Valvoline Honda’s Bruce Anstey has woken up early for the 2014 Isle of Man TT festival, topping the opening night’s Superbike practice session with a 127.473mph lap with 20-time winner John McGuinness in second and Gary Johnson third.
Anstey’s 126.513mph third lap on the Fireblade SP was a little over a second faster than McGuinness but the fourth sealed the deal. The Morecambe Missile was just ahead of Johnson’s Honda making it an HRC (sort of) clean sweep of the top positions with his 126.299. Anstey’s second lap was also faster than Johnson’s fastest.
Tyco Suzuki’s William Dunlop finished in fourth place on a 125.400, one place ahead of his brother Michael. The younger of the two looked to be on table-topping pace at Ramsey but he slipped backwards to a 125.355 on his third lap.
Veteran Michael Rutter stuck his Bathams BMW in sixth place with a 124.740 while Manxman Dan Kneen continued his roads form from this year with a 124.658. Dean Harrison was next along on a 123.580 while Conor Cummins best was a 123.381 on his Fireblade. Aussie David Johnson rounded out the top ten with a 121.540.
Returning hero Ian Hutchinson bedded himself in slowly with a 120.477 from a standing start while team-mate Josh Brookes also only doing one lap on the big bike, lapping at 114.258mph. Guy Martin didn't figure on the timesheets after experiencing problems right at the start of the session.
Peter Hickman was easily the fastest newcomer with a 115.103mph lap on his third and is the quickest first-night newcomer in history. Martin Jessopp set a 113.292 on his Stocker while Danny Webb clocked a 108.921mph on his fourth lap.
Michael Dunlop blitzed the Superstock times with standing start lap of 123.239, followed by brother William in a 122.461 and David Johnson on a 122.289. Horst Saiger was fourth with a 121.216 with James Hillier fifth and just over a second slower.
Gary Johnson was in charge of the Supersport session with his 122.619 at the top of the sheet. John McGuinness was second on a 121.607, Lee Johnston third with a 118.183, Dan Kneen fourth and Dean Harrison fifth.
In the Sidecars, Dave Molyneux came out all guns blazing with a 114.350mph lap - a country mile ahead of the Birchall brothers’ 110.506 with Karl Bennett in third. Ian Bell was fourth on a 107.154 while Frank Lelias was fifth. Tim Reeves was bedding in a new outfit and finished 11th.
