Road Racing

TT 2013: Dunlop Off To A Flyer On Opening Evening

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Michael Dunlop picked up where he left off at the North West 200 last weekend by topping the opening Lightweight practice session of the 2013 Isle of Man TT. The Ulsterman was victorious in the rain-shortened Supersport race last Saturday and took full advantage of ideal conditions this evening to go fastest of all.

The first on track action of this year’s TT saw the newcomers taken for their speed controlled lap of the mountain course, Josh Brookes being the most high profile of the debutants. Hong Kong’s Cheung Wai On was left on the line thanks to a problem on his Splitlath Redmond Aprilia and rider liaison officer Richard Quayle picked up a puncture while leading his group around but aside from that, their first taste of the TT was incident-free. Brookes and the Netherlands’ Branko Srdanov would actually go on to lap faster than any newcomers had done before on opening night ahead of the start of full qualifying on Monday.

The first official running of the event commenced at 6:50pm and Dunlop was straight on the pace with a lap at 111.850mph to give him just under seven seconds advantage over Cameron Donald but Michael had much more speed in his locker and shaved eighteen seconds off his own personal best to take top spot at the end of day one. Ivan Lintin and Michael Rutter improved later in their runs to complete the top three while Donald dropped to fifth behind Manxman Conor Cummins and just ahead of Dean Harrison.

Last year’s double winners Dave Molyneux and Patrick Farrance made a rapid start to their 2013 campaign with the fastest time in the Sidecar session but John Holden and Andy Winkle weren’t far behind in second. Conrad Harrison and Mike Aylott were third but Tim Reeves and Dan Sayle were surprisingly low on the leaderboard in nineteenth, albeit at a very early stage.

 

2013 Isle of Man TT fuelled by Monster Energy – Saturday 25th May
Lightweight Qualifying
1 Michael Dunlop Kawasaki 19:56.142 113.555mph
2 Ivan Lintin Kawasaki 19:57.520 113.424mph
3 Michael Rutter Kawasaki 20:00.950 113.100mph
4 Conor Cummins Kawasaki 20:06.361 112.593mph
5 Cameron Donald Kawasaki 20:07.216 112.513mph
6 Dean Harrison Kawasaki 20:11.718 112.096mph
Sidecar Qualifying
1 Molyneux/Farrance DMR 20:20.621 111.278mph
2 Holden/Winkle LCR 20:34.689 110.010mph
3 Harrison/Aylott Shelbourne Honda 20:35.270 109.958mph
4 Birchall/Birchall Hanni LCR 20:41.322 109.422mph
5 Wright/Hull Other 20:55.813 108.159mph
6 Bryan/Winn Honda 20:56.002 108.143mph
Superstock Qualifying (Newcomers Only)
1 Josh Brookes Suzuki 19:45.000 111.278mph
2 Branko Srdanov BMW 19:53.602 110.010mph
3 Derek Sheils Kawasaki 19:59.451 109.958mph
4 Jonathan Howarth Kawasaki 20:43.139 109.422mph
5 Horst Saiger Kawasaki 20:48.518 108.159mph
6 Gavin Hunt Kawasaki 21:16.265 108.143mph
Supersport Qualifying (Newcomers Only)
1 Sam Wilson Yamaha 20:53.119 108.390mph
2 Pop Petre Honda 22:24.743 101.010mph
TT 2013 Schedule – Monday 27th May
18:20-19:55 Superbike/Superstock/Supersport/Newcomers (except Lightweight)
20:00-20:50 Sidecar

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