Peter Hickman set the quickest lap on the second night of qualifying at the Isle of Man TT Races with the FHO Racing BMW rider lapping at 132.079mph on his FHO Racing BMW Superbike. That was a second quicker than Dean Harrison (DAO Racing Kawasaki) with Michael Dunlop a further second back on the Hawk Racing Honda.
Dunlop did, however, top the Superstock class after lapping at 131.843mph with Ben and Tom Birchall fastest in the Sidecar class with a lap of 118.316mph on their Steadplan/Hager LCR Honda.
With clear blue skies and sunshine once more, riders were warned of the bright sun on the west part of the circuit, including at Union Mills, Ballagarey and the Hawthorn, and it was Harrison who was first away on his Superbike followed by Dunlop who opted for his Superstock machine first time out.
Next to go were David Johnson, Jamie Coward, James Hillier, Josh Brookes, Michael Rutter, Peter Hickman, Davey Todd and Hickman and it was Harrison who was first to complete a lap at 131.974mph with Dunlop only a fraction slower on his Superstock Honda after lapping at 131.843mph.
Hickman was quickest on the opening lap though with a speed of 132.079mph, the first man to break the 132mph barrier this week, whilst Conor Cummins (130.924mph) slotted into third on the Superbike leaderboard ahead of his Milenco by Padgett’s Motorcycles team-mate Todd (129.920mph), Coward (128.488mph) and Hillier (128.029mph).
Brookes, meanwhile, was second quickest in the Superstock category at 126.282mph with newcomers Erno Kostamo and Matthieu Lagrive lapping at 114.976mph and 111.560mph respectively.
Second time around and speeds were slightly slower with Hickman again the quickest at 131.712mph with Harrison lapping at 131.351mph. Dunlop switched to his Superbike and posted a speed of 131.141mph but Todd (129.261mph) and Coward (129.60mph) were two riders who managed to improve. Cummins was out of luck though, the Manxman reported to have stopped at the 33rd Milestone.
Hillier was another to improve, at 128.189mph, with Julian Trummer impressing on the WH Racing with Dynobike BMW at 124.247mph. Shaun Anderson was up to third on the Superstock leaderboard at 125.841mph just ahead of Mike Browne, the Cork man lapping at 125.745mph.
Hickman, Harrison and Hillier all went out for a third lap on their Superstock machines with Harrison posting a lap of exactly 125mph but Hickman experienced problems and pulled off the course at Ballacraine. Speeds were all reduced though due to the setting sun but also due to yellow flags being displayed from the Bottom of Barregarrow to Kirk Michael after Mark Goodings’ bike expired.
Oil on the course, led to the evening’s Supersport and Supertwin session being cancelled and it was 8.25pm before the Sidecar class got underway.
The Birchalls were first to complete a lap at 116.828mph ahead of Pete Founds/Jevan Walmsley (116.110mph) and Gary Bryan/Phil Hyde (110.146mph) with Tim Reeves/Mark Wilkes completing their first lap of the week at 109.623mph.
Second time around and the Birchalls really upped their tempo with a speed of 118.316mph and although Founds/Walmsley didn’t go any quicker, Reeves/Wilkes did with a lap of 112.338mph. Steve and Matty Ramsden were also above the 110mph barrier with their lap of 110.236mph putting them fourth quickest on the night.
Tomorrow’s qualifying session is set to get under at 18:30. However following the disruption to this evening's qualifying session, a revised schedule has been announced. Click here to view tomorrow's schedule.