Words and Pics by Peter Goodacre – www.warp10.biz
Move over John McGuinness, there’s a new “King of the Mountain” with a pair of Dunlops now occupying the top two positions on the all-time TT winners list.
During the 2022 TT races, Michael Dunlop was able to add two wins in the Supersport class to his tally. This year he not only repeated his two Supersport victories, but also claimed the top step of the podium in the RST Superbike and first Supertwin race.
Not to be outdone, Peter Hickman equaled Dunlop’s four wins by the end of the race schedule, with victories in the two Superstock races, the second Supertwin race and finally the prestigious Milwaukee Senior TT.
2023 saw the introduction of a new race schedule, with the Superstock and Supertwins having two races at the event for the first time. The races were run daily from Saturday 3rd June to the Milwaukee Senior TT on Saturday 10th June with only two rest days scheduled, on the Monday and Thursday of Race Week. This is the first time that the Senior TT has been actually scheduled to run on a Saturday. Taking into account the daily Qualifying Sessions from Monday to Friday of the previous week, that’s a lot of racing.
2023 also marked the first time that slick tyres were permitted for all classes. Previously only the Superbike class could fit slicks, with Superstock, Supertwin and Supersport bikes restricted to cut slicks.
The weather was almost perfect for the full period of the TT, with warm, sunny days bringing back memories of 2016 and 2018. TT Fans may recall that those were great years for breaking records, and the 2023 TT did not disappoint in that regard.
Apart from Michael Dunlop’s rapid ascent to the top echelon of the all-time greats list, lap records were smashed on a regular basis. Dunlop unofficially broke the lap record on the final day of qualifying with an average of 135.531mph, almost six tenths of a second faster than Peter Hickman’s official lap of 135.452mph set in the 2018 Senior TT.
The Sunday Superbike race saw Dunlop break the race record by almost a minute to claim his 23rd victory, drawing level with John McGuinness as the second most successful TT rider.
Dunlop’s win in the Supertwin race moved him past McGuinness into second place on the all-time winners list, two wins behind Uncle Joey. Another win in the second Supersport race not only moved him one place closer to the top spot, but also saw him set the first ever 130mph lap in that class.
The Sunday Superbike race saw Dunlop break the race record by almost a minute to claim his 23rd victory, drawing level with John McGuinness as the second most successful TT rider.
Dunlop’s win in the Supertwin race moved him past McGuinness into second place on the all-time winners list, two wins behind Uncle Joey. Another win in the second Supersport race not only moved him one place closer to the top spot, but also saw him set the first ever 130mph lap in that class.
Friday’s second Superstock and Supertwin races provided Dunlop with two opportunities to equal Joey Dunlop’s win tally. However, Peter Hickman had other ideas and was able to make a clean sweep of the Superstock class with another win in the second race. At the same time he was able to smash his own outright lap record with a spectacular final lap speed of 136.358mph. Remember that this was on a Superstock machine!
Michael Dunlop was the firm favourite to take the Supertwin win, but once again Hickman claimed that victory after early race-leaders Dunlop and Mike Browne were forced to retire from the contest, handing Hickman two wins in the same day and a total of 12 TT victories. The Supertwin race also saw two riders making their TT podium debut, with Pierre Yves Bian taking second and Josh Brookes in third.
The prestigious Milwaukee Senior race was Michael Dunlop’s last chance this year to equal Uncle Joey’s long-standing record as the greatest TT rider of all time. Peter Hickman proved too fast on the day though and romped home with a 20 second victory which increased his number of TT wins to 13, followed by Dean Harrison who grabbed a well-deserved second place with Dunlop in third.
Sidecar insanity…
2023 marked the 100th anniversary of the first Sidecar Race held at the TT. The all-conquering Birchall Brothers, Ben and Tom, marked the occasion with another two wins. During the first 3wheeling.media Sidecar TT Race, they became the first crew to complete the TT Course at more than 120mph, achieving an average of 120.357mph on the second lap. They were not content to rest on their winner’s laurels though, and smashed their own record with a lap of 120.645mph in the second race. They now have a total of 11 wins in a row and 14 in total.
AJ Venter:
South Africa’s specialist TT rider Allann-Jon Venter made his first appearance as a privateer at this year’s TT races and had an outstanding TT fortnight, firmly establishing his rider credentials by smashing his previous personal best times and becoming a member of the elite 125mph club. Running your own team is not for sissies, and every South African should be immensely proud of his achievements.
While the fans enjoyed the racing, TT organisers had made some changes which were not universally appreciated. Increases in the price of ferry tickets as well as the quality and expense of the TT merchandise had many fans mumbling into their beers. Luckily the other TT merchandise retailers on the island had spotted a gap in the market and produced their own clothing ranges at half the price of the “official” designs.
Ultimately, the TT is about the racing and fans had absolutely nothing to complain about on that score. The weather was almost perfect, the races were exciting and records tumbled on a regular basis.
There is now the tantalising prospect of Michael Dunlop eclipsing his uncle’s record at next year’s TT, which is bound to be both an exciting and emotional moment.
I recommend you book your place now!
Peter Goodacre – www.warp10.biz
