Recording breaking, incredible, mind blowing, heartbreaking, devastating are all words that come to mind when I think of TT 2018.
Iâm not sure if I can remember a TT with better weather. The 2 weeks of almost not stop sunshine contributing to the lap record in every class being broken. In fact broken is probably not the right word, smashed out of sight would probably better describe it.
Peter Hickman became the first man to lap the Maintain Course at 135mph with an incredible last lap of 16 min 42.778 secs 135.452 mph to win the Senior TT by just 1.9 seconds from Dean Harrison. At the end of this post you can watch a video of that amazing lap with commentary by the man himself.
To win the 6 lap Senior TT Peter Hickman averaged 131.700mph for 1 hour 43 mins 8 seconds over 236.38 miles. To put that into perspective, John McGuinness set a new lap record of 131.671 in the 2013 Superbike TT. In the space of 5 years the race record is now faster than that lap record.
Arguable as impressive as Hickmanâs Senior win was his victory in the Superstock TT. Having run on at Braddan Bridge on the opening lap and dropping to tenth, he fought back to win the race by 4 seconds from Michael Dunlop. His final lap was a staggering 134.403mph.
Michael Dunlop managed to claim another TT hatrick with wins in the Superbike TT, Lightweight TT and the 1st Supersport race. Despite winning the Superbike TT he didnât have an answer for the speed of Hickman and Harrison in the Senior.
Dean Harrison had blistering pace on the big bikes from the very first practice session but fortune wasnât on his side. He retired while leading the Superbike TT and lost out to Peter Hickman in the Senior after leading for 5 of the 6 laps. He did manage to claim his second TT win with victory in the 2nd Supersport race.
The Birchall brothers Ben and Tom made history in the sidecar class becoming the first crew to break the 19 minute barrier on their way to completing another double win.
A special mention must go to Davey Todd who became the 2nd fastest newcomer of all time when he lapped at 128.379 during the Superstock TT.
Sadly there was heartbreak with the tragic loss of Dan Kneen and Adam Lyon. The death of Dan Kneen was particularly hard to come to terms with. I was fortunate to have known Dan a little. He would always stop for a chat whenever I bumped into him and he was a genuinely lovely person. He will be greatly missed.
RIP Dan and Adam.