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TT 2016: Hutchinson dominates to win first Supersport race

Update: Dunlop has been excluded from the results for a technical infringement found during post-race inspection

Ian Hutchinson avenged his defeat by Michael Dunlop- in Saturday’s Superbike TT on Saturday with a domninant victory over the Ballymoney man in this morning’s opening Monster Energy Supersport race, crossing the line with a 14.303s margin as Dean Harrison bagged an excellent third place on the Silicone Kawasaki.

Hutchinson was never headed in the four-lap encounter building a lead on the Came Yamaha R6 sector by sector to take his third Supersport win in a row and seven all together with a race record time and going close to Dunlop’s 2013 lap record with his second circulation at 128.259mph with a fuel stop.

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“I seem to have a connection with the little Supersport bike and I pushed hard in the first two sectors, as I knew I had to, and the race went pretty smoothly after that. I got a great six laps on the bike in the first practice session and loved it straightaway with today reminding me why it’s so enjoyable to ride around this place. Some days you wonder why you do it but today was perfect - perfect weather, no problems and tons of fans out on the course,” said Hutchinson.

“There were lots of backmarkers on the final lap, more than I’ve ever known, and I got held up quite a bit from Glen Helen to Ballaugh and again from Ballaugh to Ramsey but I tried to stay patient and knew Michael (Dunlop) would have to pass them at some stage too. I blipped the throttle to let them know I was there but nearly highsided out of Governor’s Bridge on the last lap which wouldn’t have been ideal! The bike was fantastic and really enjoyed myself today.”

Harrison had a fight on the road with Conor Cummins but secured third place on the clock,ahead of James Hillier’s Quattro Kawasaki who fended off a charge by Cummins’ Padgett’s Honda for fourth as the Manxman was only 0.736s slower than the Bournemouth man at the line.

Hutchinson had hauled a lead of 3.514s at Glen Helen on lap one but it was over Harrison with Dunlop third, Hillier fourth and Lee Johnston third but Dunlop was in second at Ballaugh as both Michael Rutter and Peter Hickman pulled out. The lead at Ramsey was six seconds as John McGuinness moved into fifth place and at the grandstand, Hutchinson was a fraction over ten seconds ahead with a 127.872 opening lap.

As he got through Ballaugh, Hutchinson was leading in the road with an 11.844s advantage and the lead remained constant, give or take a second. Cummins moved into fifth place ahead of Honda team-mate McGuinness on the second lap as Bruce Anstey retired at Ballacraine. Dunlop managed to get his deficit down to a little under ten second at the Bungalow on lap three but it was back to 11.602 at the grandstand.

As the pair encountered slower riders on the final lap, the gap went back and fourth but Hutchinson wasn’t to be caught and extended the lead as he came down the mountain for his 12th TT win to equal Dunlop on the win leaderboard.

McGuinness ended his race in sixth place with Johnston’s Triumph in eighth. William Dunlop, who was fastest through the Sulby speedtrap at 173mph, took eighth despite suffering with injuries sustained in his opening night’s crash. Steve Mercer took a fantastic ninth place while Gary Johnson rescued a tenth-place finish after having problems in the pitlane and losing a pile of time.

Cameron Donald finished in 11th place, James Cowton 12th, James Coward 13th, Rob Hodson 14th and Ben Wylie rounded out the top 15.

Click here for results

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