2022 Isle of Man TT [30/5] | Hickman cracks 130mph, West hurt in fiery crash

Peter Hickman issued his statement of intent on the second day of free practice for the 2022 Isle of Man TT by becoming the first rider to break 130mph around the Mountain Course this week.

With the pace being ratcheted up on Tuesday evening in preparation for the first TT to take place since 2019, lap record holder Hickman appeared back in his groove aboard the Gas Monkey FHO BMW M 1000 RR with a classification leading 130.72mph.

However, the evening was marred by a serious accident for Sam West, one of the event’s anticipated top ten contenders, who sustained a suspected broken leg following a crash at the high-speed Laurel Bank section.

With first practice honours on Monday going to Davy Todd, pre-TT favourite Hickman gave rivals something to think about with two rapid revolutions of the Snaefell Mountain Course. While he, defending champion Dean Harrison and Todd were closely-matched after the first lap, Hickman stretched away on the second loop to swell his advantage to seven seconds.

In doing so, he posted the first lap to exceed 130mph, though Harrison on the DAO Kawasaki ZX-10RR was just a whisker off joining him with a 129.84mph lap.

Todd continued to impress on the Padgetts by Milenco Honda CBR1000RR-R, the North West 200 standout third on the Superbike timesheets with a 128.024mph. However, his quickest lap of the evening came when he switched to Superstock specification, his 129.58mph effort putting him comfortably top in that class.

Hawk Suzuki’s Michael Dunlop was fourth fastest with a 127.944mph lap, followed by factory Honda rider and 23-time winner John McGuinness on 127.771mph. 

Rookie team-mate Glenn Irwin, meanwhile, continued to build on his experience with a 122.355mph lap, placing him 20th, though fellow newcomer Nathan Harrison was the evening’s headliner with a 125.670mph lap on the T Bike Honda, placing him ninth.

However, the evening was overshadowed by West’s accident, bringing a premature end to a TT campaign that had already identified him as a dark horse for a top five finish. Indeed, The Street Diner BMW rider turned in the sixth fastest Superbike lap and was third in the SSTK reckoning too prior to his accident at Laurel Bank.

Airlifted to hospital with suspected hand and leg injuries, the impact caused the BMW to catch fire, necessitating a lengthy red flag stop to extinguish and remove it.

West was one of five riders to suffer accidents on the second night of practice. As well as West, Michael Sweeney was airlifted to hospital after a crash at 11th Milestone, suffering suspected arm and leg injuries 

Ilja Cajouw was taken to hospital after suffering an off at 27th Milestone but has been discharged, while James Chawke and Jonathan Perry also came down without harm.

In the Superstock class, Todd was followed up by his team-mate Conor Cummins, with Michael Dunlop - riding a Honda in this category - and Lee Johnston on the Ashcourt Yamaha trailing the sidelined West in fourth and fifth.

In Supersport, while not every leading contender ventured out on Tuesday as they focused on Superbike and Superstock mileage, Hickman was fastest aboard Triumph Street Triple 765 RS, followed by Paul Jordan and Lee Johnston.