IOMTT: Supersport race one results

IAN HUTCHINSON won the first TT 2015 Supersport race on Monday evening by 7.7 seconds - his first Isle of Man TT win since a horrendous accident at Silverstone in 2010.

It was Hutchinson’s ninth TT win and marked his comeback from the career-threatening leg injuries he suffered at the end of 2010 at Silverstone, the year he also won all five solo races.

New Zealand’s Bruce Anstey finished in seconds, Gary Johnson third.

Perfect conditions set the scene for a 6:30pm start for the Supersport race after an RTC on open roads at Ballacrye lead to a delay of over two hours.

Johnson led at Glen Helen on the opening lap by just over two seconds from team-mate Dean Harrison, who was half a second ahead of Hutchinson. James Hillier slotted in fifth followed by Anstey and Lee Johnston.

By Ramsey, Johnson had pulled out a further half a second, but Hutchinson was climbing the timing sheets and was up to second, half a second clear of Harrison, who was leading on the roads after overhauling John McGuinness. Anstey was up to fourth in front of Hillier. Johnston held on to sixth while Guy Martin was on the move up to seventh.

Hutchinson continued to close the gap to within two tenths of a second at the Bungalow and his opening lap of 126.400mph saw him lead Johnson by 0.77s. Anstey was a further two seconds behind in third, ahead of Harrison, Johnston and Martin, with Hillier seventh.

Lap two at Glen Helen saw Hutchinson’s lead extend to over two seconds, but it was Anstey who was now in second as Johnson slipped back to third by only seven tenths of a second. Harrison had retired at Crosby Crossroads with Michael Dunlop down to 12th after the first lap and eventually retiring at Kirk Michael.

Hutchinson continued to eke out his advantage, but Anstey and Johnson were neck-and-neck, almost matching each other all the way round. Martin was also increasing his pace, with just over 10 seconds separating the top four.

Ninth-placed Keith Amor crashed at Stella Maris, but fortunately reports suggest he is uninjured.

At the end of the lap, Hutchins still led despite Anstey having a charge over the Mountain with a lap of 126.984mph that allowed him to close to within 2.4 seconds of the Yamaha man. Johnson was a futher two seconds back in third with Martin in fourth, but the Lincolnshire rider was hit with a 30-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane.

Hutchinson had a quick pit stop and by Glen Helen on lap three his advantage over Anstey had almost tripled to 6.6s. Johnston was closing up on Anstey with less than a second separating the pair.

Bingley rider Hutchinson maintained his advantage throughout the third lap. Going into the fourth and final lap he was six seconds ahead of the Anstey. Johnson appeared to be out of contention for second position as he was seven seconds adrift of the Anstey, but well clear of new fourth-placed man Johnston.

Anstey was on his usual last lap charge and brought the gap down to five seconds at Glen Helen, but it was too late. Hutchinson was still responding and eked out another couple of seconds on the run to Ballaugh, giving him a manageable lead.

The 35-year-old Yorkshireman retained control with the fastest lap of the race at 127.571mph, taking the flag form Anstey and Johnson. Lee Johnston secured his best TT finish in fourth. Martin finished in fifth.

Race results – top 20:

1. Ian Hutchinson Yamaha / Team Traction Control 01:12:10.872 125.451mph

2. Bruce Anstey Honda / Valvoline Racing by Padgetts Moto 01:12:18.595 125.228mph

3. Gary Johnson Yamaha / TBC 01:12:35.811 124.733mph

4. Lee Johnston Triumph / East Coast Construction / Burden 01:12:48.591 124.368mph

5. Guy Martin Triumph / Smiths Racing 01:12:58.110 124.097mph

6. James Hillier Kawasaki / Quattro Plant Muc-Off Kawasaki 01:13:24.531 123.353mph

7. John McGuinness Honda / Honda/Jackson Racing 01:13:29.156 123.224mph

8. Conor Cummins Honda / Jackson Racing 01:13:51.604 122.599mph

9. Dan Kneen Honda / Valvoline Padgetts Honda 01:14:12.448 122.025mph

10. Michael Rutter Kawasaki / SMT/Carbridge Racing 01:14:22.389 121.754mph

11. David Johnson Triumph / Smiths Racing 01:14:30.461 121.534mph

12. Ivan Lintin Kawasaki / RC Express Racing 01:14:39.667 121.284mph

13. Cameron Donald Honda / PADGETTS 01:14:51.998 120.951mph

14. Daniel Cooper Honda / www.dancooperracing.com 01:15:00.880 120.712mph

15. Jamie Hamilton Honda / Cookstown Burrows Engineering R 01:15:03.753 120.635mph

16. Steve Mercer Triumph / Steve Mercer 01:15:33.671 119.839mph

17. Jamie Coward Yamaha / Barnes Racing 01:15:35.661 119.787mph

18. James Cowton Honda / PRB By So Many Bikes Racing 01:15:42.194 119.614mph

19. Dan Stewart Honda / Wilcock Consulting 01:16:15.851 118.735mph

20. Derek McGee* Honda / Wilson Craig Racing 01:16:32.318 118.309mph