Ian Hutchinson won a dramatic Relentless
Supersport race today after long time race leader Bruce
Anstey was forced to retire towards the end of the final
lap after his bike had a broken wire at the back of
the amplifier which stopped charging the battery
Anstey had a ten-second lead going into the fourth
lap but was reported to have stopped at Brandywell and
Hutchinson grabbed the opportunity with both hands,
coming home just under seven seconds clear of Guy Martin
and Keith Amor with Honda again filling the top 5 places.
With dry, sunny conditions again bathing the Island,
it was Anstey, keen to make amends for Monday’s
Superbike retirement, who stole the early advantage
and he was just over a second clear of Martin at Glen
Helen with Ryan Farquhar slotting into third. By the
end of the lap though, Martin had forged ahead with
a lap of 125.375mph and he was 2.7seconds clear of Hutchinson
who had now demoted Anstey to third, less than four
seconds covering the trio.
However, Anstey was getting in to his stride and tore
around the Mountain Course to shatter his own lap record
with a stunning lap of 126.549mph and he was able to
turn his deficit into a near 7-second advantage. Hutchinson
and Martin had also lapped in excess of 125mph with
Keith Amor moving up to fourth after he too broke the
old lap record with a speed of 125.608mph. Anstey though
seemed to be making the race his won and many eyes were
now focused on the battle for second.
A strong third lap, including a rapid pit stop, saw
the Kiwi’s lead stretch to 10.07seconds and he,
Hutchinson and Amor were now circulating in close formation
and at high speed, thrilling the fans lining the course.
Martin had caught Steve Plater on the road and was still
holding onto third from Amor whilst Monday’s Superbike
race winner John McGuinness was down in sixth.
All Anstey had to do was sit with Hutchinson and the
race was his and this he duly did, continuing to hold
on to his advantage over Hutchinson as they passed through
Ramsey for the final time. However, the Suzuki rider
was missing at the Bungalow and news came through that
he had stopped at Brandywell, the problem eventually
diagnosed as a broken wire on the amplifier. Hutchinson
couldn’t afford to relax his pace on the Padgetts
Honda though and a final lap of 125.726mph saw him claim
his second TT victory.
Martin took second and was again inside the old lap
record although it later transpired that he’d
done half of the race with a blown head gasket. Amor
was only 1.19seconds behind Martin at the chequered
flag and he finally had the chance to stand on the podium
after missing out last year due to Anstey’s post-race
exclusion.
Plater was disappointed to have finished fourth whilst
McGuinness had to settle for fifth on this occasion
with Farquhar the first non-Honda rider home in sixth,
pleased to complete the race after his retirement the
day before.
Ian Lougher, Gary Johnson, William Dunlop and Conor
Cummins completed the top ten whilst there were also
strong performances by local rider Dan Kneen in 11th
and American Jimmy Moore in 14th. The three best newcomers
were Ben Wylie, Michal Dokoupil and Rico Penzkofer in
29th, 32nd and 33rd respectively, all three lapping
well in excess of 118mph.
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