Racing returns to the island as the Isle of Man TT 2023 gets underway

Fans from around the world have travelled to the Isle of Man to witness the start of the TT races.

Riders were treated to a day of sunshine for the first qualifying session of the racing fortnight.

Michael Dunlop set the pace across all four solo classes during the first qualifying session of the week.

He also set an unofficial lap record, with an average speed of 122.907mph in the Supertwin category.

The Supersport and Supertwin machines were first to set off around the course, with Michael Dunlop and Dean Harrison being the first to head off towards Bray Hill.

They were quickly followed by Michael Rutter and Dominic Herbertson on their Supertwin machines with James Hillier and Paul Jordan next to go, both Supersport-mounted.

Jamie Coward and Josh Brookes were also amongst the early Supertwin starters.

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Riders line up to take on the 37.77-mile Mountain Course. Credit: Isle of Man TT

Harrison was the first to complete a lap at 125.494mph followed by Jordan (121.796mph) and Hillier (120.607mph) but it was Hickman who went quickest at 125.958mph, four seconds faster than Harrison’s lap.

Todd slotted into third with a lap of 123.913mph with Mike Browne (122.161mph) and Conor Cummins (121.554mph) also in the mix.

However, the big news was in the Supertwin class with Dunlop unofficially breaking the lap record from a standing start at 122.907mph.

This was almost half a minute quicker than Coward (119.758mph) with Brian McCormack (118.971mph), Herbertson (115.895mph), Brookes (115.518mph) and Junior Manx GP winner Francesco Curinga (115.183mph) completing the early leaderboard.

Hickman continued for a second lap on the K2 Trooper Triumph and improved to 126.814mph with Todd (124.604) and David Johnson (121.788) also bettering their opening lap speed only for Dunlop to go to the top of the leaderboard with a lap of 127.019mph, 1.7seconds quicker than Hickman.

Supertwin speeds were also on the up with Herbertson (116.821), Brookes (116.470) and Rutter (116.425) all going quicker second time around.

Michael Dunlop unofficially broke the lap record from a standing start in the Supertwin category. Credit: Isle of Man TT

The Superbikes and Superstocks were next out at 2.45pm, and Harrison was quick out the blocks delivering the first lap over 130mph with a speed of 130.752mph on his Superbike.

John McGuinness (127.881mph) and James Hillier (127.581mph) were next quickest on their Superbike mounts with Rutter (125.888) and Brookes (125.742) not too far behind, Rutter on the RC213V-S and Brookes on the Superstock BMW.

Hickman was late out on track but immediately slotted into second on the Superbike leaderboard with a lap of 130.272mph with Coward (127.975mph) going third quickest.

Dunlop switched to his Superbike and posted a lap of 130.658mph but Harrison increased his pace on lap two to 131.764mph as did Hickman (131.254mph), McGuinness (129.398mph), Coward (129.017mph) and Todd (128.211mph).

Dunlop saved the best until last though with a final lap of 131.782mph putting him quickest on the Superbike despite smoke reported to be coming from the Fireblade.

Brookes was second fastest in the Superstock class with a second lap speed of 126.404mph ahead of Phil Crowe (126.067mph) and Mike Browne (125.262mph).

Meanwhile, newcomers Erno Kostamo (115.468mph), Matthieu Lagrive (111.839mph), Ryan Cringle (111.658mph), Jack Petrie (107.696mph), Jorge Halliday (107.527mph) all had a successful first day around the Mountain Course.

The Birchall brothers lining up on the start line for the first sidecar practice session of the week. Credit: Isle of Man TT

The final session of the day was for the Sidecars with Founds and Walmsley setting the initial pace on their FHO Racing Honda at 116.286mph, six seconds quicker than the Birchall’s lap of 115.689mph.

Founds and Lowther slotted into third (113.485) ahead of Molyneux and Sayle (112.082) and Bryan and Hyde (111.944).

Both Founds/Walmsley and the Birchalls upped their pace on lap two with the former coming out on top by 2.7seconds with a lap of 117.431mph compared to 117.153mph.

Newcomer driver Daryl Gibson, who was passenger for Molyneux twelve months ago, impressed with a lap of 107.497mph with Tom Christie.

Tomorrow’s qualifying session is set to get underway at 18:30.

The Isle of Man TT 2023 takes place from Monday 29 May to Friday 10 June.

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