2016 Bennetts Lightweight TT Race Results

Last to go on Wednesday for the Isle of Man TT, the Bennetts Lightweight TT features “super twin” four-stroke machines, of up to 650cc in displacement.

The weapon of choice in the class has been the Kawasaki Ninja 650, but that is slowly changing. Gary Johnson, for instance, has made a good show of things with the Chinese CF Moto.

Though any rider can compete in the Lightweight TT category, the class is seen by many as a stepping stone onto a supersport or bigger bike. As such, many of the TT’s upcoming stars feature in the Lightweight TT.

A four-lap race this year, the Lightweight TT in the past has been a three-lap contest, which brought a bit of strategy into play on when to take a pit stop. Now four laps, that intrigue has been removed, but given riders a more difficult contest on machines not designed for racing.

True to expectations, Lintin was the fastest through Glen Helen on the first lap, but only by a slim 0.3 second margin over James Hillier. The pair would battle throughout the first lap, with Hillier getting the better of Lintin by two seconds at its end.

Lintin would answer back on the second lap though, taking the lead over through the Mountain Section of the course, and showing a one-second advantage at the Bungalow.

With the leaders both taking their pit stop at the end of Lap 2, the TT showed that not all teams are created equally as Hillier’s crew gave their rider a seven-second disadvantage during their pit stop, from which their would be no recovery.

Still eight seconds back at Glen Helen, Hillier would watch the gap to Lintin slowly increase over the next two laps, and would have to settle for second place at the checkered flag. This year marks Lintin’s second Lightweight TT win, which is also his second career TT race win as well.

Martin Jessopp would also benefit from a fast pitstop, finding 8 seconds of his own between the pit stop and third lap. This would slot him into third place (his first TT podium), ahead of Gary Johnson on the CF Moto. With that the order in how they finished, the 2016 Lightweight TT podium was an all Kawasaki affair.

Worth mentioning though are the efforts of Stefano Bonetti, on the retro-styled Paton machine, who finished a strong 5th place, and was in the podium hunt with Jessopp and Johnshon throughout the race. He missed the champagne by only two seconds.

Click here to see the full race results from the Bennetts Lightweight TT Race