Conrad Harrison
KLAFFENBOCK AND SAYLE SCORE DEBUT WIN IN 2010 SURE TT SIDECAR RACE 1
Source: Latest News Articles from ACU.org.uk - Sunday, 6th June 2010, 11:26 GMTKLAUS KLAFFENBOCK and Daniel Sayle won a thrilling first Sure Sidecar race late on Saturday evening, coming home just 2.63 seconds clear of Dave Molyneux and Patrick Farrance with Tim Reeves and Dipash Chauhan overcoming a troublesome practice week to finish third. Klaffi became the first non-Manxman to win a Sidecar race since 2003 and the first Austrian competitor to win a TT since Rupert Hollaus won the Ultra Lightweight race in 1954. Klaffenbock and Sayle got off to a flying start to lead at Glen Helen on the opening lap but it was close as John Holden and Andy Winkle were only 0.8s adrift. Molyneux, the pace setter in practice, was back in third 1.4s further back with Simon Neary/Paul Knapton in fourth and Reeves in fifth. Just 5seconds covered the top five at the end of the first lap. Klaffenbock and Sayle still led at Ramsey Hairpin and had increased their lead by half a second whilst Molyneux was now a further four seconds back. Reeves had overhauled Neary for fourth with Conrad Harrison/Kerry Williams still holding onto sixth. Klaffenbock flew over the Mountain though and with a lap of 113.886mph, he completed the first lap over six seconds in front of Holden but Molyneux was closing in, now just 2.2 seconds behind. Former World Champion Klaffenbock kept the pressure on during lap two and was rewarded with an extended lead when they swept through Glen Helen for the second time, his advantage now up to 7.8 seconds. Holden too had edged away from Molyneux who was, in turn, coming under pressure from Reeves, another ex-World Champion, the deficit now only two and half seconds. With his fastest lap ever of the Mountain Course, 114.733mph, Klaffenbock’s lead was now almost 10 seconds at the end of lap two with Molyneux now in second, the Manxman lapping a shade slower than Klaffenbock to overhaul Holden. Behind, the crews were holding station with Reeves, Neary and Harrison rounding out the top six. Klaffenbock appeared to be controlling things at the front and this was confirmed at Glen Helen with a lead of over 10 seconds. Holden was still in third but he was soon reported as having retired at Sulby whilst fellow leaderboard man Harrison was also out, this time at Kirk Michael. The race was far from over though as Molyneux and Farrance began to eat into the Austro/Manx pairing’s lead and it was down to 8.7 seconds at Ramsey. This then became five seconds as they went over the tramlines at the Bungalow for the final time and the race was on to see who could come down the Mountain the quickest. Starting at number one, Molyneux was the first to take the chequered flag and then the watch started to see if Klaffenbock could hold on. And he did – just! He crossed the line with 2.63 seconds to spare to take not only his first win but also his first podium since he first entered the races in 2004. It was, without doubt, a hugely popular victory. Reeves and Chauhan were comfortable in third with Neary and Knapton in a solid fourth. The retirements of Holden and Harrison allowed Gary Bryan/Gary Partridge and Tony Elmer/Darren Marshall to be promoted into the top six, the duo having fine drives, with the top 10 being completed by Greg Lambert/Jason Slous, Bill Currie/Robert Biggs, Dave Kimberley/Robert Bell and Gordon Shand/Stuart Graham. Read article
Hutchinson fastest qualifier at the TT 2010
Source: Latest News Articles from ACU.org.uk - Saturday, 5th June 2010, 8:56 GMTFOR the third evening in a row conditions all around the Isle of Man were perfect which meant that it was another ideal night of practice for the 2010 TT races fuelled by Monster Energy, the final session before Saturday’s opening race day. It was the last chance for competitors to make further adjustments to their machinery in preparation for the 6-lap Superbike race whilst the sidecars were also out in force, preparing for their first 3-lap race on Saturday afternoon. As happened in Thursday’s qualifying, the sidecars were first out on the course and they were greeted with an information board saying simply ‘dry roads, clear weather’. At 6.30pm, it was John Holden/Andy Winkle who left the line first followed by Klaus Klaffenbock/Dan Sayle, Simon Neary/Paul Knapton, Conrad Harrison/Kerry Williams and Gary Bryan/Gary Partridge. Dave Molyneux/Patrick Farrance set off mid-pack with Tim Reeves/Dipash Chauhan further back although they were later reported as having stopped at Parliament Square where they were making adjustments. This also applied to Keith Walters/Alun Thomas and Brian Alflatt/Herve Chenu who had both pulled in at the Highlander. Klaffenbock and Holden crossed the line almost together, lapping at 113.508mph and 112.55mph respectively with Neary sandwiching the pair on speed at 113.058mph. Harrison was the only other driver above 110mph with speeds generally down on previous evenings as the crews used the session to bed in engines and scrub in tyres prior to the race. Holden improved to 113.24mph second time around, to go third fastest for the week, and was one of only a handful of competitors to complete two laps. The chairs had a slightly shorter session tonight and the solos were underway at 7.20pm, getting a full hour and a half thus meaning four laps, at least, could be completed by the majority of the field. The riders again set off in numerical order so, once again, it was Bruce Anstey who blasted off first, this time alongside Ian Lougher with Ian Hutchinson, Keith Amor, Cameron Donald, Guy Martin, Adrian Archibald, Conor Cummins and Gary Johnson following them. John McGuinness set off in the fifth pairing on his 600, leaving his Superbike in the garage during the session. Anstey was reported stopped at Sulby Bridge before proceeding whilst Guy Martin pulled off the course at Ballacraine (not getting back out again until 8.30pm) and Carl Rennie at Parliament Square but Hutchinson was again flying and his opening lap was 130.234mph, just shy of McGuinness’ lap on Wednesday evening. Cummins lapped at 129.405mph on his Superbike with Amor putting in a fine lap on his BMW Superstock machine at 128.156mph, the bike only 4mph down on Hutchinson’s Superbike through the Sulby speed trap. James Edmeades and the KTM were also having a good evening with their first ever 120mph+ lap, Senior Manx Grand Prix winner Michael Russell also recorded the benchmark average speed for the first time. Hutchinson went even quicker on his second lap at 130.614mph to move to the top of the Superbike qualifying leaderboard and win the Graham watch for the fastest rider of the week whilst Amor did likewise on the Superstock BMW at 128.229mph. Meanwhile, the Dunlop brothers were setting the pace on their 600s, Michael getting close to the class lap record at 126.39mph with older brother William moving in to the top six at 123.621mph, just behind McGuinness at 123.750mph. Meanwhile, Donald was again close to 129mph on his Superbike machine. Dunlop then went quickest in the Superstock class also at 128.324mph, another personal best, whilst Amor switched to the HM Plant Honda Superbike lapping at 128.48mph with Hutchinson and McGuinness above 125mph, having gone back out on their Superstock machines. Just like Thursday, the majority of speeds dropped off as the session wore on, a combination of traffic out on the course and the dropping temperatures, but Archibald did 129.372mph and Dunlop 128.792mph, both on their Superbikes and both personal best laps ever. Martin eventually got back out and did two laps on his Superbike, the best at 128.240mph The newcomers were again in fine form with Stephen Thompson lapping at 117.456mph, Herve Ganther 115.481mph and Hudson Kennaugh getting above 110mph for the first time at 112.976mph. Anthony Czyzewski and Clinton Pienaar also posted their best laps of the week in excess of 112mph. In the 600cc division, David Johnson recorded 115.552mph, Dan Cooper improved to 114.481mph with David Jones and Brandon Cretu not too far behind at 111.931mph and 111.128mph. Gary May also posted his first 110mph+ lap Read article
MOLYNEUX/FARRANCE AGAIN POST FASTEST TIME
Source: Latest News Articles from ACU.org.uk - Friday, 4th June 2010, 11:36 GMT. Dave Molyneux and Patrick Farrance were the first combination to set off and they were followed in quick succession by Klaus Klaffenbock/Dan Sayle, Simon Neary/Paul Knapton - who’d swapped engines after problems on Wednesday, Conrad Harrison/Kerry Williams and Tim Reeves/Dipash Chauhan. Gary Bryan, Roy Hanks and Tony Elmer were the next to go with John Holden and Andy Winkle leaving the line slightly further back than where they’d been in previous sessions. Neary was the quickest through the Sulby speedtrap at 145mph but, as expected, Molyneux was the first to complete the lap at 114.545mph with Klaffenbock and Neary in hot pursuit at 113.377mph and 113.172mph respectively. Harrison lapped at 111.487mph with Reeves and Bryan also above 110mph but Brian Kelly/Dickie Gale were early retirements as were Gordon Shand/Stuart Graham. Elmer wasn’t far off at 109.67mph with Holden just above the 111mph mark. Holden pulled in to change the rear tyre whilst Neary also stopped at the pits to make adjustments before rejoining but Molyneux continued and improved second time around to 115.464mph as did Klaffenbock, the Austrian going quicker than ever before at 114.096mph. Harrison was close to 112mph whilst Reeves, Hanks and Elmer were also above 110mph, the last named breaking the 110mph mark for the first time. The chairs’ session came to an end at 7.40pm and 13 minutes later it was the turn of the solos for their unusually short session, the riders again warned to give considerable care to the bright evening, and setting, sun. Bruce Anstey and John McGuinness set off towards Bray Hill first, the duo both Superbike mounted and the first group were in numerical order with Ian Lougher, Ian Hutchinson, Keith Amor, Cameron Donald, Guy Martin, Adrian Archibald, Conor Cummins and Gary Johnson away next. Nearly all of the leading competitors were on the Superbikes with the exception of Dan Stewart and William Dunlop who opted for their Supersport machines. Donald pulled off the circuit early and came round the back roads before going back out again but it was Hutchinson who completed a lap first at 128.303mph. However, Amor was the fastest on the opening lap at 128.691mph with both Anstey and McGuinness surprisingly off the pace at 121.166mph and 119.827mph respectively. Archibald and Martin were down in the 123mph bracket with Farquhar and Michael Dunlop also lapping above 125mph. On the second lap, Hutchinson was really flying – and it showed. He crossed the line to record a lap of 130.165mph, his first ever 130mph+ lap, with Cummins and Donald flying at 128.838mph and 128.836mph. Rutter and Dunlop were also upping their pace, setting personal best laps of 127.564mph and 127.946mph, comfortably their best ever speeds. Mark Buckley and Steve Mercer, one of the leading newcomers last year, showed they could well be the men to catch in the race for the Privateer’s Championship with laps of 124mph+. Many of the leading contenders switched to their 600cc bikes for the second half of the session and it was Amor who went quickest, the Scotsman lapping at 124.797mph on the Kojak Racing Honda. Hutchinson wasn’t too far behind at 124.685mph with Martin third at 123.902mph. David Johnson was again the leading newcomer with a fine lap of 118.607mph, Stephen Thompson following closely at 117.387mph. Swiss ace Herve Ganther was third fastest with 115.210mph whilst Brian McCormack bounced back from his spill the previous night to lap at 114.326 just behind James Hurrell’s speed of 114.510. In the 600cc division, Dan Cooper improved to 113.740mph and David Jones posted his first 110mph+ lap at 111.154mph. Sidecar team Nigel Mayers and Joseph Shardlow were involved in an incident at Kates Cottage. Mayers was unhurt but Shardlow was taken by airmed to hospital. Provisional Times: Poker Stars Superbike TT 1 Ian Hutchinson (1000 Padgetts Honda) – 130.165mph 2 Conor Cummins (1000 McAdoo Kawasaki) – 128.838mph 3 Cameron Donald (1000 Relentless by TAS Suzuki) – 128.836mph 4 Keith Amor (1000 HM Plant Honda) – 128.691mph 5 Michael Rutter (1000 HM Plant Honda) – 127.564mph 6 Michael Dunlop (1000 Robinson Concrete/Street Sweep Honda) – 127.946mph Monster Energy Supersport TT 1 Keith Amor (600 Kojak Racing Honda) – 124.797mph 2 Ian Hutchinson (600 Padgetts Honda) – 124.685mph 3 Guy Martin (600 Wilson Craig Honda) – 123.902mph 4 Ryan Farquhar (600 KMR Kawasaki) – 122.818mph 5 John McGuinness (600 Padgetts Honda) – 121.172mph 6 Ian Lougher (600 Blackhorse Kawasaki) – 120.663mph Royal London 360 Superstock TT 1 Michael Rutter (1000cc HM Plant Honda) - 127.564mph 2 Michael Dunlop (1000cc Hunts Motorcycles/Marlow Construction Honda) - 127.111mph 3 Conor Cummins (1000cc McAdoo Kawasaki) - 124.924mph 4 Mark Buckley (1000cc OTSS Racing Kawasaki) - 124.319mph 5 Adrian Archibald (1000cc AMA Racing Suzuki) - 124.232mph 6 Steve Mercer (1000cc G Forces/SMR Road Racing Yamaha) - 124.156mph Sure Sidecar TT 1 Dave Molyneux/Patrick Farrance (600 DMR Kawasaki) – 115.464mph 2 Klaus Klaffenbock/Dan Sayle (600 Manx Gas/A&J Racing Honda) – 114.096mph 3 Simon Neary/Paul Knapton (600 Dave Hudspeth Carpets/Nick Crowe Racing Honda) – 113.172mph 4 Conrad Harrison/Kerry Williams (600 Printer Roller Services Honda) – 111.962mph 5 John Holden/Andy Winkle (600 Holden Racing/TAS Suzuki) – 111.710mph 6 Tim Reeves/Dipash Chauhan (600 Double M/Haith Racing Suzuki) – 110.758mp h Read article
IAN HUTCHINSON SETS THE PACE IN FIRST QUALIFYING SESSION AT 2010 ISLE OF MAN TT RACES
Source: Latest News Articles from ACU.org.uk - Tuesday, 1st June 2010, 11:36 GMTA pleasant, dry and sunny day on the Island meant that the 2010 Isle of Man TT Races were able to get underway on Monday and with near perfect conditions all around the Mountain Course, a near full session was completed. With wispy cloud gradually increasing as the day wore on, a slight breeze also helped keep flies to a minimum and, after a slight delay, the first machines were able to set off down Glencrutchery Road at 6.34pm. Michael Dunlop and Cameron Donald had the honour of leading the field away, the former on his Supersport machine and the latter on his Superstock. They were followed in pairs by Ian Hutchinson and Ian Lougher, Ryan Farquhar and Guy Martin, Gary Johnson and Keith Amor, Michael Rutter and Bruce Anstey and then Adrian Archibald and Chris Palmer, the latter on his Supersport bike whilst Rutter and Lougher were the only other riders to be out on the red plated Superstock bikes. Next to go was John McGuinness and John Burrows, the TT legend setting off, as usual, a few riders from the front, both again on Superbikes. Cameron Donald completed the first lap at 122.068mph, his first lap since his practice crash at Keppel Gate last year, but Guy Martin was quickest on the opening lap at 125.007mph. Other notable first lap speeds included Hutchinson at 123.160mph, McGuinness at 123.954mph and Cummins at 122.058mph. Michael Dunlop was the quickest on the Supersport machines at 120.199mph. Two riders out of luck though were James McCullagh and newcomer Gary May, both of whom stopped at Douglas Road Corner. Many of the riders pulled in straightaway including Donald, Amor, Johnson and Dan Stewart but Martin, Dunlop, Anstey, McGuinness and Cummins were just a few of the established runners to go straight through. As expected, speeds increased second time around with Martin increasing to 127.056mph and McGuinness going slightly quicker at 127.090mph. Cummins and Anstey weren’t too far behind at 125.748mph and 125.655mph respectively whilst Dunlop was also impressing on the 600 at 123.960mph. As the session wore on though, it was Hutchinson and Donald who climbed to the top of the leaderboard, the duo continuing on their Superbikes. Hutchy’s third lap was 126.867mph but on his fourth and final lap of the evening he put in an impressive lap of 128.302mph to jump to top of the leaderboard. Donald improved to 127.274mph with Archibald at 127.056mph and Anstey on 126.020mph. Meanwhile, Farquhar was impressing on the Superstock machine at 126.799mph whilst Olie Linsdell completed one lap on the Moto2 Honda at 115.02mph. David Johnson and Stephen Thompson were the best of the newcomers, the Australian lapping at a highly impressive 113.020mph. Thompson was second quickest of the first timers at 109.685mph followed by Brian McCormack at 107.122 and Tony Czyzewski at 106.617mph. Johnson also lapped above 110mph on his 600cc machine, Brandon Cretu the second quickest here on 104.540mph. In the F2 Sidecars, Dave Molyneux/Patrick Farrance led the field away followed by John Holden/Andy Winkle, Tim Reeves/Dipash Chauhan, Klaus Klaffenbock/Dan Sayle, Simon Neary/Paul Knapton and Conrad Harrison/Kerry Williams. Holden was first back at 111.323mph and carried on for a second lap whilst Molyneux recorded 108.333mph before pulling straight in. However, it was Klaffenbock who was quickest at 111.324mph and he improved to 111.761mph second time around, Holden also going quicker at 111.576mph. Neary was also above 110mph but Reeves was out of luck stopping at Barregarrow with Greg Lambert pulling in at the Creg and Bill Currie at Appledene. Overnight rain is forecast but conditions are expected to improve throughout Tuesday so we should be set for another fine session and with speeds already at a high level, more is expected from the leading contenders. Provisional Times: Poker Stars Superbike TT 1 Ian Hutchinson (Padgetts Honda) – 128.302mph 2 Cameron Donald (Relentless by TAS Suzuki) – 127.274mph 3 John McGuinness (HM Plant Honda) – 127.090mph 4 Guy Martin (Wilson Craig Honda) – 127.056mph 5 Adrian Archibald (AMA Suzuki) – 127.056mph 6 Bruce Anstey (Relentless by TAS Suzuki) – 126.020mph Monster Energy Supersport TT 1 Michael Dunlop (600 Street Sweep/Hardship Racing Yamaha) – 123.960mph 2 Guy Martin (600 Wilson Craig Honda) – 121.600mph 3 William Dunlop (600 CD Racing Yamaha) – 121.020mph 4 John McGuinness (600 Padgetts Honda) – 120.289mph 5 Paul Owen (600 #98 Club Yamaha) – 119.222mph 6 Ian Lougher (600 Blackhorse Kawasaki) – 118.799mph Royal London 360 Superstock TT 1 Ryan Farquhar (1000 KMR Kawasaki) – 126.799mph 2 Michael Dunlop (1000 Hunts Motorcycles/Marlow Construction Honda) – 124.810mph 3 Guy Martin (1000 Wilson Craig Honda) – 124.582mph 4 John McGuinness (1000 Padgetts Honda) – 124.523mph 5 Ian Hutchinson (1000 Padgetts Honda) – 123.459mph 6 Conor Cummins (1000 McAdoo Kawasaki) – 123.456mph Sure Sidecar TT 1 Klaus Klaffenbock/Dan Sayle (Manx Gas Racing Honda) – 111.761mph 2 John Holden/Andy Winkle (Holden Racing/TAS Suzuki) – 111.576mph 3 Simon Neary/Paul Knapton (600 Dave Hudspeth Carpets/Nick Crowe Racing Honda) – 110.964mph Read article
