Lee Johnston won his first career TT, taking the first of two Supersport TT events at the 2019 Isle of Man TT. Johnston won the race, shortened from four laps to two due to rain, averaging a speed of 126.449 mph on the Mountain Course.

James Hillier held the lead early in the race, but Johnston took over the lead near the end of the first lap. As the skies opened up on the second lap, race organizers made the call to reduce the race length.

Johnston led Hillier by 3.9 seconds after passing through Glen Helen on his second lap, with Peter Hickman an additional half a second behind. Hillier then started gaining on Johnston, cutting the lead to within a second. If the race had continued on its scheduled length, Hillier may have regained the lead had he kept that momentum. Instead, it was Johnston earning his first TT win, with Hickman in third, all three podium finishers with average speeds topping 126 mph.

James Hillier led early and came on strong late but was unable to beat Lee Johnston.

Peter Hickman finished third for his second podium of the day following his win in the Superbike TT.

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Lee Johnston Wins Monster Energy Supersport TT Race 1

Lee Johnston took his maiden victory at the Isle of Man TT Races fuelled by Monster Energy when the Ashcourt Racing Yamaha rider won Monday evening’s Monster Energy Supersport TT Race 1 by 3.6s from James Hillier (Quattro Plant Wicked Coatings Kawasaki) with Peter Hickman (Trooper Beer by Smiths Racing Triumph) taking third.

In the post-race press conference an emotional Johnston explained that running his own operation rather than being factory backed suited him: “Because we built and designed the bike from scratch it means a lot more – it’s a personal thing.’

Hillier had set the initial pace before Johnston took control at the end of the first lap but conditions on the second lap saw rain falling on the west part of the circuit and organisers took the decision to end the race after two of the scheduled four laps.

Hillier led at Glen Helen on the opening lap – his lead over Johnston 1.3s with Gary Johnson slotting into third, a further 1.2s in arrears. Dean Harrison was lying in fourth as Jamie Coward and Michael Dunlop moved into fifth and sixth.

By Ballaugh, Hillier still led, adding three tenths of a second to his lead and although second to fourth positions remained the same, Hickman moved up to fifth ahead of Coward.

At the head of the field, Hillier was pressing on but it was still extremely close and Johnston had brought the deficit down to 0.6s at Ramsey Hairpin with Johnson still in third two seconds further back. Less than five seconds covered the leading six riders as they started the Mountain climb for the first time.

Johnston was on the move though, taking the lead as they swept over the tramlines at the Bungalow, and an opening lap speed of 126.03mph gave him a lead of 1.989s over Hillier with Hickman the new third place rider only a further 1.9s adrift. Johnson dropped back to fourth as Harrison and Dunlop ended the lap in fifth and sixth.

Second time around at Glen Helen and Johnston extended his lead over Hillier to 3.9s and Hickman was now only half a second behind the Kawasaki rider. Harrison moved up to fourth at the expense of Johnson with Dunlop still sitting in sixth but unable to make any impression on the riders ahead of him.

Hillier had a superb run from Glen Helen to Ballaugh to bring the gap back down to 0.6s and by Ramsey the pairing had almost matched each other mile for mile with the difference now 0.7s. Hickman was only 3.6s behind Hillier with Harrison now fourth and Dunlop fifth as Johnson slipped back to sixth.

However, rain was beginning to fall on the west part of the circuit and the chequered flag came out at the end of the lap with Johnston getting his maiden TT victory by 3.6s from Hillier with Hickman taking his second podium of the day in third.

Harrison, Dunlop and Conor Cummins took fourth to sixth place positions as Johnson, Coward – the first of the privateers to finish – Davey Todd and Ian Hutchinson completed the top ten.

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Ben Birchall and Tom Birchall continue to dominate the Isle of Man TT‘s sidecar class, winning for the sixth consecutive race while setting a new race record time of 57:24.005 (averaging 118.317 mph on the Mountain Course).

The Birchall brothers led early, leading the team of John Holden and Lee Cain by just over four seconds through Glen Helen. That lead had doubled by the time they go to Ramsey at the north end of the island. After the first lap, Team Birchall led by nearly 15 seconds.

The second lap saw more of the same as the Birchalls extended their lead. Holden and Cain remained in second with an 18-second advantage over Alan Founds and Jake Lowther. When the Birchalls passed Ramsey, they were seven seconds ahead than their own Sidecar TT race record pace.

Ben Birchall and Tom Birchall have now won nine Sidecar TT races. Tom Birchall is the new all-time leader in TT wins for sidecar passengers, breaking a tie with Rick Long and Dan Sayle at eight apiece.

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Ben and Tom Birchall Take Sixth Consecutive Sidecar TT Race Win in New Race Record

Ben and Tom Birchall took a dominant victory in Monday’s Locate.im Sidecar TT Race at the 2019 Isle of Man TT races, fuelled by Monster Energy, as they swept to victory by 48.116s from John Holden/Lee Cain with Alan Founds/Jake Lowther completing the podium in third.

With a new race record of 57:24.005 (118.317mph), it was the sixth win in a row for the Birchall brothers and ninth in total as Tom became the most successful passenger in TT history bettering the previous best of eight wins he had jointly held with Rick Long and Dan Sayle.

The Birchalls set the pace through Glen Helen on the opening lap with their advantage over Holden/Cain some 4.1s as Pete Founds/Jevan Walmlsey slotted into third a further 5.8s in arrears. They were only 0.362s ahead of Founds/Lowther though as Gary Bryan/Phil Hyde and Lewis Blackstock/Patrick Rosney rounded out the top six.

However, the race saw two big name retirements early on as Tim Reeves and Mark Wilkes only got as far as the Bottom of Bray Hill with Dave Molyneux/Harry Payne not faring much better as they retired at Braddan Bridge.

By Ramsey, the Birchalls had increased their lead and the gap to Holden/Cain was now 8.7s but the battle for third was a lot closer and it was Founds/Lowther who were now in third just 0.588s ahead of Founds/Walmsley, the duo now almost 12 seconds adrift of Holden/Cain. Blackstock/Rosney had moved up to fifth with newcomers Ryan and Callum Crowe running in a brilliant sixth place.

At the head of the field, an opening lap of 117.709mph gave the Birchalls a lead over Holden/Cain of 14.904s who were in turn more than 15 seconds clear of the battle for third that continued to rage. It was Founds/Lowther who continued to hold onto the final podium position though with the gap to Founds/Walmsley having increased slightly to 1.687s.

The big news came in fifth place though as the Crowe brothers lapped at 112.56mph to become the fastest sidecar newcomers ever, bettering the mark of 112.031mph set by Tim Reeves in 2008. Blackstock/Rosney slotted into sixth.

By Glen Helen on lap two, the Birchalls extended their lead further with their advantage over Holden/Cain now at a more than healthy 21.3s whilst Founds/Lowther remained in third albeit almost 18s in arrears. Pete Founds, Crowe and Blackstock continued to occupy fourth to sixth.

Throughout lap two, the Birchalls were on lap record pace and at Ramsey Hairpin they were over seven seconds inside their record from twelve months ago. However, the wind over the Mountain appeared to have slowed their progress although a lap of 119.129mph was only a second outside their outright lap record.

Holden/Cain lapped at 117.01mph to remain in third but Founds/Lowther and Founds/Walmsley both set personal best laps of the Mountain Course as they lapped at 116.22mph and 115.77mph respectively. The gap between the two was now 6.2s and although they remained in fifth, the Crowe brothers went quicker still second time around with a lap of 113.53mph.

On the third and final lap, the Birchalls continued to extend their lead through the timing points and they duly crossed the line at 118.12mph to win from Holden/Cain by 48.116s.

Founds/Lowther took their second TT podium, and first since 2016, as they edged out Founds/Walmsley by just 5.5s, the duo both lapping quicker than the previous lap at 116.37mph and 116.44mph respectively.

Ryan and Callum Crowe took a brilliant fifth place ahead of Blackstock/Rosney as Bryan/Hyde, Conrad Harrison/Andy Winkle, Allan Schofield/Steve Thomas and the father and son pairing of Gary and Daryl Gibson completed the top ten.

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Peter Hickman opened the 2019 Isle of Man TT by winning a shortened RST Superbike TT. Already reduced from six to four laps, the Superbike TT was called on the third lap after a crash at Snugborough that took the life of racer Daley Mathison. The race was immediately red flagged, with results reverting to times after the second lap.

Dean Harrison led after the opening lap, with Hickman a close second and Conor Cummins within striking distance, all three posting an average lap speed over 130 mph. Harrison continued to lead for most of the second lap, but Hickman caught up over the last seven miles, finishing 1.7 seconds faster.

Before the race was called, the riders headed to their planned pit stops, and by Glen Helen, Hickman’s lead over Harrison was reduced to just 0.69 seconds. Harrison didn’t get the chance to get any closer as the red flag was waved shortly after.

Dean Harrison led after the first lap, averaging a speed of 132.483 mph.

Conor Cummings was another ten seconds back of Hickman and Harrison when the race was called.

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Hickman Wins RST Superbike Race After Red Flag Incident

Peter Hickman took victory at the opening race of the 2019 Isle of Man TT races fuelled by Monster Energy when he won a shortened RST Superbike race on the Smiths Racing BMW by 1.782s from Dean Harrison (Silicone Engineering Kawasaki) with Conor Cummins completing the podium in third on the Milenco by Padgetts Motorcycles Honda.

After the weather affected the race programme earlier in the week, the race was scheduled to be held over a reduced four laps but an incident at Snugborough on the third lap brought out the red flag just as the leaders were passing through Glen Helen on the third lap with the result subsequently declared at the end of the second lap.

After a slight delay of twenty minutes, the race got underway at 11.05am with good, dry conditions reported all around the Mountain Course although the competitors would again have to contend with winds of 25-30mph.

Harrison led at Glen Helen on the opening lap – his advantage over Hickman just 1.1s – with James Hillier a further second back in third. Cummins was only a tenth of a second behind the Kawasaki man as Michael Dunlop and Michael Rutter completed the top six. Three of the fancied runners – John McGuinness, Lee Johnston and Ian Hutchinson – were down the order though in 14th, 15th and 16th respectively.

The gap between Harrison and Hickman remained the same at Ballaugh as Cummins moved up to third and by Ramsey Hairpin, it was still close with Harrison’s lead just 1.4s. Cummins was now 3.8s adrift of Hickman but almost eight seconds clear of Hillier.

An opening lap of 132.48mph gave Harrison a lead over Hickman of just one second with Cummins still in third but now 4.8s behind the BMW rider. They were the only three riders to lap at more than 130mph with Hillier, Dunlop and Rutter continuing to fill fourth to sixth places. McGuinness pulled into the pits though with an oil pressure issue whilst Derek McGee also retired.

Harrison eked out another half second on the run to Glen Helen as he and Hickman remained neck and neck and although Cummins still sat in third place, he was now over eight seconds behind the race leader. Hillier still occupied fourth but Rutter had now overhauled Dunlop for fifth.

A superb sector between Glen Helen and Ballaugh enabled Harrison to increase his lead to 4.8s with Cummins a similar distance behind in third. By the time they reached Ramsey for the second time, Harrison led on the road with his advantage cut back slightly by Hickman to four seconds. Manxman Cummins was now 6.3s behind Hickman.

However, Hickman utilised his prowess over the Mountain and although he was still in second place at the Bungalow, he was now only 0.045s behind Harrison. Cummins was leading on the road again as well but by the end of the lap, the Burton upon Trent rider was ahead for the first time, his second lap of 132.947mph giving him a gap of 1.7s over Harrison.

Hillier broke the 130mph barrier to maintain his hold on fourth and he was now almost 13 seconds ahead of Rutter with Dunlop still in sixth. David Johnson was up to seventh with Jamie Coward, Gary Johnson and Davey Todd rounding out the top ten.

After the single pit stop, Hickman still led but through Glen Helen for the third time, the gap had come down again to 0.690s with Cummins a further ten and a half seconds back in third. There was change in fourth though as Hillier dropped back to seventh and fourth to sixth was now Rutter, Dunlop and David Johnson.

However, the red flag came out shortly afterwards with the result declared at the end of lap two giving Hickman his third victory around the Mountain Course with Harrison and Cummins completing the podium positions.

Hillier was awarded fourth ahead of Rutter and Dunlop with David Johnson, Coward, Gary Johnson and Todd completing the top ten.

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English racer Daley Mathison has died after crashing during the third lap of the Superbike TT race. He was 27.

The news was confirmed in a message his wife, Natalie Mathison, posted on Twitter:

Mathison has three career TT podiums, all in the TT Zero representing Nottingham University. In last year’s TT Zero (pictured at top), Mathison set the second fastest ever lap in the electric class, averaging a speed of 119.294 mph.

Here’s the official statement from the Isle of Man TT organizers, ACU Events:

ACU Events Ltd regrets to confirm that Daley Mathison, 27, from Stockton on Tees, Durham was killed in an incident during the Superbike Race today at the Isle of Man TT Races. The accident occurred at Snugborough, just over 2 miles into the Course, on the 3rd lap of the race.

Daley was an experienced competitor and was seeded 19th for today’s race. He made his Mountain Course debut in the 2013 Manx Grand Prix Newcomers A Race, finishing fifth. His TT career included three consecutive podiums in the TT Zero electric bike Race in 2016, 2017 and 2018 including the runner up position in the race last year, representing Nottingham University.

He also achieved an 11th place finish in last year’s Superstock Race and a pair of 13th place finishes in the 2017 and 2018 Senior TT Races.

He set his fastest lap of the Mountain Course – 128.054mph – in the 2018 Superstock race which made him the 34th fastest rider of all time. He set the second fastest TT Zero lap ever with lap of 119.294mph in the 2018 race.

In total he started 19 TT Races with 14 finishes and 3 podiums and won 6 silver and 8 bronze replicas

ACU Events Ltd wishes to pass on their deepest sympathy to Daley’s wife Natalie, his family and friends.

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