TT Superbike Race Saturday June 3rd 2006 John McGuinness took his total of Isle of Man TT victories to nine when he led virtually from start to finish to win today’s Jester Interactive Superbike race on his Honda Fireblade, in the process setting new lap and race records as well as a new outright lap record. McGuinness also won the race last year. His winning time was 1 hour 48 minutes 52.06 seconds, an average speed of 124.764 miles an hour. Ian Lougher, Honda Fireblade, was second, 39 seconds down on McGuinness with Ian Hutchinson, Kawasaki, a further 23 seconds away in third position. It was Hutchinson’s first podium finish. Fourth to sixth were Martin Finnegan, Australian Cameron Donald and Jason Griffiths. The race was run in brilliant sunshine on just about the hottest day of the year in the Island – in fact riders had been warned to watch out for melting tar on one stretch of the course! It didn’t take long for McGuinness to break his own outright lap record. His first lap time of 17 minutes 42.52 gave him a speed of 127.835 and a 12 seconds lead over Ian Hutchinson who had a marginal advantage over third placed Ian Lougher. Fourth to sixth at the end of lap one were Martin Finnegan, Jason Griffiths and Paul Hunt. One of the earliest retirements was that of Bruce Anstey, who was third on the practice leaderboard. However, unlucky Bruce only made it as far as Crosby – little more than four miles from the start – before being forced to call it a day. Guy Martin, who was second fastest in practice didn’t make it much further than Anstey and his race ended with retirement at Sulby Bridge while Adrian Archibald retired at the pits at the end of the first lap. This meant that three of the biggest threats to McGuinness were out of contention with the race little more than 20 minutes old. When McGuinness completed his second lap the news came through that he had again broken the absolute lap record with a speed of 127.93 – and that included slowing up to re-fuel! As a result, McGuinness had extended his lead to 22 seconds over Lougher who had taken over second position from Hutchinson. At the halfway point in the race the gap between McGuinness and Lougher was still 22 seconds, the latter enjoying an 11 seconds advantage over Hutchinson. Finnegan, Griffiths and Hunt were still occupying the next three places with Cameron Donald starting to close the gap The first three maintained their positions over the next two laps but Donald, on a charge, was now up to fifth. McGuinness started his last lap with a lead of 38 seconds over Lougher and increased this slightly over the final 37 miles. Best newcomer was Californian Jeremy Toye who finished in 26th position, winning a bronze replica. There were 73 starters and 56 finishers. Result 1. John McGuinness, Honda, 1 48.52.06 (124.764); 2. Ian Lougher, Honda, 1 49.31.20 (124.021); 3. Ian Hutchinson 1 49 54.61 (123.580). There were no major incidents. Barry Wood suffered shoulder injuries in a spill at the 11th milestone while Chris Petty went to Noble’s Hospital with an arm injury after coming off at Keppel Gate. There was no change in the condition of the two riders injured in Monday night’s collision just outside Union Mills. Seamus Greene was said to be still critical, with Jun Maeda described as ‘stable.’ Sidecar passenger James Cornell, who was injured in Saturday night’s practice, remains critical. There was better news regarding the condition of three other competitors. Medical bulletins said that sidecar driver Dave Molyneux and solo riders Robbie Silvester and Keith Stewart were ‘comfortable’ in Noble’s Hospital. The links below lead to pdf files, so you will need Adobe to open these. Superbike Start List Superbike Result Superbike Lap 1 Superbike Lap 2 Superbike Lap 3 Superbike Lap 4 Superbike Lap 5 Superbike Lap 6 Superbike Race Stats Fastest Lap Time - 17 mins 41.71 secs. Fastest Lap Speed - 127.933mph Total Lap Count 376, Total Mileage - 14186.48, Replicas Awarded - Silver (1.54. 18.66) -15 & Bronze (1.59.45.18) - 25 Fastest Rider - John McGuinness Lap Number 2 NEW LAP AND RACE RECORDS Finishers 56 Non Starters 14 Retirements 17 Total 87 Manufacturers’ Team Award - Honda 3 John McGuinness 9 Ian Lougher 6 Martin Finnegan Club Team Award - Darley Moor 3 John McGuinness 9 Ian Lougher 45 Jim Hodson NEWCOMERS MEDALS 29 Jeremy Toye & 47 Tim Poole