2009 Isle of Man TT - TT Race Week 2009 - Superbike TT Race

Superbike TT Race

The 2009 Superbike TT Race was scheduled for mid-day start on Saturday 6 June 2009 and to be flagged away by the former world motorcycling champion Giacomo Agostini and was delayed 48 hours due to inclement weather conditions. The pole time for the Superbike TT race was set by the Australian Cameron Donald in 17 minutes, 13.25 seconds an average speed of 131.457 mph riding a 1000 cc Suzuki motorcycle. The hot weather of TT practice week returned for the 6 lap (226.38 miles) Superbike TT Race held on Monday 9 June 2009. The first competitor flagged away at the start at the TT Grandstand was the 1000 cc Honda of Gary Johnson from Brigg followed by the 1000 cc Honda of John McGuinness with a 10 second starting interval. Starting at number 5 with a 40 second start interval, Bruce Anstey the Suzuki team-mate of injured Cameron Donald was the first to hit mechanical problems with a slight engine mis-fire at the bottom of Bray Hill and Bruce Anstey retired his 1000 cc Suzuki at Ballacraine on lap 1 with a fuel sensor problem. It was the 1000 cc Honda of John McGuinness that led lap 1 at the first official timing point at Glen Helen by 1.91 seconds from Conor Cummins riding a 1000 cc Kawasaki motorcycle followed by the Honda brigade of Ian Hutchinson in 3rd place, Gary Johnson, Steve Plater and Guy Martin in 6th place. The lead at Parliament Square, Ramsey was increased by McGuinness to 5 seconds over Conor Cummins and Guy Martin leap-frogging the other competitors to 3rd place and the leading group was joined by the 1000 cc Yamaha of Ian Lougher in 7th place making his 100th Isle of Man TT race start. Over the Mountain Section of the course, John McGuinness maintained a 5.14 second lead over Conor Cummins at the end of lap 1in a time of 17 minutes, 26.61 seconds an average speed of 129.779 mph.

The pace continued on lap 2 with McGuinness increasing his lead with Guy Martin moving into second place and Steve Plater in third with the unfortunate Conor Cummins slipping down to 4th place. With pits-stops at the end of lap 2, John McGuinness now led by 10.79 seconds and set a new outright course record of 17 minutes, 21.29 seconds an average speed of 130.442 mph. A slow pit-stop by Conor Cummins caused by the chain on his 1000 cc Kawasaki caused him to slip down the leaderboard to sixth place behind the Honda of Gary Johnson. The TT Grandstand stop box was overshot by Keith Amor riding a 1000 cc Honda motorcycle on lap 2 incurring a 10 second race penalty. An engine mis-fire forced Keith Amour to retire at Ballacraine on lap 3. After pushing-in on lap 2 the 1000 cc Yamaha of Michael Dunlop retired at the pits and a further retirement at the TT Grandstand was the 1000 cc Kawasaki of Ryan Farquhar with an oil leak from a replacement TT Superstock engine. At Glen Helen on lap 3, McGuinness led Steve Plater by 7.91 seconds with Guy Martin in third place over 10 seconds adrift of the leader. The rest of the chasing pack at Glen Helen on lap 3 included the 1000 cc Honda of Gary Johnson followed by Conor Cummins, Ian Hutchinson, Ian Lougher and the triple 2008 Manx Grand Prix winner Dan Kneen making the top dozen competitors on his debut Isle of Man TT race. The local Isle of Man competitor Gary Carswell and the former winner of the Senior 1997 Manx Grand Prix crashed heavily at the jump at the exit of Ballacrye Corner and was evacuated to Nobles Hospital on lap 3 with foot, rib and knee injuries and a series of minor fractures.

The eight second lead was maintained during lap 4 by the 1000 cc Honda Superbike of John McGuinness over Steve Plater and Guy Martin in 3rd place. The 1000 cc Yamaha of Michael Rutter retired on lap 4 at Parliament Square, Ramsey with a broken gear-lever. At the pit-stops at the end of lap 4, John McGuinness increased his lead slightly to 9.14 with a lap averaging 129.318 mph. With an extra burst of speed McGuinness increased his lead over Steve Plater to 11 seconds on lap 5 and to 19.57 seconds at the official timing point at Ramsey on the last lap. The 2009 Superbike TT Race was won by John McGuinness in a new race record of 1 hour, 46 minutes and 7.16 seconds at an average race speed of 127.996 mph. This provided John McGuinness with a historic 15th win and speaking after the race, McGuinness said;- "I don't know what to say about being ahead of Hailwood, Mike Hailwood is the hero of the people of my dad's generation." In celebrating their 50th Anniversary of Isle of Man TT Racing for the Honda marque, McGuinness mentioned that;- "I had to admit that I was feeling the pressure a bit with so many functions going on and so many Honda people over here expecting the victory....It is great to repay them with a victory and also for Honda to have a 1-2-3 finish in the race." In second place Steve Plater commented about the Superbike TT that "I made improvements in my lap times and I am happy with the way I rode – you never stop learning around here and it is a different mind set to riding the short circuits, which I'done at Thruxton ten days earlier." In contrast, Guy Martin in third place explaining that he thought that his front suspension forks required further adjustment mentioned that "The bike is great in straight lines, but not in corners – I've had cracking pit stops, the bike has not missed a beat, so it is down to me and I'm not here to make up the numbers – I wanted the win."

The 1000 cc Honda of Ian Hutchinson finished in fourth place after the Kawasaki machine of Conor Cummins suffered an engine failure on the Verandah on the last lap. The fifth place finish in the Superbike TT went to the Honda of Gary Johnson with Adrian Archibald the first Suzuki finisher in sixth place and Ian Lougher finishing seventh after making his 100th Isle of Man TT race start. The 2008 Senior Manx Grand Prix winner, Adam Barclay crashed at Glen Helen in the early stages of the Superbike TT and the TT newcomer Adrian Clark crashed at Sulby Bridge and both were uninjured. At Guthrie's Memorial the TT competitor Roger Wibberley slipped off his motorcycle as did Derek Brien the 2007 Junior Manx Grand Prix winner. After finishing in twelfth place, William Dunlop after the Superbike TT race while on an impromptu testing session on public roads crashed at 120 mph suffering extensive friction burns and Dunlop explained "....I decided to take the 250 Honda up a wee winding road near Port Erin and sort out a few problems....I had just clicked into fifth gear when I lost it and hit a dry stone wall....I had no leathers on and was just riding in my jeans and a top, but thankfully I had my leathers on." The 250 cc Honda motorcycle was broken into two pieces in the accident and required extensive repairs to compete in the Lightweight TT Race at Billown, Castletown later in TT Race Week.

After the Superbike TT race the former World Motor-Cycling champion and Isle of Man TT winner Giacomo Agostini completed a demonstration parade lap of Snaefell Mountain Course riding a MV Agusta motorcycle accompanied by the current world champion Valentino Rossi riding a 1000 cc Yamaha R1 motorcycle. Both Giacomo Agostini and Valentino Rossi had watched the 2009 Superbike TT race from a vantage point on Quarterbridge Road in Douglas and Valentino Rossi described the experience as;- "Watching from Ago's Leap is impressive, speed is unbelievable even from the outside but I think it feels more fast from the outside. With the walls and houses it is a great show and it feels like a GP from 30 years ago..." Afterwards, Valentino Rossi made the presentations to the winner John McGuinness of the Superbike TT race and congratulated McGuinness by saying;- "You are a true gladiator of the sport to ride that fast at the TT." Describing the parade lap, Giacomo Agostini said that;- "We went as fast today as I used to when I raced here."