Pirelli Riders Denied Superbike Finishes

While Ian Hutchinson took the plaudits for an unprecedented five wins on the Isle of Man, Pirelli says Conor Cummins was denied victory by a mechanical fault, which wiped out a 23 second lead in the Superbike TT. Riding on Pirelli tyres, Manxman Conor logged a fastest ever lap in the Superbike race with a devastating 131.511mph average speed, attained unusually on his opening out lap. Fellow Pirelli pilot Guy Martin fell foul of a new pit lane speed limit when lying third, while last year’s 131mph practice man Cameron Donald signalled his return from injury with a battling podium.

A problem with Cummins’ McAdoo Kawasaki left him stranded at the Laurel Bank area of the course on the penultimate lap. Martin went just 0.1kph over the new 60kph pit lane speed limit, giving him a 30-second time penalty. Aussie rider Donald will be rueing what might have been after running straight on at Signpost, dropping him down to 13th. Considering this, his run of fast laps to battle back through to third was quite an achievement. 

A delighted Cameron said: “I couldn’t believe it when I ran on but I thought never give up and it paid off. I really had to pull out the stops on that final lap, I just wanted to get back on the podium here. The grip was really consistent, obviously you get that extra lift every two laps with the new rubber and overall I’m really happy.”

Jason Griffiths, Pirelli Racing Manager and Isle of Man resident commented: “We all feel for Conor, we know he had the speed and was running a sensible race to pull off that first win. Guy was also extremely unlucky but ride of the day has to be Cameron fighting back from thirteenth for a heroic podium. Conor set a new fastest lap on his ‘out lap’ and our feedback from the teams is that the tyres gave good grip performance and durability. Although we’re gutted at the results we know we have three guys capable of battling for the wins.”

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