Having won every 1000cc race since 2019, Peter Hickman’s run of success at the Isle of Man TT Races came to an end on Sunday afternoon when he had to accept second place behind Michael Dunlop in the six-lap Superbike race.
The Monster Energy by FHO Racing BMW rider had the consolation of a new Superbike race lap record, lapping at 135.445mph on his final lap – just 0.047s outside his own outright lap record – but handling and clutch issues ultimately thwarted his bid for a 10th TT victory.
“That’s probably one of the hardest races I’ve ever had around here,” he said afterwards. “The bike’s shaking its head everywhere. We don’t know why and we’ve tried everything since we’ve been here but we can’t stop it.”
“It’s hard to keep control and one of the main problems is that it’s knocking the pads back. I was having to pump the brakes three times at every braking point just to get some kind of brake, which is far from ideal.”
Injured racer Lee Johnston went on social media during the race to say he thought Hickman was struggling with his quickshifter and was having to change gear manually, something which he confirmed.
“As soon as I got to St Ninian’s on the first lap, the quickshifter was playing up. It was an intermittent issue; sometimes it would work, sometimes it wouldn’t so I was having to use the clutch at times to change gear, which was hard work.
"All things considered, I’m glad to be on the podium and it’s not through lack of trying that we’re not winning.”
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