TT 2018: Michael Dunlop fastest on eve of Superbike race

Dunlop lapped at 132.983mph as he completed his first flying lap of practice week. He achieved a time of 17m 01.391s, despite waved yellow flags on the Mountain Course at Graham Memorial, due to oil on the track following an earlier road traffic accident. The session did not get underway until 6.55pm as a result.

The 29-year-old did three laps in all on the Superbike, with a speed of 132.331mph from a standing start on his first lap.

The session was red flagged following an incident at Hailwood Rise, although Clerk of the Course Gary Thompson confirmed that none of the riders involved had been injured. However, an oil spill caused a further delay of around 30 minutes.

Dunlop, who had switched to his Superstock machine, was unable to complete his lap due to the incident and he went back out on his Superbike for the re-start of the session, lapping at 132.659mph from a standing start before upping his speed on his flying lap to top the leaderboard.

Dean Harrison, whose speed of 133.462mph on Tuesday remains the quickest of the week, was second fastest on Friday with a lap of 131.858mph on the Silicone Engineering Kawasaki.

James Hillier was a big mover on the JG Speedfit Kawasaki as he went third fastest at 130.644mph ahead of David Johnson, who clocked 130.097mph on the Gulf BMW.

Conor Cummins (Padgett’s Honda) lapped at 129.031mph to set the fourth fastest time ahead of Philip Crowe (BMW) at 128.491mph and Honda Racing’s Ian Hutchinson, who was seventh with a speed of 128.006mph.

Peter Hickman concentrated on his Superstock machine and lapped at 130.829mph on the Smiths BMW to lead the times from David Johnson (127.562mph) on the Gulf BMW and Gary Johnson on the RAF Reserves Kawasaki (127.360mph).

In the Supersport class, James Cowton was quickest at 123.378mph on the McAdoo Kawasaki from Gary Johnson (122.874mph) on the Lee Hardy Racing Triumph.

Tobermore’s Adam McLean rounded out the top three on the McAdoo Kawasaki with a speed of 121.473mph.