until Abu Dhabi Autonomous Racing League
With qualifying week for the 2022 Isle of Man TT – the first running of the historic event in three years thanks to the COVID pandemic – now reaching its halfway point, the old names who were firmly in control before the pause in racing look set to once again be at the front, as Peter Hickman and Dean Harrison continue to dominate the superbike class.
So far topping all but the opening night of practice, the duo have been pushing each other along to the fastest times of the week so far, with Hickman currently leading the practice timesheets after four nights with a 17m09.332s lap of the 37.73-mile course on Wednesday night – an average speed of 131.957mph.
Harrison, the winner of the last race run at the event in 2019, the Senior TT, was less than two seconds behind Hickman, coming home only 1.910s behind his rival.
The third man to so far be in the mix with them has been Padgetts Honda rider Davey Todd (below), who topped the opening night of practice and finished Wednesday night five seconds behind Harrison.
Hickman and Todd are also in control of the superstock class, with the five-time race winner’s 130.695mph lap from Tuesday night the fastest of the weekend ahead of a 129.583mph from Todd on the previous night.
The supersport class is so far looking like the best chance that 19-time race winner Michael Dunlop might have to add to his tally, with his 125.938mph lap from Tuesday’s third session the fastest so far, ahead of Harrison and Dunlop’s fellow Northern Irishman and past class winner Lee Johnston.
Jamie Coward has topped the times in the supertwin class, concentrating on the smaller bikes during their two sessions of the week with a speed of 119.775mph that leaves him well clear of Hickman (118.983mph) and Rob Hodson (117.232mph).
The sidecar class has been particularly hard hit by delays and red flags so far during this year’s practice week, with three stoppages across the four nights meaning crews have so far only been able to complete three laps.
The fastest of those has come from 10-time TT winners and past world champions Tom and Ben Birchall, 14s ahead of Peter Founds and Jevan Walmsley.
However, while many competitors were expecting to return to the TT and immediately pick up where they left off in 2019, times have been considerably slower than lap record pace despite four nights of practice in excellent conditions and on a course that has become faster thanks to significant works to repair and improve it during the two-year absence from racing.
Hickman’s fastest lap of the week so far is still nearly 30s off his absolute lap record, a 135.452mph lap set back in 2018, while Michael Dunlop remains 4mph off his best supersport time from the same year.
Practice continues on Thursday and Friday before the opening two races of the event on Saturday, the Superbike TT and the first of two Sidecar TTs.
