Michael Dunlop has achieved something historic at the Isle of Man TT race: with his victory in the Metzeler Supertwin TT Race 1, he scored his 27th TT victory, overtaking his uncle Joey Dunlop's 24-year-old record of 26 TT victories.
Dunlop led the race from start to finish and won by 20.4 seconds ahead of Peter Hickman (Swan Racing Yamaha). The race time of 56 minutes and 15.993 seconds also set a new race record. Dominic Herbertson (Burrows Engineering/RK Racing Paton) secured his first TT podium with third place.
Exciting race
The race started at 11:45 and Dunlop immediately took the lead. At the first checkpoint in Glen Helen, his lead over Herbertson was already 3.2 seconds. Rob Hodson (SMT Racing Paton) was close behind, followed by Jamie Coward (KTS Racing powered by Steadplan Kawasaki), Hickman and Mike Browne (Scott Racing Aprilia).
Dunlop doubled his lead up to Ballaugh and reached Ramsey in the lead with a gap of nine seconds to Herbertson. Hickman had worked his way up to third place, just half a second behind Herbertson. Coward, Hodson and Browne also remained within striking distance of the podium places.
Mandatory pit stop and further battles for position
After a first lap with an average speed of 194.7 km/h (121.044 mph), Dunlop led by 10.2 seconds ahead of Hickman (193.1 km/h or 119.950 mph). Herbertson followed at 192.3 km/h (119.420 mph), five seconds behind. Coward, Browne and Hodson completed the top six. However, Paul Jordan had to retire after technical problems, while Josh Brookes also lost time when his Rev2Race Yamaha failed to start.
In the midfield, Davey Todd (Dafabet Racing Kawasaki) was in seventh place, followed by Barry Furber (DC Autos Newtown Yamaha) and Michael Rutter (Bathams Ales Yamaha), who were separated by just a tenth of a second. Joe Yeardsley (Team ILR/Frog Vehicle Developments Paton), winner of last year’s Senior Manx Grand Prix, followed close behind.
Dunlop pulls away
Dunlop extended his lead on the second lap. At Glen Helen he was already 13 seconds ahead of Hickman and by the Ramsey hairpin he had increased the gap to 14 seconds. Hickman had now also pulled ahead of Herbertson on the road, who continued to hold third place. Browne was only 2.5 seconds behind Herbertson in fourth place.
Final lap and historic victory
At the start of the third and final lap, Hickman was able to close the gap to Dunlop by two seconds, but Dunlop responded promptly and increased his lead to 17.3 seconds at Glen Helen. While Herbertson defended his third place, Browne had difficulties due to an oil leak and dropped back. Coward overtook him and Hodson had to retire from the race at Bray Hill.
Dunlop now drove together with Coward, who drove the fastest section from Ballaugh to Ramsey. Hickman and Herbertson followed close behind, but the gap between Dunlop and Hickman continued to grow. Dunlop crossed the finish line with an average speed of 196.9 km/h (122.434 mph) and won by 20.4 seconds ahead of Hickman.
Conclusion of the race
Herbertson secured third place and his first TT podium, 5.4 seconds ahead of Coward, who also topped 194.7 km/h (121 mph) in the final section. Browne held on to fifth place ahead of Todd, Rutter, Yeardsley, AJ Venter (TH Racing Kawasaki) and Pierre-Yves Bian (VAS Engine Paton).
