Despite having topped the leaderboard in the Superbike class and placed second in the Superstock and Supersport categories, Ian Hutchinson is certain there is more to come from him during TT 2015 race week - starting tomorrow with the RST Superbike outing.
The Bingley Bullet has had a relatively trouble-free week and was one of only two riders to break the 130mph barrier with his quickest lap of 130.266mph on the PBM Kawasaki on Thursday evening being 1.8s quicker than the Honda of John McGuinness.
“We arrived on the island with a good base setting after the North West 200 and we’ve just been chipping away this week, making small changes. With the exception of Friday evening, when we took a backward step with the rear, we’ve moved forward all the time,” said Hutchinson, speaking to bikesportnews.com.
“The weather’s been a bit up and down but it hasn’t bothered me. If you’d had a few problems and got stuck out on the course, it would have been a bit of a nightmare but, fortunately, that hasn’t been the case for us.
“I’ve been trying to set off at the front each night to get as many laps in as possible but also to get as much clear track as I could. I like getting out in front so I can just do my own thing.
“On Thursday evening, I felt a bit tense on the first lap although it was still a 129.7mph so it was a decent standing start lap. I relaxed a bit more on the second lap and smoothed everything out. I was still trying obviously but not at my complete maximum trying to pinch a few seconds here and there. There’s more to come but there has to be.
Despite only getting two laps on the PBM Superstock Kawasaki Hutchy’s lap of 128.308mph placed him second behind Michael Dunlop and it was the same position in the Supersport class. His Friday evening lap of 124.927mph on the Team Traction Control Yamaha put him just behind the pace setting Bruce Anstey and second in the Supersport division too.
“I put in four laps on the Superbike on Wednesday night and it’s proven to be a good plan plus it also helps prepare the body for a full race distance. The other two bikes have been neglected a little bit but although I’ve only done two laps on the Stocker, the lap felt really good. I’ve only done three on the 600 as well, one of which was wet, but I know the R6 well and Friday night’s lap felt strong.”
Click here for overall practice times
