Peter Hickman re-paid the work of his team late into Friday night by powering his GB Moto Kawasaki into fourth place in the RST Superbike TT, in the process becoming only the seventh rider in the event to join the elite 132mph club.
The team had sorted the electronic issues for the race and Hickman was running seventh on the opening lap, and then began to make steady progress, going sixth in the early stages of the third lap and then moving ahead of Michael Rutter to be fifth at half distance though 18 seconds down on Dean Harrison.
Hickman riding hard was gaining ground and grabbed fourth place going into the final lap which he completed at a stunning 132.465mph average speed and that gave him his and the team’s best ever TT result.
“It was a really tough practice week, the bike was great but we just had a consistent problem with the electronics. This is the first year I’ve ridden a Superbike over here and on my third lap I set a 129mph so we knew the potential was there but despite the team changing everything, the problem persisted and we struggled to get a lap in again after Tuesday,” Hickman told BSN in the paddock.
“Last night we made the big decision to change the Superbike to the kit electronics used on the Superstock machine. It’s no easy job to do, so huge credit to the team who were still working late into the night last night to get it ready in time.
“The kit electronics are very different to the Motec system we were using, so It meant starting today with a bike I hadn’t ridden before. I did a 129mph opener which is a really fast lap but comparatively to the front guys it was a steady one! It took that first lap to get a feel for the machine, and after that I got my head down and chipped away.
“That final lap is still only my ninth lap around the course on a Superbike so to join the 132 club is mega and to get my best result with it is absolutely fantastic. It’s a great way to repay the team for their hard work, the problems we’ve had have been entirely out of their hands but they’ve kept working and I’m confident we can continue this form for the rest of the week.”
