Ian Hutchinson made history on Friday when he became the first man to win 5 TT Races in a week after clinching a shortened 4-lap Dainese Senior race in what was a dramatic day‰Ûªs racing on the Isle of Man.
Hutchinson took the lead from the start and when close challengers John McGuinness and Conor Cummins retired and crashed respectively he was able to ease off in the closing stages to come home 37.77 seconds clear of Ryan Farquhar and Bruce Anstey. He beat the record of 11 time champion Phillip McCallen who was previously the only man in the races 103 year history to win 4 races in a week, which he achieved in 1996.
The initial 6-lap race got underway under blue skies and beautiful sunshine again and spectators were set for a thriller as Hutchinson, McGuinness, Cummins and Guy Martin went head to head over the first two laps. With all four lapping at over 130mph, there were less than six seconds splitting the quartet after the first pit stop, McGuinness leading the way from Martin, Cummins and Hutchinson.
Australian Cameron Donald was forced to retire at the end of lap 1 with an intermittent electrical problem, which was very disappointing for the Australian, as he had been within two seconds of Hutchinson at Glen Helen on the opening lap.
"I'm obviously bitterly disappointed not to have finished the race, as I was fired up and ready to have a go today," Donald said.
"For the Senior, we decided that my first lap pit-boards would show the deficit to the leader and not the man in front of me. So when I saw I was only two seconds back on my first signal, I knew we were on the money. I was catching Keith Amor in front of me on the run to Ramsey when the surging started and it gradually got worse over the Mountain. The bike just didn't feel right and I didn't want to take any chances. The boys did all they could for me today and I gave it my best shot," Donald lamented.
