John McGuinness re-affirmed his title as King of the Mountain on the Isle of Man this afternoon, winning the Pokerstars Senior TT by 14.214s from James Hillier with Ian Hutchinson third and breaking the outright lap record with a 132.701mph which included a pitstop.
McGuinness set the fastest ever Senior TT lap on the opening circuit with a 131.850mph, setting the quickest ever sector from the Bungalow to Cronk-ny-Mona in the process, while Hillier became the third man to join the 132mph club with his last lap of 132.414mph while Guy Martin was the fourth with a 132.398mph with his second lap. Michael Dunlop also put in a 132.515 to become the fifth man in the club with his last lap.
Hutchinson came into parc ferme with a sick-sounding PBM Kawasaki but was still able to take a podium and finish just 20s behind McGuinness and 6.6s behind Hillier to complete a fantastic return to the TT.
The race was stopped originally after Jamie Hamilton crashed at the end of the Cronk-y-Voddy straight on lap two. He was taken to Nobles Hospital with serious but not life-threatening injuries and the race was re-started over four laps.
Hiller led through Glen Helen, Ballaugh and Ramsey at the re-start but between the Bungalow and the Grandstand, McGuinness took charge with an amazing turn of pace on the Honda Racing Fireblade to cross the line with a 1.202s lead over Ian Hutchinson, who had jumped into second over the same sector.
McGuinness then began to stretch his legs, moving to a 1.962s lead over Hutchinson at Ramsey on lap two while Hillier slipped to 7.489s behind the PBM man and at the Grandstand, McGuinness beat Anstey’s existing best lap.
Hutchinson ran on at Signpost before the pitstops so dropped to 10.696s behind McGuinness but still managed a 131.446s lap while Hillier lapped at 131.359 and Martin busted his 132mph circuit.
Lap three saw McGuinness further stretch his lead as Martin made fourth his own with a 194.5mph top speed at Sulby and a 16.210s lead over Superbike TT winner Bruce Anstey at Ramsey. McGuinness finished the lap with a 17.593s lead and increased it to 19.745 at Glen Helen.
With a huge lead, McGuinness then started to slow a little while Hutchy closed a little on Hillier but his blown exhaust was causing problems and he dropped back to six seconds in arrears as they crossed the line.
Martin remained ahead of the injured Michael Dunlop for fourth place while Conor Cummins bagged sixth place on the exit of Ballaugh Bride on the last lap.
Peter Hickman snuck ahead of Anstey for seventh place at the line with a last lap of 131.626mph while David Johnson - now the fastest ever Aussie at the TT - and Michael Rutter completed the top ten.
Dean Harrison got the Mar-Train R1 home for the first time this week in 11th place with Gary Johnson next along. Dan Kneen, Martin Jessopp and Alan Bonner rounded out the top 15.
