The 93rd running of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb is in the bag, with thankfully no further major incidents after the loss of Carl Sorensen during Thursday’s practice session. That doesn’t mean this year’s Race to the Clouds was without drama though, as the weather played a major factor.
A hail storm hit the 14,000 foot peak during today’s racing, which meant some competitors were not able to race all the way to the official finish line at the summit. Instead, they had to stop lower finishing point on the mountain.
While this issue mostly affected the car classes, it did mean that the sidecars and ATVs did not finish the full course as well. In our results table, their times reflect the course to its second checkpoint. Please keep that in mind when looking at the race results, after the jump.
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.
The final day of racing at the Isle of Man TT is usually set by two extremes: the “beginner class” Lightweight TT and the blue-ribbon event, the Senior TT.
The rules for the Bennetts Lightweight TT are pretty simple, bikes with two-cylinders, no bigger than 650cc, and the riders must perform at least one pit stop during the three-lap race.
This means that pit stop strategy is king for the Lightweight riders, and the shuffling of positions adds a bit of drama to the usually tight racing already found on the course.
The man to beat in the Lightweight TT class is Ryan Farquhar, one of the top privateer riders at the TT (if not, the top privateer). Farquhar is responsible for tuning and building many of the top Kawasaki race bikes on the Lightweight TT grid as well, though other brands and builders have started to find competitiveness in the class.
Not to spoil the results for the Senior TT, but Friday would see records drop at the Isle of Man, and we start that trend off first in the Bennetts Lightweight TT.
In addition to the TT Zero race, Wednesday at the 2015 Isle of Man TT played host to Race 2 of the Monster Energy Supersport TT. Despite the weather that had played havoc during the practice week, conditions for the second Supersport TT were perfect.
As such, the fans were out in force to see who would grab the checkered flag. Bruce Anstey had shown himself capable of winning, taking the RST Superbike TT, and of course Ian Hutchinson has been the talk of the TT.
Generally not a top pick in the supersport class, John McGuinness has been off his pace this year, though coming off the TT Zero win, he certainly seemed on point Wednesday.
Reversing his decision to sit out the second supersport race, Michael Dunlop lined up on Glencrutchery Road, and certainly cannot be counted out of a solo-class race, especially one on a 600cc machine.
It might be the shortest event during the TT fortnight, but the TT Zero packs the more technology and development than the other TT races combined. Every year, the electric race bikes make leaps of progress in their pace, and for 2015 the unofficial mark to beat was the 120 mph barrier.
Team Mugen seemed close to that mark during the practice sessions, with John McGuinness posting a timed 118 mph lap. With Bruce Anstey already a race winner from the Superbike TT, and McPint always looking good on the Shinden race bike, the duo was heavily favored to win.
This year’s TT Zero also sees the return of Brammo to the Isle of Man, disguised as the Victory Racing team.
Victory was originally slotted to have Lee Johnston and William Dunlop as its riders, but Dunlop’s crash during the Superstock race meant his TT racing was over for this year. Luckily, his Tyco BMW teammate, Guy Martin, was available and keen to ride the electrics, and thus substituted for the injured Dunlop.
Other entries include Saroléa and Saietta, as well as the university teams from Brunel, Kingston, and Nottingham.