Senior
TT - Friday 8th June 2007
With now only Joey Dunlop and Mike Hailwood in the
winning stakes ahead of him, John McGuinness set the
Isle of Man alight in Friday’s Senior TT sponsored
by Pokerstars when he not only led the race from start
to finish, but also became the first man to break the
magical 130mph barrier. A second lap speed of 130.354mph
sent the HM Plant Honda rider into the record books
once more and the win was his 13th victory in total.
In a repeat of Monday’s Bennetts TT Superbike
race Guy Martin and Ian Hutchinson again took second
and third positions.
McGuinness made his usual fast start to break the outright
lap record from a standing start, but Martin was pushing
him hard and there was only seconds in it in the first
24 miles. However, John’s mastery of the Mountain
section was again evident and by the time the riders
had completed their first lap he was almost 10 seconds
clear. Martin matched him over the first part of the
second lap and although he was also inside the old lap
record with a speed of 129.816mph, John’s scintillating
130mph+ lap sent him clear. Martin had pulled clear
of Hutchinson, while another pre-race favourite, Bruce
Anstey, was out early on and Irish hopes were also dashed
with Martin Finnegan and Ryan Farquhar both early retirements.
With yet another superb pit stop McGuinness’
lead was extended further, while Martin had caught Hutchinson
on the roads. Ian Lougher was in a secure fourth, but
fifth place was anything but, with Adrian Archibald
and Conor Cummins disputing the position. At the head
of the field McGuinness’ lead was up to 23 seconds
and, although Martin chipped away at his disadvantage,
John had everything under control and pulled away on
the final two laps. His final winning margin was over
32 seconds, although his cause was aided slightly when
Guy ran into trouble at two-thirds race distance, the
chain jumping off the sprocket from the fourth lap onwards.
A change of wheel at his second pit stop didn’t
help so he nursed the machine home to take another second
place, his third podium of the week. Hutchinson’s
excellent week continued with third place although he
later admitted to having a somewhat lonely race as he
was 20 seconds behind Guy and 20 seconds ahead of Lougher,
who salvaged his week with a solid fourth. Archibald
got the better of Cummins to give Relentless Suzuki
by TAS a result, although the young Manxman took his
fourth top 10 finish of the week and reclaimed the title
of the fastest Manxman with a second lap speed of 126.466mph.
Steve Plater’s brilliant debut week continued
with 7th place and a lap of 125.808mph firmly cemented
his place as the fastest ever newcomer in the history
of the event. Michael Rutter finally got to see the
chequered flag in 8th, also setting his personal best
lap with the top ten being completed by Ian Armstrong,
who was again the first of the privateers, and James
McBride.
The final day was marred by an incident at the 26th
Milestone. Marc Ramsbotham, 34, from Norfolk, died from
injuries sustained in the Senior race. He was involved
in an incident at the 26th Milestone on the Mountain
and was confirmed dead at the scene. The incident also
involved four other people. One spectator was also confirmed
dead at the scene. Another spectator was confirmed dead
after admission at Noble's Hospital. Two further people
were also involved in the incident and have sustained
injuries.
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