TT 2008
Cameron Donald took his first ever TT win with victory in the action packed and drama filled Dainese Superbike race. Riding the Relentless by TAS Suzuki, the Australian took advantage of the misfortunes of Guy Martin and John McGuinness to seize control at two thirds race distance and he came home just over ten seconds clear of team-mate Bruce Anstey, to make it a tremendous day for Hector and Philip Neill’s team. A perfect day for Suzuki was completed with Adrian Archibald finishing in third.
The two TAS Suzuki’s were flying, circulating together on the road and although Anstey tried to break away, he soon realized it was a forlorn task and he tucked in behind Donald for the rest of the race. The Aussie, in only his third TT, was lapping at the 129mph mark and the duo crossed the line almost together although it was Donald who prevailed over his Antipodean rival by 10.77 seconds with a new race record of 1hr 47m05.89s, 126.82mph. It was not only his first win, but also Australia’s first since Graeme McGregor won the 1984 Junior TT.
Donald made it two wins out of two in the Scottish Life International Superstock race when he came home 15.07seconds ahead of John McGuinness after 4 laps of hard racing. Riding the Relentless by TAS GSXR1000 Suzuki, the Australian continued where he had left off in the Superbike race and, despite tricky conditions on the opening lap, he was able to move to the front of the pack to take his second win of the week. McGuinness, who led up until Ramsey on the opening lap, had to settle for second but it got his week up and running whilst the same applied to third placed rider Guy Martin.
Less than 3 hours after finishing what he thought was in an excellent second place, Lincolnshire’s Steve Plater was awarded the win in the first Relentless Supersport race after original race winner Bruce Anstey was sensationally disqualified from the race results. Anstey had dominated proceedings on his Relentless by TAS Suzuki to ‘win’ by over 20 seconds but the exhaust cam measurement was found to be illegal to that what was homologated and, in scenes reminiscent of 2006 when Ian Hutchinson was excluded from the runners up spot, the Kiwi was taken off the results sheet and the win awarded to Plater.
Thus, the AIM Racing Yamaha rider, the best newcomer of 2007, took a fairytale first ever TT win by 3.39 seconds with John McGuinness and Keith Amor giving Honda second and third spot on the podium.
Bruce Anstey overcame the disappointment of his Supersport race disqualification to finally take his 7th TT win, dominating the 4-lap Relentless Supersport 2 race. The Kiwi rider overcame a strong challenge from Ian Hutchinson in the early stages to pull clear at half race distance and he ran out a comfortable winner by 34.04seconds. Hutchinson finally got some luck as he took an excellent second place whilst there was also joy for Ryan Farquhar who took third, thus making it three nationalities and three manufacturers in the top three.
John McGuinness etched his name even further into the Isle of Man TT record books when he won a sensational Dainese Senior race, taking his 14th TT victory and equalling the tally of the legendary Mike Hailwood, a title that must now also be attributed to the Morecambe ace. Riding the Padgett’s Manx Gas Racing Honda, McGuinness was embroiled in a titanic battle with Bruce Anstey and Cameron Donald and with the lead exchanging hands on no less than 8 occasions, it really was anyone’s race. However, Anstey was forced out of the lead at the first pit stop with mechanical problems whilst Donald had an oil leak on the final lap and all of this allowed McGuinness to take the win by an eventual 51.95seconds. Ian Hutchinson followed up his second in second Supersport race with third.
Nick Crowe ensured the Manx domination continued in the F2 Sidecars with his 4th TT victory, his first win with new passenger Mark Cox; although it was a hard fought affair as he overhauled John Holden and Andy Winkle to eventually take control. The sensations of practice, Tim Reeves and Patrick Farrance, proved their world class with a scintillating drive into third, the first podium finish by a newcomer since Jock Taylor in 1978!
Nick Crowe made it a Manx double when he took his second victory of the week in the second Sure Mobile F2 Sidecar race coming home just over ten seconds clear of arch rival Dave Molyneux and Daniel Sayle. For Crowe, with Mark Cox on board, it was his fifth TT victory and moved him to 5th overall on the all time winners list behind Molyneux, Rob Fisher, Dave Saville and Siegfried Schauzu. Having caught Molyneux on the road, the duo treated the fans to a high-speed dual that saw them never more than inches apart and the two current masters of the sidecar class crossed the line together. John Holden and Andy Winkle brought their Suzuki powered outfit home in 3rd for their second rostrum of the week.
History was made the day after the Senior TT, when the Isle of Man TT Races took to the 4.25-mile Billown circuit near Castletown for the first time and the sun drenched meeting saw Ian Lougher and Chris Palmer add to their haul of TT wins.
The races, which saw two strokes back on the TT schedule, saw Lougher and Palmer take their 8th and 3rd TT wins respectively with the Welshman taking the honours in the 250cc class and his English counterpart the 125cc encounter.