Isle of Man. The new BMW S 1000 RR made its debut at the Isle
of Man TT – with a strong result. Peter Hickman (GBR) of Smiths
Racing Team set the pace in the 1000 cc races on his new RR and
picked up two wins (Superbike TT, Superstock TT) and a second place
on the podium (Senior TT). ‘Hicky’ also set the fastest lap in all
three races.
After fog and rain caused massive delays to the Isle of Man TT
schedule, the Superbike TT on Monday was the first 1000 cc event
scheduled. Hickman won the race and set the fastest lap. The Superbike
TT was overshadowed by the fatal accident of BMW road racer Daley
Mathison (GBR) of Team Penz13.com.
The second race in the 1000 cc category in the Superstock TT followed
on Thursday. Hickman dominated the race on his BMW S 1000 RR right
from the start. After three laps on the ‘Mountain Course’, he crossed
the finish line as the winner, with a lead of 26 seconds over his
closest rival.
Race week drew to a close on Friday with the Senior TT over six laps.
Hickman stormed away from the field on his RR and extended his lead to
almost 18 seconds. However, an overheating issue forced him to reduce
his speed – but Hickman had no intention of quitting the race, and
ended up on the podium in second place.
Michael Dunlop (GBR), who once again joined forces with the Tyco BMW
team at the Isle of Man TT, was also involved in the battle for the
podium on his RR. In the Superbike TT on Monday, Dunlop was ranked in
sixth place. In the Superstock TT he finished in fourth place and
missed out on the podium by just two-tenths of a second. In the Senior
TT, Dunlop crossed the finish line in fourth place once again.
Davey Todd (GBR) of Penz13.com was ranked tenth in the Superbike TT,
and he finished in eighth place in the Superstock race. In the Senior
TT on Friday, Todd got his personal best lap time on the ‘Mountain
Course’ to date and crossed the finish line in sixth place. Michael
Rutter (GBR / Bathams Racing) rode his RR sixth position in Thursday’s
Superstock TT.