This was it, the one that everyone had been waiting for. The Senior TT is the most hotly contested of all the races we see over the week, and the one everyone wants to win. Michael Dunlop and Ian Hutchinson were tipped to be the favourites to win, but with youngsters like Peter Hickman and Dean Harrison all performing massively well over race week, it was anyone’s guess.
Unfortunately, the race was red flagged on lap 2 of 6 due to an incident at the 27th Milestone involving 16 time TT winner Ian Hutchinson. He was conscious and taken to hospital by airmed where it was confirmed he had suffered a fractured femur. It was later announced that the race would be restarted over a reduced distance of 4 laps.
Before the red flag it was shaping up to be a cracking race, with just 0.18 seconds between Hickman and Hutchinson, and Harrison just a short distance behind.
In the restart, it was Dunlop who got off to a great start, the red flag allowing him a complete do-over of the beginning of the first session. He led through Glen Helen with a 1.5 second lead on Bruce Anstey, with Harrison a further 0.9 seconds behind. Dunlop only furthered his lead through Ramsey, but Hickman was slowly creeping up the order, taking 2nd place from Anstey who was coming under pressure from Harrison.
Dunlop was constantly adding seconds on to his lead, and came into the pits with a 9.2s lead on Hickman who was pulling away from Harrison. Anstey had retired at Bedstead, meaning the top six was rounded out by Michael Rutter, James Hillier and Conor Cummins. Notably, Josh Brookes was up to 7th on the Norton after doing his first ever 130mph+ lap around the Mountain course.
Out of the pit stop, and Hickman was itching to close the gap to Dunlop which he successfully managed to do, reducing it slightly to 7.3 seconds. But Dunlop bit back, and increased the lead once more through Ballaugh to 8.5 seconds.
Going into the final lap, Dunlop was 10.6 seconds ahead of Hickman, and it only improved over the line as the Northern Irishman took his 15th TT win 13.3 seconds from Hickman who has achieved a podium in every TT race he has contested this year. Harrison completed the podium, thanks to his first ever 132mph lap.
This result means that Peter Hickman won the Joey Dunlop Championship with 76 points thanks to his handful of podiums over the race week. Ian Hutchinson finished the championship in 2nd with 61 points, and Michael Dunlop finished a close 3rd with 60 points.
Jamie Coward was the first privateer in the Senior TT, but Horst Saiger’s 18th place finish saw him win the TT Privateer’s Trophy with 71 points overall.
Pokerstars Senior TT race results (top 10):
- Michael Dunlop – Bennetts Suzuki
- Peter Hickman – Smiths Racing (BMW)
- Dean Harrison – Silicone Engineering (Kawasaki)
- James Hillier – JG Speedfit Kawasaki
- Michael Rutter – Bathams SMT Racing (BMW)
- Josh Brookes – Norton
- David Johnson – Norton
- Conor Cummins – padgettsmotorcycles.com Honda
- Martin Jessopp – Riders Motorcycles BMW
- William Dunlop – Temple Golf Club (Yamaha)
