SO SAD Isle of Man TT 2024 AN …..
Hickman flew along the stretch to Ballaugh and stretched his lead out to 1.5 seconds and although Dunlop was still in third, he was now more than four seconds behind the race leader. McGuinness had taken over sixth as James Hind leapt up the order to a superb seventh on the North Lincs Components Suzuki.
By Ramsey, Hickman added another second to his lead, courtesy of the quickest ever sector time from Ballaugh, with Todd now six seconds clear of Dunlop. Harrison was only two tenths of a second ahead of Brookes in the battle for fourth, but drama soon followed as Dunlop pulled into retire just after the Bungalow.
An opening lap of 135.23mph gave Hickman a 2.7 seconds lead over Todd (135.159mph) and it was now Brookes in third, the Australian lapping at 133.388mph. Harrison (132.976mph), Hillier (130.777mph) and Mike Browne (130.536mph) now occupied fourth to sixth, the latter finally setting his first 130mph lap on the IN Competition Aprilia, as McGuinness, Shaun Anderson (Team Classic Suzuki), Nathan Harrison (Honda Racing UK) and Dominic Herbertson (Burrows Engineering/RK Racing BMW) rounded out the top ten.
Hickman set another record sector time at the beginning of lap two, from the Grandstand to Glen Helen, and that enabled him to extend his lead over Todd to 4.8 seconds. The latter was trying harder than ever, but Hickman’s stunning pace meant he was unable to make any headway into his deficit.
Over Ballaugh Bridge and another new record sector time saw Hickman’s lead go out to 8.3 seconds and it was clear the proverbial pin had been pulled. Could Todd respond?
