onds behind. They were the only
three riders to lap at more than
130 mph with Hillier, Dunlop and
Rutter continuing to fill fourth to
sixth places. John McGuinness
(Norton) pulled into the pits with
an oil pressure issue whilst Derek
McGee (Kawasaki) also retired.
Harrison eked out another half
second on the run to Glen Helen
as he and Hickman remained
neck and neck and although
Cummins still sat in third place,
he was now over eight seconds
behind the race leader. James
Hillier (Kawasaki) occupied fourth
but Michael Rutter (Honda) had
now overhauled Michael Dunlop
(BMW) for fifth.
A superb sector between Glen
Helen and Ballaugh enabled Har-
rison to increase his lead to 4.8
seconds with Cummins a similar
distance behind in third. By the
time they reached Ramsey for
the second time, Harrison led on
the road with his advantage cut
back slightly by Hickman to four
seconds. Manxman Cummins was
now 6.3 seconds behind Hickman.
However, Hickman utilized his
prowess over the Mountain and
although he was still in second
place at the Bungalow, he was
now only 0.045s behind Harrison.
Cummins was leading on the road
again, as well, but by the end of
the lap, Hickman was ahead for
the first time, his second lap of
132.947mph giving him a gap of
1.7 seconds over Harrison.
Hillier broke the 130-mph
barrier to maintain his hold on
fourth and he was now almost
13 seconds ahead of Rutter with
Dunlop still in sixth. David John-
son (Honda) was up to seventh.
After the single pit stop, Hick-
man still led through Glen Helen
for the third time, but the gap had
come down again to 0.690 of a
second with Cummins a further
10.5 seconds back in third.
There was a change in fourth,
though, as Hillier dropped back
to seventh, rendering fourth to
sixth Rutter, Dunlop and David
Johnson. It was at this point the
red flag came out and the race
result declared with Hickman the
winner ahead of Harrison and
Cummins.
Hillier was awarded fourth
ahead of Rutter and Dunlop with
David Johnson, Coward, Gary
Johnson and Todd completing
the top ten.
Earlier in the day, brothers Ben
and Tom Birchall took a dominant
victory in the first Sidecar TT race
as they swept to victory by 48.116
seconds from John Holden/
Lee Cain with Alan Founds/Jake
Lowther completing the podium
in third. CN
VOLUME 56 ISSUE 22 JUNE 4, 2019 P25
Veteran Conor
Cummins held on
for third on the
Padgetts Honda
CBR1000RR SP2.
