Uploaded June 2018 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
iomtt.com/news/2018/05/29/harrison-smashes-17-minute-barrier-in-qualifying
With the sun continuing to shine on the island, conditions were again excellent all around the Mountain Course and after a slight delay due to oil being cleared at Ballig Bridge, the session got underway at 6.23pm.
Michael Dunlop (Tyco BMW) and James Hillier (Quattro Plant JG Speedfit Kawasaki) led the field away on their Superbikes followed by Dan Kneen (Tyco BMW), Peter Hickman (Smiths Racing BMW), Ian Hutchinson (Honda Racing) and Gary Johnson (RAF Regular & Reserve Kawasaki), and Harrison and Michael Rutter (Bathams Racing BMW). Johnson was soon out though, his bad luck continuing as he pulled off at St Ninians and returned to the paddock.
It soon became clear that Harrison was setting a fierce pace throughout the 37.73-mile lap and although Dunlop and Hickman were first to cross the line at 132.319mph and 131.871mph respectively, he jumped to the top of the timesheets with his aforementioned opening lap of 133.140mph.
Kneen (130.668), Hillier (129.181), Rutter (129.583), Conor Cummins (129.756) and Martin Jessopp (128.144) were all going well but Harrison was in a class of his own and as he crossed the line, his lap speed came up as 133.462mph, some 1.4mph quicker than his personal best and only the second rider, after Michael Dunlop in 2016, to lap under 17 minutes.
Manxman Kneen was flying too and his lap of 132.258 was almost 2mph up on his best lap set in last year’s RL360 Superstock race while Hickman was again impressing at 132.169mph. David Johnson (Gulf BMW) improved to 129.360mph with Josh Brookes also upping his speed to 128.590mph which was just quicker than Phil Crowe’s impressive lap of 128.472mph.
As the session wore on, the lap speeds dipped slightly, largely due to heavy traffic all around the course and the setting sun but Hickman and Harrison both managed 130mph+ laps on their Superstock bikes - Hickman the quicker with his second lap of 130.619mph. Kneen slotted into third ahead of Lee Johnston, Cummins and Hillier with Hickman’s third lap coming to a halt with a retirement at Crosby.
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iomtt.com/news/2018/05/29/harrison-smashes-17-minute-barrier-in-qualifying
With the sun continuing to shine on the island, conditions were again excellent all around the Mountain Course and after a slight delay due to oil being cleared at Ballig Bridge, the session got underway at 6.23pm.
Michael Dunlop (Tyco BMW) and James Hillier (Quattro Plant JG Speedfit Kawasaki) led the field away on their Superbikes followed by Dan Kneen (Tyco BMW), Peter Hickman (Smiths Racing BMW), Ian Hutchinson (Honda Racing) and Gary Johnson (RAF Regular & Reserve Kawasaki), and Harrison and Michael Rutter (Bathams Racing BMW). Johnson was soon out though, his bad luck continuing as he pulled off at St Ninians and returned to the paddock.
It soon became clear that Harrison was setting a fierce pace throughout the 37.73-mile lap and although Dunlop and Hickman were first to cross the line at 132.319mph and 131.871mph respectively, he jumped to the top of the timesheets with his aforementioned opening lap of 133.140mph.
Kneen (130.668), Hillier (129.181), Rutter (129.583), Conor Cummins (129.756) and Martin Jessopp (128.144) were all going well but Harrison was in a class of his own and as he crossed the line, his lap speed came up as 133.462mph, some 1.4mph quicker than his personal best and only the second rider, after Michael Dunlop in 2016, to lap under 17 minutes.
Manxman Kneen was flying too and his lap of 132.258 was almost 2mph up on his best lap set in last year’s RL360 Superstock race while Hickman was again impressing at 132.169mph. David Johnson (Gulf BMW) improved to 129.360mph with Josh Brookes also upping his speed to 128.590mph which was just quicker than Phil Crowe’s impressive lap of 128.472mph.
As the session wore on, the lap speeds dipped slightly, largely due to heavy traffic all around the course and the setting sun but Hickman and Harrison both managed 130mph+ laps on their Superstock bikes - Hickman the quicker with his second lap of 130.619mph. Kneen slotted into third ahead of Lee Johnston, Cummins and Hillier with Hickman’s third lap coming to a halt with a retirement at Crosby.
Check us out on facebook: bit.ly/2eOUnEk
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Like us on Instagram: bit.ly/2eMJ50z
