Ivan Lintin targets strong 2013 TT after stunning campaign
Ivan Lintin is celebrating a strong campaign at the 2012 Isle of Man TT fuelled by Monster Energy and plans to return even strong next year.
The Lincolnshire racer put in some stunning performances, with two top 12 finishes, three silver replicas and a first ever 120mph+ lap. An undoubted highlight for the Bardney rider was 7th in the BikerPetition.co.uk Lightweight TT, his best finish of the 2012 TT, but 10th in the highly competitive Monster Energy Supersport race was, arguably, a more satisfying result.
Lintin also also finished 7th overall in the TT Privateers Championship, despite only his two Supersport finishes counting.
He said:
“I'd like to think I've shown what I'm capable of at the TT this year so it will be nice to return next year even stronger than ever."
"I decided to concentrate on the smaller capacity races again at this year’s TT and its really paid dividends. I wanted to make a bit of an impression this year, so to get two top 10 finishes, three silver replicas and a first ever 120mph+ lap is absolutely brilliant – I’m over the moon with how it all went.”
“Switching to Kawasaki machinery has given me a boost as the bikes had better speed and handled better than what I'd previously ridden at the TT and that, together with my increased circuit knowledge, enabled me to push on for some decent positions.”
After posting the 7th and 13th fastest times in practice for the Lightweight and Supersport races respectively, hopes were high going into the three races on the R&D Sheet Metal ER6 and ZX-6R Kawasakis, and his superb form continued in the first 4-lap Supersport event. With an opening lap of 120.468mph, his first ever 120mph+ lap of the Mountain course, Lintin lay in 14th place, but moved up another place on each of the following two laps.
On the final lap, he climbed up to a brilliant 10th place, to finish only a few seconds behind multiple race winner Ian Hutchinson and also be the third Kawasaki rider to finish.
It gave him his first ever top 10 result and his first silver replica and two days later, he was back out on the Supersport machine. With more 120mph+ laps, Lintin again featured heavily and, posting his best ever lap of the demanding 37.73-mile circuit at 120.643mph, he took 14th place at the end of the four laps for his second successive silver replica.
The 27-year-old saved the best until last with a stunning performance in the re-introduced 3-lap Lightweight TT. Riding the ER6 Kawasaki that has served him so well at Oliver’s Mount, Scarborough, Lintin slotted into 7th after the opening lap, but with riders opting for different pit stop strategies, he moved up to 4th at the end of lap two after lapping at 113.234mph. He then pitted and with everyone now having refuelled, he was lying in 7th once more, where he finished for his second top 10 of the week and third silver replica from as many races.
Lintin said:
“In the first Supersport race, I had no idea what position I was in, I just got my head down for 4 laps! I caught a few people on the road and the new qualifying procedure certainly helped me as I didn't have too many people to pass.”
“I caught Dan Cooper and knew from his lap times in practice I must have been going fairly well so 10th, against all the top class opposition, was a phenomenal result for me.
“The second Supersport race also went well, but I had a slow pit stop, which slowed me down a bit and I then got caught up in a battle on the road with Olie Linsdell. It probably slowed us both down, but I did my fastest lap of the fortnight on the last lap and was pleased to get another silver replica.”
He added:
“Riding the SuperTwin bike is a bit like riding a moped to me as they do what you want them to do, but I was a bit too cautious on the opening lap, like a few other riders were, and lost a bit of time.”
“When Russ Mountford came flying by, it gave me a wake up call and I ended up sticking with him for the rest of the race. At the pit stop, I had a look at the scoreboard and could see he was in 4th so knew I couldn't have been too further back as there was only the 10 seconds starting difference between us. We had a bit of a battle, but I didn't want to slow him up and mess his race up so I followed him round for the last lap and to end the week with 7th was just brilliant.”
“I ran over the drainage cover at Graham Memorial on the final lap so told myself to just keep it going for the last few miles, but, aside from that, I had no moments at all during the fortnight. I only had one mechanical problem too, which came in the very first session, and as I do all the work on my bikes, that's something I'm very proud of.”