Road Racing: Peter Hickman hits the top on day four

Peter Hickman was the fastest solo rider on Thursday night with Ben and Tom Birchall going underneath their lap record.

Peter Hickman was the fastest rider overall for the fourth day of running at the 2023 Isle of Man TT. Hickman set a lap speed of 133.797mph, ahead of Michael Dunlop, who was just 0.162 seconds behind. Both Hickman and Dunlop were the first riders of this year’s TT who broke the 133mph barrier.

Dean Harrison was in third position onboard the DAO Racing Kawasaki, a further six seconds behind Hickman and Dunlop. Davey Todd showed his confidence on the fourth night of running, setting a speed of 131.561mph. Conor Cummins did not take part in the fourth qualifying due to an illness. 

Josh Brookes continued his development on his TT comeback and showed his pace onboard the FHO Racing Superbike. James Hillier ended the day in sixth position onboard the OMG Racing Yamaha. Michael Rutter was a further two seconds behind Hillier onboard his Honda MotoGP-inspired machine.

Phil Crowe and John McGuinness were behind in eighth and ninth position, showing their experience at the TT. David Johnson rounded out the top 10 in the extremely competitive Superbike field.

Superstock

Michael Dunlop was the fastest rider in Thursday night’s qualifying, ending the day with a 132.728mph. This time was good enough for fourth overall and the fastest Superstock machine.

Dean Harrison was second in the Superstock class, with just one day of qualifying remaining before race week. Harrison was just 0.215 seconds behind and ended the day ahead of Peter Hickman. 

James Hillier set two laps onboard his Superstock machine, a further 13.891 seconds behind Hickman. Mike Browne was in fifth position at the end of day four onboard the RK Racing BMW machine.

John McGuinness was ahead of David Johnson in sixth position onboard the Honda Racing UK machine. Brian McCormack set a lap speed of 126.70mph and rounded out the top eight on the Roadhouse Macau by FHO machine.

Supersport

Michael Dunlop was the fastest rider in the Supersport class, setting a time of 127.557mph after two laps onboard the Supersport machine. Jamie Coward only set one lap onboard the KTS Racing machine and ended qualifying in second.

James Hind ended his day in third position, just one second behind Coward after setting a time of 18:10.526. James Hillier ended his day in the Supersport class in fourth place with a. speed of 122.726mph.

Dean Harrison rounded out the top five at the end of day four, with a speed of 122.518mph. Craig Neve was in sixth position as he continues with his first TT with the Bathams Racing team.

Michael Evans set a lap speed of 121.826mph, just two seconds behind Neve after another day of great conditions. Pierre Yves Bian rounded out the top eight onboard the PHR Triumph.

Sidecars

Ben and Tom Birchall set a spectacular lap time in qualifying four, breaking their lap record from 2018. The Birchall brothers set a lap speed of 119.414mph on their first lap of the night in qualifying four.

Peter Founds and Jevan Walmsley were 17.676 seconds behind the Birchall brothers onboard their LCR Honda outfit. Ryan and Callum Crowe continue to regain confidence after their crash earlier on in the week.

Maria Costello withdrew from the event after a statement: “Following an incident on the opening day of qualifying, Maria Costello MBE has been withdrawn from competing at this year’s Isle of Man TT races under the instruction of the chief medical officer.”

Image credit: iomttraces.com