until Abu Dhabi Autonomous Racing League
FHO Racing BMW rider Peter Hickman has belatedly got his winning at the 2023 Isle of Man TT underway by taking victory in the first superstock race.
He held off the efforts of Michael Dunlop and Dean Harrison to become a 10-time TT winner after disappointment in his first two races of the year so far.
The Tuesday action finally began after long delays (the first of the event so far) due to unexpected sea mist clouding the Snaefell Mountain section of the 37.73-mile course, but relief from the clouds finally came in the afternoon and Hickman wasted no time getting down to business after a four-hour delay to proceedings.
Hickman has been struggling so far in the superbike class with an unruly machine and outmatched by Dunlop in both that class and the week-opening supersport race.
But there was no uncertainty when he came flying out of the starting blocks to lead by the second sector and then to not just win by a comfortable 23 seconds but even to find some time on the final lap to enjoy himself.
“The stocker has been working really nice all week,” he said afterwards.
“I actually haven’t ridden it since Wednesday of last week because it’s been working so well. I only did four laps on it because it seems to work so well, so we just parked it and concentrated on the superbike instead because we’ve been struggling with it.
“It took me a mile or two to get into it, but honestly the bike works so, so good. I just have to thank the team because they’ve done just a good job with it.
“I was even able to enjoy myself a little bit on the last lap, waving to the crowd and pulling some wheelies.
“It’s nice to have that bit of a buffer to chill out and really enjoy it, because this place is so fantastic to ride.”
Dunlop once again proved his own level this week by taking the MD Racing Honda to second place, a comfortable 14 seconds clear of Harrison, with the trio ensuring a complete lock-out of the podium places in all three solo races of the week so far.
There won’t be a long wait until action resumes with the first of two supertwin races set to get underway at 1830 local time; also later than originally planned and after a brief interruption in proceedings to reopen the roads and allow Manx locals to return home from work and school.
