Tag

race

Browsing

The final race of the 2014 Isle of Man TT is upon us, the “blue ribbon” event as they call it on the Isle, we are of course talking about the Senior TT.

Six laps of high-octane racing, the smart money pick was of course on Michael Dunlop and his BMW S1000RR superbike — despite BMW having not been at the Isle of Man in decades, and Dunlop never having won a Senior before in his career.

With perfect weather on the Snaefell Mountain Course, TT fans were treated to a fine Senior TT, which was full of close racing.

Friday’s Isle of Man TT racing started off with the Bike Nation Lightweight TT, where the field is comprised of two-cylinder four-stroke machines that cannot have more than 650cc in engine capacity — as such, the field is dominated by Kawasaki Ninja 650 sport bikes.

A race fit for grooming the future talent of the Isle of Man TT, the Lightweight TT sees the big name stars in its ranks as well, though the field is comprised mostly of greener riders. One man noticeably absent from the Lightweight TT grid was Michael Dunlop, who decided to sit out the race and focus on the day’s later race, the blue-ribbon event, the Senior TT.

Before heading up to the Bungalow for today’s races, the weather looked fairly promising with only cloud cover, and no ominous darker clouds threatening rain.

Once I’d arrived it was a different story, with the low clouds covering the tram stop at the top of Snaefell – the island’s highest peak at over 2,000ft – threatening to roll down towards the circuit.

Thankfully it held off long enough to complete the TT Zero and second Supersport races, but had enveloped the surrounding area before the second sidecar race and some practice sessions could run.

The Bungalow is one of the highest points on the course, as the riders exit the Verandah and continue on their way towards Kate’s Cottage. If you watched last year’s TT highlights you’ll recognise it as the point where Michael Dunlop’s CBR600RR made a damn good attempt to throw him off, leaving rubber on the road and forcing him to take a much wider line through the corner than usual.

Usually the backdrop to any image at the Bungalow is a lush, green hillside, but today it was mainly the low, rolling clouds. This makes the camera try to expose the whiteness of the clouds, leaving the bikes underexposed if you don’t work around it.

With a packed Wednesday schedule, riders had only moments after the TT Zero celebration to mount their Supersport machines for the second race of the Monster Energy Supersport TT, and with mist reported on the mountain, a quick send-off was also necessary in order to ensure a full race distance ensued.

The only man not in a rush though was John McGuinness, as the now 21-time TT race winner had announced in the morning that he and the Padgetts Hona team had decided it best not to race in the second Supersport race of the 2014 Isle of Man TT, as McPint has been suffering from a wrist injury, which was noticeably holding him back this TT fortnight.

In fine form all week though has been the Kiwi Bruce Anstey, and he and Michael Dunlop seemed set for another showdown on the Snaefell Mountain Course.

An event we’ve been eagerly waiting for, the 2014 SES TT Zero electric race was billed as a battle for the #1 spot between the Mugen riders, John McGuinness and Bruce Anstey, and battle between everyone else for the third and final podium position. And that is exactly what the 2014 Isle of Man TT fans got.

First to leave Glencrutchery Road, and the first to return, John McGuinness took his 21st IOMTT race win while on the Mugen Shinden San. The first time that the Mugen team has won the electric solo race at the IOMTT, McGuinness’s lap also officially broke the outright record for an electric motorcycle at the Isle of Man TT, with a 117.366 mph lap.

To put that lap time in perspective, rally driver Mark Higgins managed only a 116.470 mph lap during the Subaru exhibition lap, which immediately followed the TT Zero race; that time also bests Ryan Farquhar’s best Lightweight TT flying lap of 116.840 mph from practice.

Motorcycle road racing resumed on Tuesday, after the weather gave an early end to Monday’s events, and accordingly riders geared up their more street-going machines for the Superstock TT race.

A perfect day for racing, things got off to a rocky start, as a accident on the course (before the roads were closed to traffic) caused a delay to the Superstock start.

That news would be a bad omen, as the fatal crash of Karl Harris during the race halted the rest of the day’s events, leaving the Superstock TT as the sole spectacle for Tuesday.

One circuit, three races, all of them utterly different in nature. The wide, flowing layout with a long straight, fast corners, and multiple combinations of turns present very different challenges to Grand Prix racing’s three different classes.

For Moto3, escape is impossible, the race coming down to tactics and the ability to pick the right slipstream. In Moto2, it is possible to get away, but it’s equally possible to chase an escaped rider down.

And in MotoGP, the fast flicks make it possible to both defend attacks and launch your own counter-attacks. Mugello is a wonderful circuit, and it served up a spectacular portion of racing on Sunday.

Jack Miller has been handed two penalty points for his last-lap clash with Alex Marquez, which caused Miller, Marquez and Bastianini to crash.

The Red Bull KTM rider made a very late lunge up the inside of the leading group at Scarperia, but clipped the back of Miguel Oliveira’s Mahindra, which forced him to stand the bike up and into the path of Alex Marquez. Marquez ran into the back of Miller, and the two riders fell, taking out Enea Bastianini with them.

After the incident, Miller accepted full blame for the crash. “I went in there a little bit too aggressive, trying to overtake too many people at once,” Miller said. “There was a bit of room there, and I went for it, but Oliveira closed the door. I touched his rear tire, stood it up and almost had it, then Marquez ran in to me from behind. It was completely my fault.”

The late evening practice sessions have finally given way to the mid-day races at the Isle of Man, and that means that the 2014 Isle of Man TT has started in earnest. As always, the Dainese Superbike TT was the opening event, which is just the perfect way to start the TT…with the big toys on the Mountain Course, right?

This year’s event brings all sorts of questions. Will Michael Dunlop continue the domination he began back in 2013? Or will John McGuinness reclaim his crown, and make further progress into besting Joey Dunlop’s outright TT race win record? How about fan favorite Guy Martin, and his hunt for his first Isle of Man TT race win? Thankfully, some of those answers can begin to come forthwith.