The Fastlane Motorsports Forum

Bottom post of the previous page:

Andy wrote: ↑5 years ago Peter Hickman has won the Robert Holden trophy in the Open race in his first participation !
Hickman had a not so good start position and managed to follow a group with Horst Saiger. At the front Scott Moir blasted away and it looked like he'd win it. Halfway through the race, Horst Saiger managed to clinch 2nd position and defended it very well. With four to go Hickman started a blast seldom seen. From the tail end of the group he fought until he got behind Saiger. Moir in front still looked comfortable in the lead but with the start of the final lap Hickman was on a charge and the gap diminished until it all went down to a last lap, final corner do or die move in which Hickman clinched the victory followed by Scott Moir and Horst Saiger.
Great racing

mattia2 wrote: ↑5 years ago

Andy wrote: ↑5 years ago Peter Hickman has won the Robert Holden trophy in the Open race in his first participation !
Hickman had a not so good start position and managed to follow a group with Horst Saiger. At the front Scott Moir blasted away and it looked like he'd win it. Halfway through the race, Horst Saiger managed to clinch 2nd position and defended it very well. With four to go Hickman started a blast seldom seen. From the tail end of the group he fought until he got behind Saiger. Moir in front still looked comfortable in the lead but with the start of the final lap Hickman was on a charge and the gap diminished until it all went down to a last lap, final corner do or die move in which Hickman clinched the victory followed by Scott Moir and Horst Saiger.
Great racing

I Think Hickman will dominate a lot in the next years. He's so good on the bike that it's impossible to anyone to match him race by race. His last lat at last year's Senior TT was fuckin' unbelievable, and with better luck he can easily cut out at least 10 more seconds.
Also, did you hear anything about Micheal Dunlop selling his team's signs on facebook? I'm really afraid that he's quitting, even if i can understand why he's doing that. The death of William was too much for him, with Robert's death he was racing the next day, this time he didn't show up in months...

Everso Biggyballies wrote: ↑5 years ago Im firmly with @Andy on this one, and saw his post as an excellent appraisal of where Michael is now. Clearly a bit mentally burned out with all his issues re the tragedies, and I am sure there is great family pressures being put on him. I do believe that a return at some stage, even a more selective and reduced campaign, will happen at some stage.... Racing is part of his DNA.

I also think and agreethat Hickman and Harrisson will push each other to even greater heights. I dont see either one as going to be totally dominant.

Andy wrote: ↑5 years ago

mattia2 wrote: ↑5 years ago

Andy wrote: ↑5 years ago Peter Hickman has won the Robert Holden trophy in the Open race in his first participation !
Hickman had a not so good start position and managed to follow a group with Horst Saiger. At the front Scott Moir blasted away and it looked like he'd win it. Halfway through the race, Horst Saiger managed to clinch 2nd position and defended it very well. With four to go Hickman started a blast seldom seen. From the tail end of the group he fought until he got behind Saiger. Moir in front still looked comfortable in the lead but with the start of the final lap Hickman was on a charge and the gap diminished until it all went down to a last lap, final corner do or die move in which Hickman clinched the victory followed by Scott Moir and Horst Saiger.
Great racing

I Think Hickman will dominate a lot in the next years. He's so good on the bike that it's impossible to anyone to match him race by race. His last lat at last year's Senior TT was fuckin' unbelievable, and with better luck he can easily cut out at least 10 more seconds.
Also, did you hear anything about Micheal Dunlop selling his team's signs on facebook? I'm really afraid that he's quitting, even if i can understand why he's doing that. The death of William was too much for him, with Robert's death he was racing the next day, this time he didn't show up in months...

Dean Harrison and Peter Hickman will be chasing each other and push themselves. They both broke records at TT last year and if it wasn't for Dean pushing, Peter wouldn't have posted the 135 mph lap.

Yes, I did see Michael Dunlop selling team furniture on facebook but I think it doesn't have much to do with quitting. I've seen it before when teams were re-designed, mainly due to new sponsors requiring their colours somewhere. This is nothing new, especially for smaller and privateer teams. There's still quite some speculation on Michael's future but even this ain't something new. He's usually very late announcing anything. I wouldn't blame him, calling it quit on his active career as a rider following last years events but I somehow doubt he'd pull out completely. Michaels dad, the late Robert Dunlop, came back from injuries which would have lead a different person calling it quit entirely. If Michael doesn't return to TT this year, then because he needs more time to get over the loss of his brother and make up his mind against some family pressure, which I assume to be there.
One last thing, and this is just a play with my own thoughts, he could have called it a day the moment he came across his dad laying at Mather's Cross on that fateful day in 2008 but instead of quitting, he went on to win the 250 race from Christian Elkin and John McGuinness two days later. The very class his dad had entered.

In other news, Martin Jessopp announced the other day that he won't return to the TT following another announcement that the team run by him and his dad had been dissolved.

BSN wrote:Road racing killed his father and his uncle. And little has been heard of Michael Dunlop’s intentions since a crash during practice at Skerries took brother William’s life last year.

It will have been a period of intense introspection for the Ballymoney man - relieved by his first appearance in public at his brother’s posthumous induction to the Hall of Fame last week - but if the rumours are correct he will be back at the TT, if not before, and on a BMW Superbike with an Ireland-based team…

Road racing in Ireland is not just a profession or a hobby. It is a calling, a way of life and never more clearly demonstrated than William and Michael’s insistence on racing at the 2008 North West 200, against all advice, following the death of father Robert days before.

If this is the case, then there will be a serious challenger to Peter Hickman and Dean Harrison’s King of the Roads claim, although it is difficult to see past either of them. Who can forget their titanic duel in last year’s Pokerstars Senior TT when Hickman outsprinted his rival, creating an all-time lap record of 135.452mph, in a last lap dash over the Mountain to snatch victory.

It came after Harrison’s opening lap of 133.678mph, a one-time lead of 6.2 seconds and a final lap of 134.918mph were, in the end, just not enough. .....

Andy wrote: ↑5 years ago

mattia2 wrote: ↑5 years ago

Andy wrote: ↑5 years ago Peter Hickman has won the Robert Holden trophy in the Open race in his first participation !
Hickman had a not so good start position and managed to follow a group with Horst Saiger. At the front Scott Moir blasted away and it looked like he'd win it. Halfway through the race, Horst Saiger managed to clinch 2nd position and defended it very well. With four to go Hickman started a blast seldom seen. From the tail end of the group he fought until he got behind Saiger. Moir in front still looked comfortable in the lead but with the start of the final lap Hickman was on a charge and the gap diminished until it all went down to a last lap, final corner do or die move in which Hickman clinched the victory followed by Scott Moir and Horst Saiger.
Great racing

I Think Hickman will dominate a lot in the next years. He's so good on the bike that it's impossible to anyone to match him race by race. His last lat at last year's Senior TT was fuckin' unbelievable, and with better luck he can easily cut out at least 10 more seconds.
Also, did you hear anything about Micheal Dunlop selling his team's signs on facebook? I'm really afraid that he's quitting, even if i can understand why he's doing that. The death of William was too much for him, with Robert's death he was racing the next day, this time he didn't show up in months...

.....
Yes, I did see Michael Dunlop selling team furniture on facebook but I think it doesn't have much to do with quitting. I've seen it before when teams were re-designed, mainly due to new sponsors requiring their colours somewhere. This is nothing new, especially for smaller and privateer teams. There's still quite some speculation on Michael's future but even this ain't something new. He's usually very late announcing anything. I wouldn't blame him, calling it quit on his active career as a rider following last years events but I somehow doubt he'd pull out completely. Michaels dad, the late Robert Dunlop, came back from injuries which would have lead a different person calling it quit entirely. If Michael doesn't return to TT this year, then because he needs more time to get over the loss of his brother and make up his mind against some family pressure, which I assume to be there.
One last thing, and this is just a play with my own thoughts, he could have called it a day the moment he came across his dad laying at Mather's Cross on that fateful day in 2008 but instead of quitting, he went on to win the 250 race from Christian Elkin and John McGuinness two days later. The very class his dad had entered.
....

Everso Biggyballies wrote: ↑5 years ago Im firmly with @Andy on this one, and saw his post as an excellent appraisal of where Michael is now. Clearly a bit mentally burned out with all his issues re the tragedies, and I am sure there is great family pressures being put on him. I do believe that a return at some stage, even a more selective and reduced campaign, will happen at some stage.... Racing is part of his DNA.

I also think and agreethat Hickman and Harrisson will push each other to even greater heights. I dont see either one as going to be totally dominant.

mattia2 wrote:.....
For the Dunlop thing maybe you're right, but to me his disapperance it's just strange. i can understand it of course, but i think he's seriously thinking to rest at home and not race for at least a period of time, which can be a few months or even some years like other guys did in the past. I don't know, we'll se what will happen in 2019...

Michael Dunlop has confirmed that he will return to international road racing this season with Tyco BMW.

The Ballymoney rider has not competed since his brother William was killed in practice at the Skerries 100 last July. .....

The rider's full programme of events for Tyco BMW will be announced in the coming weeks.

Everso Biggyballies wrote: ↑5 years ago I hope it goes well for him and there are no bad omens in this. He was never going to retire, but I was not expecting a full season..... having said that the press release does not confirm a full season, and is a bit open ended.

The rider's full programme of events for Tyco BMW will be announced in the coming weeks.