IAN Hutchinson recorded his first ever 130 mph lap at the TT in practice tonight (Thursday) on a night when John McGuinness was surprisingly off the pace.

On his second practice lap Hutchinson was really flying and crossed the line to record a lap of 130.165mph, his first ever 130mph+ lap.

In the solos session Cameron Donald pulled off the circuit early and came round the back roads before going back out again but it was Hutchinson who completed a lap first at 128.303mph.

However, Keith Amor was the fastest on the opening lap at 128.691mph with both Anstey and McGuinness surprisingly off the pace at 121.166mph and 119.827mph respectively. Archibald and Martin were down in the 123mph bracket with Farquhar and Michael Dunlop also lapping above 125mph.

On the second lap, Hutchinson was really flying – and it showed. He crossed the line to record a lap of 130.165mph, his first ever 130mph+ lap, with Cummins and Donald flying at 128.838mph and 128.836mph. Rutter and Dunlop were also upping their pace, setting personal best laps of 127.564mph and 127.946mph, comfortably his best ever speed. Mark Buckley and Steve Mercer, one of the leading newcomers last year, showed they could well be the men to catch in the race for the Privateer’s Championship with laps of 124mph+.

Many of the leading contenders switched to their 600cc bikes for the second half of the session and it was Amor who went quickest, the Scotsman lapping at 124.797mph on the Kojak Racing Honda. Hutchinson wasn’t too far behind at 124.685mph with Martin third at 123.902mph.

David Johnson was again the leading newcomer with a fine lap of 118.607mph, Stephen Thompson following closely at 117.387mph. Swiss ace Herve Ganther was third fastest with 115.210mph whilst Brian McCormack bounced back from his spill the previous night to lap at 114.326 just behind James Hurrell’s speed of 114.510. In the 600cc division, Dan Cooper improved to 113.740mph and David Jones posted his first 110mph+ lap at 111.154mph.

Dave Molyneux and Patrick Farrance were the first combination to set off and they were followed in quick succession by Klaus Klaffenbock/Dan Sayle, Simon Neary/Paul Knapton - who’d swapped engines after problems on Wednesday, Conrad Harrison/Kerry Williams and Tim Reeves/Dipash Chauhan. Gary Bryan, Roy Hanks and Tony Elmer were the next to go with John Holden and Andy Winkle leaving the line slightly further back than where they’d been in previous sessions.

In the sidecars Simon Neary was the quickest through the Sulby speedtrap at 145mph but, as expected, Dave Molyneux was the first to complete the lap at 114.545mph with Klaus Klaffenbock and Neary in hot pursuit at 113.377mph and 113.172mph respectively. Conrad Harrison lapped at 111.487mph with Tim Reeves and Gary Bryan also above 110mph but Brian Kelly/Dickie Gale were early retirements as were Gordon Shand/Stuart Graham. Tony Elmer wasn’t far off at 109.67mph with John Holden just above the 111mph mark.

Holden pulled in to change the rear tyre whilst Neary also stopped at the pits to make adjustments before rejoining but Molyneux continued and improved second time around to 115.464mph as did Klaffenbock, the Austrian going quicker than ever before at 114.096mph. Harrison was close to 112mph whilst Reeves, Hanks and Elmer were also above 110mph, the last named breaking the 110mph mark for the first time.

Sidecar team Nigel Mayers and Joseph Shardlow were involved in an incident at Kate’s Cottage. Mayers was unhurt but Shardlow was taken by airmed to hospital.

Provisional Times:

Poker Stars Superbike TT

1 Ian Hutchinson (1000 Padgetts Honda) – 130.165mph

2 Conor Cummins (1000 McAdoo Kawasaki) – 128.838mph

3 Cameron Donald (1000 Relentless by TAS Suzuki) – 128.836mph

4 Keith Amor (1000 HM Plant Honda) – 128.691mph

5 Michael Rutter (1000 HM Plant Honda) – 127.564mph

6 Michael Dunlop (1000 Robinson Concrete/Street Sweep Honda) – 127.946mph

Monster Energy Supersport TT 

1 Keith Amor (600 Kojak Racing Honda) – 124.797mph

2 Ian Hutchinson (600 Padgetts Honda) – 124.685mph

3 Guy Martin (600 Wilson Craig Honda) – 123.902mph

4 Ryan Farquhar (600 KMR Kawasaki) – 122.818mph

5 John McGuinness (600 Padgetts Honda) – 121.172mph

6 Ian Lougher (600 Blackhorse Kawasaki) – 120.663mph

Royal London 360 Superstock TT

1 Michael Rutter (1000cc HM Plant Honda) - 127.564mph

2 Michael Dunlop (1000cc Hunts Motorcycles/Marlow Construction Honda) - 127.111mph

3 Conor Cummins (1000cc McAdoo Kawasaki) - 124.924mph

4 Mark Buckley (1000cc OTSS Racing Kawasaki) - 124.319mph

5 Adrian Archibald (1000cc AMA Racing Suzuki) - 124.232mph

6 Steve Mercer (1000cc G Forces/SMR Road Racing Yamaha) - 124.156mph

Sure Sidecar TT

1 Dave Molyneux/Patrick Farrance (600 DMR Kawasaki) – 115.464mph

2 Klaus Klaffenbock/Dan Sayle (600 Manx Gas/A&J Racing Honda) – 114.096mph

3 Simon Neary/Paul Knapton (600 Dave Hudspeth Carpets/Nick Crowe Racing Honda) – 113.172mph

4 Conrad Harrison/Kerry Williams (600 Printer Roller Services Honda) – 111.962mph

5 John Holden/Andy Winkle (600 Holden Racing/TAS Suzuki) – 111.710mph

6 Tim Reeves/Dipash Chauhan (600 Double M/Haith Racing Suzuki) – 110.758mph