2022 Isle of Man TT [31/5] | Harrison on top as top three edge clear

Dean Harrison moved to the summit of the Superbike timesheets on the third day of practice for the 2022 Isle of Man TT, chased closely by Davey Todd.

Ollie Barstow

01 Jun 2022

With riders across all classes making the most of the consecutive run of dry weather practice days around the 37.7-mile Mountain Course, Harrison - Senior TT winner in 2019 - became the latest to take a turn at the head of the leaderboard.

Having just fallen shy of joining Peter Hickman in exceeding the magic 130mph marker on Monday, the Bradford rider quickly corrected this with a 130.369mph on his first lap, before going on to surpass his rival’s erstwhile 130.719mph target with a new best of 131.767mph on the DAO Racing Kawasaki ZX-10RR.

One of two riders to join the 130mph-plus ‘club’ on Tuesday, Harrison was run closely by Todd on the Milenco by Padgetts Honda. Arguably the standout of the event so far, Todd - competing in only his third TT this year - turned in a 131.655mph effort to consolidate his growing status as a potential contender for victory.

That was enough to demote Hickman - who focused on getting mileage aboard his Superstock BMW and Supertwin Paton - to third. However, the pre-event TT favourite did lift the stock Gas Monkey FHO BMW M 1000 RR to the top of the Superstock timesheets with an eye-catching 130.695mph lap.

With Harrison, Todd and Hickman establishing a comfortable lead group out front, Michael Dunlop has some catching up to do in fourth, the 19-time winner chasing the trio with a best of 129.119mph on the Hawk Suzuki.

Conor Cummins progressed up to fifth place on the second of the Milenco by Padgetts Hondas, heading off the best of the factory Fireblades, that of John McGuinness in sixth place.

KTS Racing’s Jamie Coward followed him up in seventh place aboard the fastest of the Yamaha contingent, ahead of Ian Hutchinson on the Milwaukee BMW and the sidelined Sam West, while Dominic Herbertson completes the top ten.

Elsewhere, Glenn Irwin ascended to 17th on the timesheets, the BSB race winner and TT debutant posting a new personal best of 124.947mph.

Peter Hickman - Gas Monkey FHO BMW M 1000 RR

Superstock, Supersport, Supertwins, Sidecar

With Hickman surging to the head of the leaderboard in Superstock, he was followed by Todd (Padgetts Honda), Coward (KTS Yamaha), Cummins (Padgetts Honda) and Harrison (DAO Kawasaki).

Michael Dunlop posted a new best in the Supersport category on the MD Racing Yamaha R6, his best of 125.938mph giving him a solid advantage over Harrison, who jumped aboard the DAO KawasakI ZX-6R to turn in a 124.817mph best. The duo were followed by a trio of R6s steered by Lee Johnston (Ashcourt Racing), Coward (KTS) and James Hillier (RICH Energy OMG).

As well as impressing in Superbike, Superstock and Supersport classes, Coward found time to head up the Supertwins class aboard his KTS Kawasaki Z650, heading off Hickman on the Paton, Rob Hodson (Kawasaki), Johnston (Aprilia) and Gary Johnson (Kawasaki).

The Sidecars also made their first appearance of the week after having their scheduled Monday outing cancelled, with hot favourites Brian and Tom Birchill top with a 115.663mph lap.

After a slew of accidents on Monday evening, there was just one notable incident on the Mountain involving Dave Moffitt, who fell at Laurel Bank. He was airlifted to Noble’s Hospital, but is reported to be as conscious.

Meanwhile, all five riders hospitalised on Monday have now been discharged.