Sport

Isle of Man TT: Davey Todd comes out on top on the third day of qualifying but red flag ends the sidecars early

Michael Dunlop keeps up his impressive pace in the Superbike and Supersport classes

Davey Todd riding a motorbike through the air in Ballaugh in the Isle of Man during the 2024 TT practice session
Davey Todd leaps Ballaugh Bridge on his Milwaukee BMW during Wednesday evening's TT practice session. PICTURE: STEPHEN DAVISON (stephen davison)

AFTER the second day of qualifying at the TT races was called off due to weather, the action got back underway on the Isle of Man with the Supersport and Superbike and sidecar classes.

The main man of the second session of this year’s races was Davey Todd, fresh from Superstock and Supersport class wins at the North West 200 earlier this month.

Todd, who rides for the Milwaukee BMW Motorrad team, topped the Superbike and Superstock leaderboards, clocking 131.821mph and 130.439mph respectively.

Michael Dunlop was quickest in the Supersport class at 126.917mph, this time on his MD Racing machine as opposed to his Hawk Racing Honda, which he rode on the first day.

Michael Dunlop pulling a wheelie on the Mountain course in the Isle of Man TT 2024
Michael Dunlop on his Honda Fireblade during the Superbike class qualifying session during the 2024 Isle of Man TT. PICTURE: TIM KEETON (Tim Keeton/Impact Images/Tim Keeton/Pacemaker)

The Ballymoney man finished second overall for the day for his Superbike performance, in which he clocked a lap speed of 131.729mph.

The Superbike/Superstock session was the first to take to the Mountain Course, where conditions were bright and sunny albeit breezy.

These conditions seemed to be a world away from the temperamental weather on Tuesday evening, which caused the session to be cancelled with riders lined up on the grid waiting for the tap on the shoulder.

Dean Harrison and Coward were first away (both Honda), followed by James Hiller, Ian Hutchinson (both Honda), Todd and Josh Brookes (BMW)

Michael Rutter (BMW), and Manxman Conor Cummins (Honda) were slow to get away and Harrison was also having issues.

He was slow through each sector and eventually pulled in at Parliament Square in Ramsey.

Todd made up ground to be the second rider to finish his lap behind Jamie Coward.

However, the Yorkshireman was by far the faster man, with his superbike averaging just under 132mph.

Dunlop (Honda) was also over the 130mph barrier at 130.342mph and was followed by Peter Hickman (129.339mph) and Brookes (129.007mph). Hillier was the quickest Superstock machine with a lap of 128.318mph.

Todd chose to take a second trip around the mountain, with many of the big hitters, including Dunlop, opting to call it a day after one lap.

He was slightly slower in his second lap, coming in at 131.745mph and Brookes, who also continued for a second lap on his Superbike, posted 205.098mph through the Sulby speed trap and finished on 129.205mph and left him at ninth place overall for the day.

Last year’s Senior TT champion Peter Hickman was the fastest in the Superstock class, finishing with an average speed of 129.723mph.

Dean Harrison recovered from his earlier troubles to finish fourth on the leaderboard with a speed of 129.226mph.

The Supersport/Supertwin session was up next and Dunlop immediately went quickest (126.034mph) on his Supersport bike with Coward (125.674mph) only 3s slower on his Triumph bike.

Dunlop improved to 126.917mph in his second lap around the mountain with Todd (124.054mph) going third on the leaderboard after his first lap on his Ducati bike.

Jamie Coward was the fastest man on a Supertwin bike on Wednesday, with an average speed of 119.285mph, followed by Peter Hickman and Mike Browne.

Manx brothers Ryan and Callum Crowe took the top spot in the sidecar qualifying table, completing a personal-best lap of 118.814mph.

Ben Birchall and Kevin Rousseau (118.814mph) came in second with Peter Founds and Jevan Walmsley (117.837mph) coming behind them.

However, the session came to an abrupt end when Chris Schofield and passenger Tom Dawkins were airlifted to hospital following a crash during their lap.

Posting on Facebook, Chris Schofield said his sidecar passenger had been discharged from the hospital but he was being kept in for observation, having suffered two small punctures to his lungs, a laceration to his liver, concussion, soft tissue damage and cuts and bruises.

I’m not sure who they are so will people share this around so it gets back to them please. I want to give a massive...

Posted by Chris Schofield on Thursday, May 30, 2024

He thanked marshals and medics who had helped ‘scrape me and Tom off the side of the road’.