Pirelli Riders Podium in every class at TT but rue mechanical DNF’s

Pirelli riders took Isle of Man TT podiums in the Superbike, Superstock and Supersport races but would have scored better results if not for breakdowns and time penalties.

 

Pirelli runners Guy Martin and Gary Johnson celebrated a trio of podiums but rued DNF’s and pitlane time penalties in some fast paced and highly competitive Isle of Man TT racing. Local hero Conor Cummins eased back into the event with respectable times after his massive accident last year, setting himself up for a ‘proper’ challenge in 2012.

Guy Martin had to pull out of a strong second position in Saturday’s Dainese Superbike race with an electrical fault but put things right in Wednesday’s Supersport and Superstock races. Guy was crashed out of the Supersport event after he clipped a protective barrier but made the restart to finish third, after the race was stopped after a fatal accident. The Supersport race was the first TT outing for the 2011 Suzuki GSXR600 and backed up a NW200 win for TAS teammate and fellow Pirelli rider, Alistair Seeley, on the new machine. Guy took another third in the Superstock race but spent much of the event battling Keith Amor on the road, dropping him back from the second step of the podium.

Manxman Conor Cummins steadily improved his lap times during Practice Week but was unlucky to also score DNF’s in the first two events, before finally finishing twelfth in the Superstock race, running on Pirelli Diablo Supercorsa tyres, as used in both Supersport and Superstock classes.

MCE British Superbike ‘Evo’ class rider James Hillier finished eight in the Superbike race after running as high as fourth but had also logged a pit lane penalty.

Pirelli UK’s Racing Manager Jason Griffiths commented on a frustrating week, “The TT isn’t just about outright speed, there is so much pressure on the machine and there have been many DNF’s, especially hitting our riders. The Superbike race was probably the most frustrating as we were running with two strong podium positions until circumstances intervened! On the positive side, the Pirelli Superbike and Supercorsa tyres have fared well, Gary has now proved he can run at the very front in every class and Guy still has the ability to pull that first win out of the bag. We now have two more races to chalk up some podiums but most of all we want a victory before the week is out!”

Racing continues on Wednesday with the Monster Energy Supersport 600 race and culminates on Friday with the ‘big one’; the PokerStars Senior race.