Hutchinson wins dramatic Relentless Supersport TT
Padgett’s Honda star Ian Hutchinson has claimed his second Isle of Man TT win after the dramatic and record-breaking Relentless Supersport race 1.
Early favourite Michael Dunlop, who had set an unofficial lap record in practice, was out on lap one with a blown engine, and it was Hydrex Honda’s Guy Martin who took a narrow lead over TAS Suzuki’s Bruce Anstey, with Hutchinson in third.
At the end of lap one Martin smashed the 600cc lap record with an average lap speed of 125.375mph, while Hutchy moved ahead of Anstey to claim second.
On the second lap the Kiwi started pushing forward, moving past Hutchinson and taking the lead from Martin by Ramsey – Martin would later reveal his machine had developed mechanical problems, compromising his challenge.
Anstey finished the second lap in a stunning time of 17mins 53.23s, the first sub-18 minute lap for a 600 and an average speed of 126.549mph.
With Hutchinson now back in second, Martin was now occupied with fighting Craig Wilson Honda rider Keith Amor for the final podium position.
Anstey built his advantage up to more than 10 seconds on lap three and looked set for victory as Hutchinson tried to preserve his slim advantage over Martin.
However, with the chequered flag just minutes way, Anstey pulled over at Brandywell, with early reports suggesting the TAS Suzuki was out of fuel.
That left Hutchinson to secure his second TT win in a race record time, with Martin second and Amor adding a second Supersport podium to his TT record.
Speaking afterwards Hutchinson said:
‘Quite a lot of people win one TT, winning another feels a bit better.’
Martin added:
I’m over the moon to finish second. Wouldn’t normally be, but we had a bit of trouble with the bike on the second lap. I thought that was me. But it was still going at the end of the race, going like a train.’
Amor, who was promoted to third last year after Anstey was disqualified, said:
‘It is nice to finally get up on the podium. I have been trying for three years.’
The Royal London 360 Superstock race is due to start at 6.30pm.