Peter Hickman has fired of volley across bows of his competiton by dominatoing the opening night of 2017 MCE Ulster Grand Prix practice, topping the Superbike, Superstock and Supersport timesheets.
The Smiths BMW rider beat Bruce Anstey to the punch in the first Superbike (click here) session before upping his pace to more than 132mph in the second session. Anstey hung in there with a 131.733 while Cummins also broke the 131mph barrier. Michael Dunlop ended in fourth place, just ahead of Dean Harrison.
In Supersport, Hickman bested Anstey less than a tenth respectively before going out in the final big-bike session to finish 2.7s ahead of Dan Kneen.
Hickman set a 126.086mph lap on the Trooper Beer Triumph but Anstey, on the Padgett’s Honda, was in close attendance, putt in a 126.036mph lap. Dean Harrison ended in third place on a 125.641mph lap with William Dunlop and Derek McGee next along.
Michael Dunlop, who is riding his own Yamaha R6, was seventh on a 124.78, beaten to sixth by the returning Lee Johnston by two-tenths of a second. Conor Cummins, Jamie Coward and Adam McLean completed the top ten.
In the Superstock class, Hickman had a whopping 2.7s lead over Manxman Kneen, lapping at 131.771mph compared to the Tyco BMW man’s 130.005 but Michael Dunlop failed to qualify, only managing a 127.598mph lap on his MD Racing Suzuki.
Harrison finished in third place with a 129.806mph lap with Sheils in fourth and McGee in fifth place. Johnston bagged sixth with David Johnson seventh. Coward, West and Dan Cooper completed the top ten.
