IOMTT: Supersport Race 1 Finishes Despite Red Flag

Despite raining last night, Monday’s Isle of Man TT Monster Energy Supersport race started under promising skies, as the sun was mostly out through the cloudy skies. Though John McGuinness won the weekend’s Dainese Superbike TT, the Padgetts Motorcycles’ rider was not a favorite to win this year’s Supersport races, though still considered a strong competitor. Instead eyes were on Michael Dunlop, Cameron Donald, and Gary Johnson, with Guy Martin always a crowd favorite.

With racing starting well enough, it sadly did not last long as the race was red flagged as the race leaders entered into Ramsey. Though several competitors had crashed in the first lap, news soon spread that Derek Brien had crashed and died on the extremely fast Gorse Lea section of the course, where speeds are in excess of 140 mph.

With the Isle of Man TT officials giving riders a chance to restart the race, several crashers were given a second opportunity to tackle the Mountain Course with their 600cc machinery, one of whom was local hero Guy Martin. Though off to a rocky start, find out how the restarted Monster Energy Supersport Race unfolded after the jump.

After the first lap, it was Michael Dunlop leading the pack, clocking a 125.852 mph average lap speed. Following him through the Grandstand time trap respectively were Cameron Donald, Gary Johnson, Bruce Anstey, and Guy Martin. With only a six second lead over Donald, Dunlop continued to push forward, but ultimately had to retire the bike, moving everyone up a peg. Gary Johnson got past Cameron Donald, and into the lead by the conclusion of the second lap.

Johnson posted a 125.099 mph average lap speed on the second lap, leading Donald by nearly 30 seconds at that point. Sitting 35 seconds back in third was Bruce Anstey, who similarly lead Ketih Amor (39 second backs from the lead), and Guy Martin (40 seconds back).

Lap three would prove to be unkind to Johnson though, as the English rider finally pitted and was relegated back to fourth place by the time of the checkered flag. His pitstop meant Cameron Donald moved up into first, but the Australian rider also retired with mechanical issues.

This left Bruce Anstey as the last man standing in the Top 3, and the de facto race leader. He would go on to cross the finish line with an eight second lead over second place finisher Keith Amor. Rounding out the Top 3 was Guy Martin, who brought his Relentless Suzuki in with a 16 second gap to Anstey. Gary Johnson finished a respectable fourth place, while John McGuinness finished fifth.