IN
THE
WIND
P34
CLASSIC TT DONE FOR ANOTHER YEAR
M
ichael Dunlop has taken a
dramatic victory in the For-
mula One TT at the Classic TT
festival on the Isle of Man, August
28-31, besting last year's winner
Bruce Anstey on the Padgett's
Yamaha YZR500 with Ryan
Farquhar on a Yamaha YZF750
OW01 coming third.
Dunlop and Anstey swapped
the lead constantly, but the
finish-to-the-flag the crowd was
hoping for came to nothing
when Anstey was black flagged
at Cronk-ny-Mona with a loose
exhaust. That meant an un-
scheduled return to the pits for
the Padgett's rider, losing one
minute and handing the win to
Dunlop.
Anstey recovered to take
second, but the disappointment
was clear as the veteran saw
his chance of a second straight
Formula One win evaporate, as
well as not taking an expected
lap record that went to Dunlop at
125.050 mph.
In the Formula Two TT, run
concurrently in the Formula One
event, Ryan Kneen shattered the
race record to take the win on
his Yamaha TZ250, but second-
placed James Cowton walked
away with the honor of a new lap
record of 113.232 mph. Behind
the battling Kneen and Cowton,
Charles Rhys Hadisty took a
popular third and first privateer.
The F1 and F2 races bought
an end to the Classic TT that had
suffered greatly at the hands of
the weather, with conditions on
the mountain proving treacher-
ous and causing the cancellation
of two practice sessions.
When conditions came
good it was Peter Hickman on
the Mistral Racing Kawasaki
ZXR750 who led the timesheets
for the premier Motorsport
Merchandise Formula One race
with an impressive 123.364 mph
lap, heading Anstey, the defend-
ing Classic Formula One TT
Champion, on the 1992 Yamaha
YZR500 circulating at 122.564
mph.
In the 500cc class, the Paton
of John McGuinness proved
the machine to beat in practice,
setting a benchmark of 110.634
mph from Michael Rutter's See-
ley Honda.
Lee Johnston on the beautiful
MV Agusta topped the 350cc
timesheets with a 102.321 mph
lap, while Ian Laugher's Yamaha
TZ250 just edged Ryan Kneen
on a similar machine to head the
F2 practice standings.
The opening race on the
program was the 500cc Classic
TT and saw Dan Harrison on the
Black Eagle MV Agusta take the
win by 26.8 seconds from Ian
Laugher's Paton. Laugher would
have come out the winner had
he not picked up a 30-second
penalty for speeding in pit lane
at the end of the opening lap, a
mistake that ultimately ruined his
chances of victory.
Michael Dunlop held his nerve
to take the Formula One vic-
tory on the Suzuki XR69.
PHOTOGRAPHY
COURTESY
IOMTT.COM
