VOLUME ISSUE JULY , P105
The Superstock TTs
The next two Superstock races
go swimmingly. A 34th place
in the first race is backed up
by 31st in the second, one that
might have delivered me a
coveted Bronze Replica trophy
had the great Peter Hickman
not smashed the overall lap
record on his FHO Racing BMW
M 1000 RR.
His lap of 136.359 mph is
something I'm still to wrap my
head around. That average
speed must take into account
two near dead stop hairpins,
countless little second- and
first-gear corners and plenty of
wide-the-f-open sections only
the bravest dare take on with
the noise tube on the stops.
I know how hard I am trying in
that second race, but Hickman's
last lap was nearly 16 mph up
on mine. Yes, his bike is faster,
newer, probably better prepared,
blah, blah, blah, but the fact that
this time is done on a Super-
stock bike and not the full-house
Superbike shows the skill and
bravery of the man to thread the
needle so finely at such velocity.
The Senior TT
The final race of the 2023 Isle
of Man TT is the one everyone
wants to win, even those who
know they have absolutely no
hope to do so.
The Senior TT is the oldest
motorcycle race in the world,
having started in 1907 and
run for every year save for two
World Wars, the foot and mouth
epidemic and the Coronavirus
pandemic of 2020-2021.
If the lead up to the Super
-
bike TT is intense, everything
is ratcheted up 10-fold for the
Senior. The race has an aura, a
Rennie overlooks
the pit area where
the departed Raul
Torras Martinez
should have been
sitting prior to the
Senior TT.
(Above) It's nearly
game time for the
second Superstock
TT. (Below) There's
no place like the
Isle of Man if you
want to get close
to the action.
