Isle of Man TT: Peter Hickman shatters course lap record in completing Superstock double
- Published
Peter Hickman joins Steve Hislop and Phillip McCallen on 11 TT wins
Peter Hickman shattered the Isle of Man TT absolute course lap record as he made it a double in the Superstock class by taking victory in race two.
The FHO Racing BMW rider lapped at an incredible 136.358mph on his final circuit, more than six seconds inside his benchmark from the 2018 Senior TT.
Hickman won by 17.1 seconds from Michael Dunlop, whose last lap of 134.73 was inside the class lap record.
Hickman joins Phillip McCallen and Steve Hislop in achieving 11 TT wins.
The Lincolnshire rider has now won five Superstock races in a row, with that run stretching back to 2018.
His previous lap record from five years ago was 135.452, 16 minutes 42.778 seconds for the 37.73 miles of the Mountain Course, but the British Superbike rider improved that to a stunning 16:36.115 on Friday.
Hickman also set a new race record average speed of 133.676, a time of 50 minutes 48.3 seconds for his three laps.
DAO Racing Kawasaki rider Dean Harrison was a further 40 seconds adrift of MD Racing Honda-mounted Dunlop in the final rostrum place.
Hickman had won the first Stocker race on Tuesday convincingly by 23 seconds from Dunlop but the Ballymoney rider provided the 36-year-old with a much sterner challenge in the second outing for the 1000cc production-based machines.
Dunlop was chasing a record-equalling fifth win of the week and aiming to draw level with his uncle Joey's all-time record of 26 triumphs, but must now hope to achieve those targets in his final two races of the week - Friday's Supertwins or Saturday's Senior.
The two leading protagonists battled it out in the opening laps, with just tenths of a second separating the pair in the early stages.
A first lap of 134.068mph gave Hickman a narrow advantage of 1.8 seconds, with that extended to 5.1 seconds by the end of the second circuit and by a further 12 seconds by the chequered flag thanks to that blistering final lap.
For Harrison, it was a fifth third-place of the week and a 25th podium spot, with Conor Cummins, Josh Brookes and Jamie Coward completing the top-six leaderboard.
"There were so many people out there waving and cheering, it was absolutely epic," said a delighted Hickman after the race.
"The team have done such a good job but I started the race a bit slower, I didn't really feel myself this morning.
"I began steadily and built into the race. I know what I can do on this bike. It's absolutely mega.
"We have a decision to make whether to ride it or the Superbike in the Senior. That's one to talk about and make an educated and calculated decision."