John McGuinness smashes 130mph in 2009 TT practice
Wednesday 03 June 2009
TT
John McGuinness has once again stamped his authority on the 2009 Isle of Man TT with a breathtaking performance in the fourth practice session.
In bright sunshine, under blue skies and with a slight breeze, the 14-times TT winner blew away the rest of the field with a staggering ride on the HM Plant Honda superbike.
On his second lap of the evening the Morecambe star recorded an average lap speed of 130.171mph – only just slower than his outright lap record of 2007, which stands at 130.354mph.
Fans watching the progress with the TT Live! subscription service saw McGuinness hook up a perfect lap, reaching Ballaugh Bridge at an average speed of 139.318mph, blasting through the speed trap in Sulby at 191.2mph and getting to Ramsey Hairpin in under 10m 50s – at a staggering average speed of 142.473mph!
Behind McGuinness, Guy Martin was having another solid evening on the Hydrex Honda superbike, achieving 188.5mph at the speed trap on his opening circuit and blasting through 129mph on his second, with an average speed of 129.168mph.
Steve Plater, teammate to McGuinness at HM Plant, had a much improved session, his best superbike lap hitting 128.453mph and taking second fastest through the speed trap, with a 189.6mph.
After setting the fastest supersport time of the night on his Yamaha R6, at 125.085mph, Michael Dunlop was back out on the Norton, but only reached Braddan Bridge before further gremlins struck.
There were some class performances in the superstocks, with Adrian Archibald putting in two storming laps on the AMA Suzuki and Plater having a quick go before swapping back onto the superbike.
However honours in this class in the fourth practice session when to Ian Hutchinson, who lapped on his Honda at 126.849mph, and Keith Amor, who was fastest at the speed trap at 182.4mph on his way to second fastest superstock time of the night.
With 13-times TT winner Dave Molyneux taking the evening off after a superb opening to practice week, the way was open for fellow Manxman Nick Crowe and passenger Mark Cox to dominate the session, and dominate they did – lapping at 113.849mph first time out and at a amazing 116.063mph on lap two!
John Holden and Andy Winkle set the second fastest time, but took the honour for fastest at the Sulby speed trap – 144.9mph.
Tim Reeves and Patrick Farrance were hoping for a change in fortunes for the fourth practice, and it seems they got their way – finishing two laps, both att more than 111mph.
The crews of Phil Dongworth/Gary Partridge and Simon Neary/Stuart Bond both managed laps at average speeds of more than 110mph.
The fifth practice session is scheduled for 6.20pm on Thursday.