Peter Hickman opened his 2015 Isle of Man TT account in fine style on Sunday afternoon when he took the Briggs Equipment BMW to an excellent eighth place in the Superbike race, equalling his best ever result around the 37.73-mile Mountain Course.
After being cancelled on Saturday, conditions were perfect on Sunday and the re-scheduled race eventually got underway at 2.03pm. A strong opening lap from 28-year old Hickman of 127.699mph saw him slot into 13th place and another 127mph+ lap on the second lap enabled him to move up to 11th as he made the first of his two scheduled pit stops.
The Louth-based rider maintained his position on lap three as he circulated on the road with fellow BMW rider David Johnson who had started ten seconds ahead of him. A fourth lap of 127.504mph saw Hicky jump up into the top ten but the final lap saw a number of changes as firstly Gary Johnson crashed out at Guthrie’s fortunately without injury.
Third placed Michael Dunlop then crashed with less than a mile to go on the final lap after a coming together with a slower rider and the race was subsequently stopped. Only six riders completed the full race distance with seventh place onwards taken from the previous lap and this meant Peter was awarded eighth, which equalled his result from last year’s Superstock race.
Peter Hickman: “I’m happy enough with eighth place in the first race of the week, particularly as I was riding a Superstock bike in a Superbike race. It was good to get some laps in at last and I enjoyed myself out there. I caught David Johnson but it was difficult to found a good place to pass as we were both running a similar pace. He was quicker than me in some places and vice versa but I got by him at the Creg on three occasions! Like I say, it’s good to get the first race out of the way and I’m really happy with another top ten finish.”
Lee Hardy, Team Owner: “We’re really pleased with the first race and it’s nice to get a good run in at last. Peter needed time on the road and we spoke before the race, making a few more changes and he was really happy with the bike although he did say it was better with a full tank of fuel as opposed to less so that’s something we need to look at. Overall and from a team perspective we’re very happy. We had some guys experiencing the pit stops for the first time and they were both really slick and eighth place was an excellent result for Peter. It’s a good start to the week so, hopefully, we’ll be able to improve on that later in the week.”
Peter has two races on a busy Monday, riding the Briggs Equipment BMW again in the Superstock race and the Trooper MV Agusta in the Supersport race with both being held over four laps.
Pictures by Tim Keeton – Impact Images Photography
