IAN Hutchinson scored his second win of the TT with a narrow victory in the Monster Energy Supersport 1 Race today (Monday) despite a last lap record by the chasing Guy Martin.
Hutchinson, who said he “really enjoys” riding the 600 machines, had slowed for a yellow flag on his last lap which slightly reduced his lead over the chasing Guy Martin, but he held on to claim the win two days after his victory in the PokerStars Superbike TT.
Hutchinson beat his own race record for the 600 class by 18 seconds, winning from Martin, just ahead of Michael Dunlop.
The early leader was Guy Martin, searching for his elusive first TT win, but Hutchinson took the lead by the end of the second lap with local rider Dan Kneen showing his class to hold third.
Hutchinson slowly extended his lead throughout the second and third laps to hold a 4.6 second advantage as he crossed the line to start his final circuit. Michael Dunlop had pulled 11 seconds ahead of Kneen for third place.
However, Martin stepped up the pace on his final circuit and by Ballaugh had closed the gap to two seconds - assisted by Hutchinson slowing for the yellow flag, but it was back up to three seconds by Ramsey. Meanwhile, Michael Dunlop was also flying on his final lap, closing all the time on Martin.
Martin held on to retain second spot and Dunlop took third. However, the Irish rider expressed major disappointment with his bike’s and his own performance on the first lap, describing his Yamaha as “sluggish”. But he was flying on the subsequent laps, although not enough to catch Martin and Hutchinson.
He said, “We will have to work out what happened on the first lap and sort it out before Wednesday when we can have another go for the win. I’m not here to make the numbers up - I’m going for it.”
Photo: Ian Hutchinson at speed
through St Ninian’s (Bill Dale)
