McGuinness makes it 20 in epic Senior TT Honda TT Legends rider John McGuinness wrapped up the 2013 Isle of Man TT races with a superb win in today’s Senior race, taking his 20th TT win and 41st podium in total. Team-mate Michael Dunlop took a close second place to end with four wins and a second from his five races whilst third Honda TT Legends rider Michael Rutter placed sixth, posting his first 130mph+ lap in the process. Editor comment: Have to acknowledge SKY Sport in NZ for bringing us the 2013 Isle of Man TT every day with repeats. Alan H. The initial race was red flagged after a racing incident ( Editor: Jonathan Howarth crashed early in the lap at Bray Hill. Howarth was lucky to escape serious injury with only a minor fracture however 11 spectators in the area were injured - none are believed to have life-threatening injuries) and so the race was re-run +3 hours later at the later time of 4.30pm and it was Dunlop who led from McGuinness at the end of the opening lap, the gap between the duo just 1.4s. There was little to choose between the team-mates in the early stages but a lap of 131.272mph gave McGuinness a 2.3s lead at the end of the second lap as the riders came in for their first pit stop. Dunlop took back a third of a second on the third lap but another 131mph+ lap by McGuinness fourth time around saw the lead go up to six seconds and it gave him the breathing space he needed. The Morecambe Missile added another four seconds to his lead in the final two laps and he was able to come home for his sixth Senior race victory, one fewer than Mike Hailwood. Dunlop was comfortable in second and with Kiwi Bruce Anstey in third it was another Honda 1-2-3. Rutter, meanwhile, had, arguably, one of his finest ever TT rides and on the opening lap he broke the 130mph barrier for the first time, a lap of 130.137mph on the Honda TT Legends CBR1000RR placing him in an excellent fourth. Although he slipped back two places by half race distance, two more 130mph+ laps, including a final lap of 130.637mph saw him take sixth place at the chequered flag.  John McGuinness: "It feels absolutely fantastic to win today and if there’s one race to win, it’s the Senior. I’ve had a good week but a win’s escaped me so do it today with the sun shining and thousands of fans waving me all the way is brilliant. The conditions were incredible, the bike was fantastic and with two superb pit stops we got the job done. I still feel really sharp and I hit all my apexes on the final lap so with a Honda 1-2-3, the job’s a dream!” Michael Dunlop: "It was a good, enjoyable race and John rode lovely so fair play to him. I had him in sight early on and there wasn’t much between us but I got held up a bit by backmarkers, catching them at the wrong times, and I lost a bit of time there and at the pit stops. No excuses though, the bike was mint and I’m going home with four wins and a second place so I can’t complain with how my week’s gone.” Michael Rutter: "I’m thrilled to get sixth place and get my first 130mph lap but it was a hard race as, apart from passing a couple of the later runners, I never saw anyone the entire race! Lapping on your own is never easy and I’d have loved to have been involved in the dices on the roads like John and Michael were in but I’m happy enough. The bike never missed a beat and I’ve really enjoyed myself at this year’s TT.” Copy and images courtesy of Honda Pro Racing. This is the Official IOMTT Press Release. McGuinness takes PokerStars Senior TT win by 10 seconds  John
McGuinness took his 20th Isle of Man TT race victory on Friday when he
won the Pokerstars Senior race by ten seconds from team-mate Michael
Dunlop, to make it a record 41 podiums in total. Bruce Anstey took third
place, and set the fastest lap of the race at 131.531mph, as he got the
better of Lightweight TT race winner James Hillier by 0.978s on the
final run down the Mountain. After the initial race was red flagged due to an incident at Bray Hill involving rider Jonathan Howarth in which ten spectators were injured, the race got underway at 4.30pm and the first few laps were nothing short of superb as the gaps between the leading riders were minimal. It was Gary Johnson who grabbed the lead at Glen Helen by 0.5s from William Dunlop with Michael Dunlop just 0.05s further back! Michael Rutter slotted into fourth as McGuinness found himself down in fifth. It was all change at Ramsey though as Michael Dunlop hit the front for the first time, Johnson now second and McGuinness third. At the end of the lap, the order was still with the first five riders all over 130mph and only seven seconds between them, Dunlop leading from McGuinness, Johnson, Rutter and Guy Martin. McGuinness began to make his move on the second lap and, after edging ahead by just five hundredths of a second at Ballaugh, he completed his second lap at 131.272mph to open up a 2.4s lead. Dunlop was 4.8s ahead of Martin with Bruce Anstey up to fourth and ahead of Rutter as Johnson was forced to retire with a broken foot assembly. Another slick pit stop by McGuinness’ Honda TT Legends crew saw him leave the pits with a bigger lead but by Glen Helen the gap was down to half a second although McGuinness had double this by Ramsey. It was nip and tuck all the way and at half race distance there was two seconds between the duo, Anstey in third ahead of Martin and Hillier, who had relegated Rutter to sixth. On the fourth lap, McGuiness appeared to have broken Dunlop slightly and, for the first time, his lead increased the whole way round. Leading on the road with Hillier right in his wheeltracks, the pair lapped at over 131mph as they came into their second pit stop and whilst it allowed McGuinness to go seven seconds clear of Dunlop, it also allowed Hillier to not only move up to fourth but also close up on Anstey. Fifth time around and McGuinness’ lead crept up to the ten second mark, Hillier continued to have a great education behind the current King of the Mountain whilst the thousands of fans around the track were also being treated to an on-track duel between Anstey and Donald. McGuinness and Dunlop looked safe in third but third place was anyone’s and as the riders headed into their sixth and final lap, Hillier had nosed ahead albeit by the tiny margin of 0.16s! The final lap saw the leading four riders all lap in excess of 131mph, Hillier and Anstey both setting personal best laps, but it was McGuinness who was celebrating the most as he took his 20th TT win, and his 41st podium, by 10.1s. Dunlop ended his phenomenal week with a second place and, in a thrilling last lap, Anstey set the fastest lap of the race, 131.531mph, to get the better of Hillier for third. Martin took fifth with Rutter in sixth, the Midlands rider delighted with his first 130mph+ laps. William Dunlop took seventh from Dean Harrison and Dan Stewart with Australian David Johnson securing his best TT result in tenth. Lee Johnston was the best of the Privateer’s in 11th and that allowed him to take that particular Championship by ten points from Dan Kneen, who took 12th in today’s race. The race was delayed by 3 1/2 hours following the incident on Bray Hill. The Race organisers issued the following statement "ACU Events Ltd can confirm that 10 spectators were injured during an incident in the Senior TT Race. The rider Jonathan Howarth sustained a minor fracture. The race was red flagged and emergency services were immediately in attendance at the scene. The ten spectators and the rider were taken to hospital with injuries ranging from slight to serious but not life threatening. Four of the spectators have been discharged, five of the injured have been kept in hospital and one remains under observation in the emergency department." So what is it that John McG is pointing to on his helmet? - 20 wins and a pint of Guiness! 
|