Michael Dunlop shows his hand in final qualifying session for 2025 Isle of Man TT
Michael Dunlop finally revealed his cards on Sunday afternoon during the final qualifying session for this year's Isle of Man TT Races, following a morning of rain.
The Ballymoney rider took the lead on the Superbike leaderboard, clocking his fastest lap of the week at 132.003mph on his MD Racing BMW Motorrad machine.
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Conor Cummins topped the Superstock class with a speedy 129.835mph lap on his Burrows Engineering/RK Racing BMW. Dean Harrison of Honda Racing led the Supersport runners with a 124.736mph effort.
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Paul Jordan, riding a Jackson Racing Aprilia powered by Prosper2, claimed the top spot in the Supertwin class at 118.584mph, while Ryan and Callum Crowe (Opul/Kelproperties LCR Honda) led the Sidecar leaderboard at 119.337mph.
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The schedule was altered to allow the Sidecars to take the Mountain Course first, despite damp patches lingering at locations such as Greeba Castle, Ballaspur, the 11th Milestone, Kerrowmoar, Glentramman, May Hill and Ramsey Hairpin.
The session kicked off with Founds/Walmsley leading the pack, followed by Crawford/Hardie, Birchall/Rosney, the Crowes - who were testing a new chain - Blackstock/Lawrence, Ellis/Clement, and father-and-son team Gary and Daryl Gibson.
Newcomer George Holden, accompanied by experienced passenger Mark Wilkes, chose to run a tuned engine for the session. However, it was the Crowes who set the pace early on, reaching Glen Helen a full 13 seconds ahead of the rest.
Thanks to the fastest speed through the Sulby speed trap at 162.332mph, they posted an impressive opening lap of 119.337mph, putting them over half a minute ahead of Founds/Walmsley (115.843mph).
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Birchall/Rosney (115.198mph), Crawford/Hardie (115.103mph), Blackstock/Lawrence (112.789mph) and Ellis/Clement (111.314mph) rounded off the top six, with Holden/Wilkes following closely at 109.838mph. Newcomers Clarke/Johnson (109.769mph) and Kershaw/Gibbons (108.393mph) were hot on their heels.
Several teams made pit stops for adjustments or tyre changes, but Birchall/Rosney, Ellis/Clement, and Gibson/Gibson powered straight through. Birchall/Rosney clocked their fastest lap of the week at 115.664mph, while Clarke/Johnson (113.040mph), Ellis/Clement (112.522mph), Kershaw/Gibbons (110.577mph) and Holden/Wilkes (110.048mph) also put in impressive performances - both Kershaw/Gibbons and Holden/Wilkes breaking the 110mph barrier for the first time.
Belgian pair Renzo and Vale van der Donckt upped their game to 107.713mph, with newcomers James Saunders and Sarah Stokoe also climbing the leaderboard at 107.691mph. The session was abruptly halted due to an incident involving Founds/Walmsley at Rhencullen.
Driver Pete Founds was reported to be conscious with arm injuries, while passenger Jevan Walmsley was also reported as conscious with no reported injuries.
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After a brief spell of rain, the combined Superbike/Superstock/Supersport session kicked off at 4:20pm. Shaun Anderson (Team Classic Suzuki) was first off the mark, followed by Dean Harrison, Michael Dunlop, Ian Hutchinson (moolab/MLav Racing BMW), and Josh Brookes (Jackson Racing Honda powered by Prosper2).
Dunlop was quickest through all sectors and posted the fastest open.
In the thrilling lap, the lead was taken by a racer with a speed of 131.683mph, followed closely by Harrison (130.666mph), Davey Todd (129.812mph), Nathan Harrison (129.652mph), Anderson (128.965mph), and Rob Hodson (128.798mph). Brookes also set his fastest lap of the week at 128.359mph.
In the Superstock category, Mike Browne led the pack at 129.697mph, ahead of Cummins (129.204mph), James Hind (128.946mph), Hutchinson (128.443mph), Jordan (127.710mph), and Michael Evans (127.600mph). James Hillier topped the Supersport times early on at 123.021mph, followed by David Johnson (121.278mph) and Michael Sweeney (120.797mph).
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Several riders switched machines after their first laps-Dean Harrison, Brookes, and Hillier among those returning to the course on Supersport, Superstock, and Superbike machinery respectively. Cummins stayed out for a second lap on his Superstock bike and improved to 129.835mph.
Hodson also went again on his Superbike and lapped at 129.135mph. Harrison raised the Supersport benchmark with a 124.736mph lap, edging out Browne (124.272mph) and Evans (123.280mph).
However, all eyes were on Dunlop as he managed to get out for a second lap and delivered a stunning 132.003mph - his fastest of the week and the quickest of the session.
The final session of the day, for the Supertwins, kicked off at 5pm. Paul Jordan led the way at 118.584mph, followed by Adam McLean (118.257mph), Barry Furber (117.913mph), Browne (117.302mph), Todd (116.522mph), and Andrea Majola (116.207mph).
The first races of 2025 are set to kick off on Monday, 2nd June, with the RST x D3O Superbike TT marking the start of the race action. This will be followed by the 3wheeling.media Sidecar TT Race 1 and the Monster Energy Supersport TT Race 1.
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