The sign at the starting line said “conditions excellent” as the Isle of Man provided another perfect arena for motorcycle racing, as Race 2 of the Supersport TT got underway.
With Michael Dunlop setting a 129 mph lap during Race 1, conversations already started about whether we would see a 130 mph lap from the supersport machines, an almost crazy average lap speed to consider from the 600cc machines.
While we wouldn’t see the record books change that entry today, we did see an eventful Supersport TT Race 2 at the Isle of Man TT.
It was Dean Harrison leading at Glen Helen on Lap 1, edging out Michael Dunlop, James Hillier, and Peter Hickman. On the gas, Harrison never looked back, and slowly grew his lead, first over Dunlop and then over Hickman, as the laps ticked by.
In truth, the Top 5 order didn’t change much, save for the pitstop after Lap 2, where Dunlop strayed from the flock, and implemented a pit stop strategy that saw a fresh rear tired added – perhaps in an effort to get more performance from his MD Racing Honda CBR600RR.
Speeding in the pits though, Dunlop was handed a 30-second time penalty, knocking him out of podium contention.
The penalty was a boon for Peter Hickman, as it promoted him to second place, after he took third place from James Hillier around Ramsey on the opening lap.
Though Hillier would linger on Hickman, the rest of the race remained fairly static, and the gaps slowly grew from the Top 5 riders.
On the third lap, race-leading Harrison would catch third-place Hillier on the course, with the pair riding together all the way to the finish line.
As such, it was an HHH parc fermé – with Harrison, Hickman, and Hillier getting the bubbly on the podium.
For Harrison, it was his second-ever TT race win, and a memorable one it would be, as it set a Supersport TT race time record, shaving eight seconds off the previous mark.
Photo: © 2018 Tony Goldsmith / www.tonygoldsmith.net – All Rights Reserved
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