Louth star Hickman wins silverware at TT Races

Louth racer Peter Hickman added another podium to his past Isle of Man TT successes in the RST Superbike race.

Riding the Monster Energy BMW Motorrad Superbike by 8TEN Racing, 14-times TT winner Hickman eased himself into the 37.75 mile Mountain course during qualifying, gradually building up speed throughout the week and completing the Superbike and Supersport classes as the second fastest rider, the Sportbike third and, even with some technical issues, was 12th in the Superstock class.

An elated Hickman said: “We had good race pace and I finally got into my rhythm in the last few laps.

“I am so happy to be on the podium in second place. I’m looking forward to seeing what we can do on Senior Day. 

“It was awesome to see so many people out there around the mountain course enjoying it too.

“Thanks to all the team at 8TEN Racing for all their work this week, it was mega to see them all in the winner’s enclosure.”

Bad weather conditions postponed the Superstock race which was due to run on Saturday so the competitors went straight into the gruelling six lap Superbike race on Sunday.

As the race got underway he was running in third place behind Dean Harrison and Michael Dunlop on time.

At the end of the first 37.75 mile lap he recorded a speed of 133.176mph and was just a couple of seconds away from Dunlop, and by the time he arrived at Ramsey on lap two he was briefly up into second place.

At some sectors Dunlop had the edge and moved ahead and at others Hickman reeled the time back in.

After a speedy pit stop for refuelling, Hickman made up ground and was less than a second behind Dunlop at the Glen Helen checkpoint and by the end of the third lap was back in second place.

Hickman held second by a small margin on lap four with nothing between them at the end of the lap.

Another rapid pit stop gave Hickman the edge on Dunlop and he remained in second place at every checkpoint.

Going into the final lap Hickman had a seven second advantage which he extended to 12.6s as he crossed the finish line for second place, recording his fastest lap of 134.587mph.

Hickman was set to ride in two races on Tuesday - the four lap Supersport race and the  three lap Sportbike event.

On Wednesday he will contest the three lap Superstock race and Friday the second Supersport and Sportbike classes ahead of the high profile Senior TT on Saturday.