, after the demise of last year's double winner Nick Crowe on the opening lap because of a gearbox problem. Molyneux was running second going into the final lap and grabbed the initiative on the dash into Ramsey, increasing his advantage over Holden over the Mountain section. Steve Norbury and Scott Parnell were third on their Shelbourne Yamaha. Results Superbike TT, Monday 4th June 2007. No / Rider / Bike / Entrant / Time / Speed 1 / John McGuinness / 2007 Honda Fireblade 1000cc / H M Plant Honda / 01 48 11.17 / 125.55 2 / Guy Martin / 2007 Honda 1000cc / Hydrex Honda / 01 48 37.11 / 125.051 3 / Ian Hutchinson / 2007 Honda CBR 1000cc / H M Plant Honda / 01 49 17.33 / 124.284 4 / Martin Finnegan / 2007 Honda CBR 1000cc / Alpha Boilers Racing / 01 49 35.71 / 123.936 5 / Ian Lougher / 2007 Honda CBR 1000cc / Stobart Motorsport / 01 50 34.23 / 122.843 6 / Ryan Farquhar / 2007 Honda Fireblade 1000cc / Mark Johns Motor / 01 50 54.77 / 122.464 7 / Adrian Archibald / 2007 Suzuki GSXR 1000cc / Relentless by TAS / 01 51 27.25 / 121.869 8 / Conor Cummins / 2007 Yamaha YZF R1 1000cc / Team Millsport / 01 52 19.00 / 120.933 9 / Ian Armstrong / 2004 Yamaha R1 1000cc / Canteen Smithy / 01 53 07.65 / 120.066 10 / Steve Plater* / 2007 Yamaha R1 1000cc / AIM Racing / 01 53 30.84 / 119.657 11 / John Barton / 2006 Honda CBR 1000cc / Marks Bloom Racing / 01 53 49.94 / 119.323 12 / Dan Stewart / 2006 Yamaha R1 1000cc / Wilcock Consulting / 01 54 06.19 / 119.04 13 / Chris Palmer / 2005 Yamaha R1 1000cc / Solway Slate & Tile / 01 54 13.34 / 118.915 14 / Davy Morgan / 2005 Honda 1000cc / Investasure / 01 54 23.65 / 118.737 15 / Gary Carswell / 2007 Kawasaki ZX10R 1000cc / Bolliger Kawasaki / 01 54 33.53 / 118.566 16 / Ian Pattinson / 2006 Suzuki GSXR 1000cc / Martin Bullock Racing / 01 54 34.06 / 118.557 17 / James McBride / 2007 Yamaha R1 1000cc / 01 54 34.61 / 118.548 Fastest Lap - Lap 3 John McGuinness 17 mins 38.85 secs 128.279 mph |
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