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IOMTT: Michael Dunlop Breaks Outright Lap Record

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The 2016 Isle of Man TT got off to a blistering start today, with two riders in the Superbike TT breaking the outright lap record on the very first lap, from a standing start no less.

Ian Hutchinson was the first rider to break the outright lap record, which was set by John McGuinness during last year’s Senior TT race, with a 132.892 mph lap.

The record would be short-lived though, as Michael Dunlop was hot on Hutchy’s heels, with a 133.369 mph lap performance on his Hawk Racing BMW S1000RR.

The first ever TT lap under 17 minutes, and the first ever lap that averaged over 133 mph, Dunlop’s performance during the Superbike TT was nothing short of dominant…and he wouldn’t stop there.

Upping the ante on the second lap, Dunlop benefited from less fuel and put down another scorcher – a 133.393 mph lap.

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Racing

IOMTT: PokerStars Senior TT Race Results

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If there is one event everyone gets excited about at the Isle of Man TT, it’s the Senior TT. Often called “the blue-ribbon event” at the Isle of Man, the Senior TT is not a race for the elderly, like the name suggests, but instead it features the biggest, meanest, machines on the road course.

Most of the PokerStars Senior TT grid is filled with bikes from the Superbike TT, as the classes have a great deal of overlap, but the Senior TT usually has one or two special machines, who fall outside of the Superbike rules — the Norton SG4 is one of those machines.

All the TT riders want to win the Senior TT, and it fittingly is the final race of the Isle of Man TT, which only adds to excitement.

With Friday being drama-filled at the Isle of Man TT, the Senior TT was no different.

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Columns

Trackside Tuesday: Anstey Ups the Ante

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Now the dust has begun to settle on this year’s Tourist Trophy, the obvious headlines are taking up most of the page space in the motorcycle press. Michael Dunlop’s quadruple wins, John McGuinness’ hand injury issues, Dave Molyneux’s 17th victory, and any potential speculation and hearsay that they believe print-worthy dominates the news.

After an interrupted week of practice, due to weather and on-course incidents, Michael Dunlop laid his intentions down for all to see by breaking McGuinness’ long-standing lap record on the first two laps of the race at 131.730mph and 131.810mph.

Riding the Superbike-spec BMW S1000RR that was deemed to be the unknown element in Dunlop’s fortnight-long campaign at the TT, Michael broke his rivals and silenced the doubters before he had even completed his first pit stop. These laps bettered the lap record that had stood since John McGuinness set the marker of 131.671 mph during the 2013 Senior race.

While much of the focus was on Michael’s cruise to victory over Guy Martin and Connor Cummins, Bruce Anstey was wrestling his way to the fastest-ever lap of the Mountain Course by bettering Dunlop’s freshly-set lap record by over three seconds.

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Racing

What A 117.366 MPH Electric Superbike Lap Looks Like

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Team Mugen was in force at the 2014 Isle of Man TT, putting in a 1-2 finish at the TT Zero event. To add to that double podium, John McGuinness took his Mugen Shinden San to a new Snaefell Mountain Course record for an electric motorcycle, dropping a 117.366 mph lap during the race…from a standing start.

Faster than both the Lightweight TT bikes and Subaru exhibition car that ran later that Wednesday, the public perception that electrics are slow certainly has to be challenged. The proof of that concept is in the pudding, and we have the entire record-breaking lap to prove it.

Take the next 20 minutes to watch McPint TIE-Fighter his way around the 37.773 mile road course (don’t pretend like you were going to do work on this fine summer day). It’s pretty astounding not only the outright speeds involved, but the rate of progression electrics have made in six year’s time.

As batteries become more power-dense, and thus the weight of these machines drop, the petrol-powered supersbikes will have some serious competition on their hands.

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Racing

IOMTT: Anstey Laps 112 MPH on the Mugen Shinden San

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When it comes to single-lap speed, Bruce Anstey is the man at the Isle of Man this year. Setting the outright fastest lap ever around the Snaefell Mountain Course, on the last lap of the Dainese Superbike TT no less, Anstey has another record to be proud of at the 2014 Isle of Man TT: the fastest TT lap ever on an electric motorcycle, at 112.355 mph unofficial.

For those not keeping up with the TT Zero news, Bruce Anstey is playing teammate to John McGuinness on Team Mugen. The Japanese tuning brand has brought its third-generation electric superbike to the TT, appropriately calling the 500+ lbs behemoth the Mugen Shinden San (san meaning “three” in Japanese).

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Racing

IOMTT: Josh Brookes Fastest Newcomer Ever at the TT

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British Superbike fans might recognize the name, but Josh Brookes is making headlines with his Isle of Man TT debut, having set the fastest Mountain Course lap ever for a newcomer. Teammate to Guy Martin on the Tyco Suzuki team, Brookes is showing himself to be a very capable road racer having finished 10th in the 2013 Dainese Superbike TT.

Posting a 127.726 mph lap, Brookes shattered Steve Plater’s record of 125.808 mph from 2007. The new high-water mark isn’t likely to last though, as Brookes will have another shot at it on Superbike equipment later this week during the Senior TT, the blue-ribbon and final race of the 2013 IOMTT.

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IOMTT: McGuinness Sets New Isle of Man TT Lap Record

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After the Dainese Superbike TT race was pushed from Saturday’s debut time slot to Sunday, it seems the first solo-classs race was worth the wait as it put on quite the show for Isle of Man TT fans.

In addition to the victory by the popular Michael Dunlop, and a stellar performance by newcomer Josh Brookes, John McGuinness also made waves, first with his pit lane time penalty (McGuinness was levied a one minute penalty by the stewards), but more notably with his record-setting 131.671 mph lap on the sixth lap of the race.

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MotoGP: Event-Filled Qualifying at Mugello

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It is a tall-order to beat the rapid-succession qualifying we had at the German GP, which saw a stream of riders dropping pole-position laps one-after-another for nearly 5 minutes straight – but this is Mugello, and the MotoGP riders hate to disappoint when they are in Italy. With perfect racing conditions, the qualifying session had its fair share of crashes, fast laps, and surprise moments. Featuring three manufacturers on the front row, and three manufacturers on the second row, the Italian GP is also shaping up to be a good race, for all the parties involved.

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News

IOMTT: Subaru Exhibition Lap Almost Ends in Disaster

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If you were on the Isle of Man for the TT, it wasn’t hard to notice that Subaru was the official car sponsor of the event. Beyond the bevy of billboards, signs, and strategically parked cars, every race or practice session was preceded and concluded by the Course Inspection car, or cars as it was this past fortnight. With no less than four vehicles making the rounds around the ~38 mile Mountain Course, the idea was pretty simple: more cars = more exposure, and it doesn’t hurt that it means more seats for VIPs and the like.

Subaru also got its money’s worth this year, as there was also a series of Subaru exhibition laps, where Manx-born rally driver Mark Higgins took a Subaru Impreza WRX STI on a flying-lap around the TT course, in an effort to break the four-wheeled vehicle record. Higgins did so on the very first day, and by the end of the week had posted a top time of 19:56.7, which works out to be an average speed of 113 mph.

This shattered the 21-year-old record set by Tony Pond by nearly two minutes (22:09:01), and of course got the interwebs talking about Subaru. Things almost went a different way though, as flying down Ago’s Leap, Higgins and passanger Chris Cantle had a 150 mph moment. Watch what Higgins called “the moment of his life” after his jump.

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What Does a Record TTXGP Lap at Infineon Look Like?

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The 2011 TTXGP season-opener at Infineon Raceway got off to a less than enthralling start, with only four bikes showing up for racing on Saturday, and three bikes remaining for Sunday’s race. Nevertheless, the event was the first time we’ve gotten to see the Brammo Empulse RR in its race livery, and taking some laps in public. Though the racing wasn’t close, the shining star during the weekend was Steve Atlas taking the Brammo Empulse RR on an outright lap record for electrics at the Sonoma, California based track.

With a time of 1:55.15, Brammo is the team to beat currently, and there’s hope that Lightning, Mission Motors, and MotoCzysz will give the Oregonian company a run for its money later on in the season. Until those teams unveil their bikes in a race, Brammo retains the bragging rights to being the fastest on the track. Check out Brammo’s record run after the jump.

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