Peter Hickman donned the mandatory rookie vest for new drivers on Monday evening as part of the Southern 100 races, participating in the closed-course Billown Circuit sessions. In near-perfect weather conditions, with large crowds filling the side lanes along the 4.25-mile track, the Isle of Man TT absolute lap record holder completed speed-controlled laps alongside other novices.
10th place in the Supersport session.
In the first qualifying session, which started at 18:37, Hickman completed his fourth lap in 2 minutes and 30 seconds on the Swan Racing team's 765cc Triumph, placing him 10th on the list. Ahead of him were local riders Jamie Williams and David Rigby, as well as Conor Cummins, who was returning to the track. The fastest of the session was Paul Jordan on the Jackson Racing Ducati V2, reaching 108.206 mph; Mikey Evans dropped to second place, just two tenths of a second behind. Another Manx rider, Marcus Simpson, temporarily took third place on a similar 765cc Triumph triple. Irishmen Mike Browne and Michael Sweeney shared fourth and fifth place on their 600cc Yamaha R6s, while Barry Furber was between locals Grant Thomson and Paul Cassidy in eighth place.
Among the newcomers, the most impressive performance after Hickman was by local plumber David Rigby, who finished 12th with an average speed of 101.5 mph. Austrian TT regular Julian Trummer (Lebring) finished 16th, just under 100 mph. Valencian Victor Ortega was also among the newcomers to the track.
Superbike and Lightweight sessions
Hickman, riding a Monster Energy BMW, was slightly faster in the Superbike session, finishing 16th in the middle of the 30-man field with a time of 2 minutes 28.87 seconds (102.773 mph). Dean and Nathan Harrison led the session with times of 114.585 mph (2:13.525) and 112.00 mph respectively; the gap between the two Harrisons was over three seconds. Browne and Jordan completed the top four on their Honda Fireblades, while Michael Dunlop finished fifth, ahead of the Manx trio of Simpson, Cummins, and Joe Yeardsley. Evans and Thomson were 12th and 13th.
Jordan also took the lead in the Lightweight/Supertwin category; the Northern Irish rider, reaching a speed of 105.233 mph with his Jackson Racing Aprilia 660, left Yeardsley (Flitwick Motorcycles R7 Yamaha) approximately 1.4 seconds behind. Following Yeardsley were Sweeney, Furber, Rob Hodson, and Jamie Williams in the 37-person grid. In the Supersport B class, Matthew Rostron led with 97.3 mph; followed by Daniel Pearson, Damien Crook, and new riders Joey Lambden, Adrian Hodson, and Nicholas Round.
The accident and our upcoming schedule.
The classic sidecar session was stopped early with a red flag due to an accident involving Carl Fenwick and local passenger Jake Lowther on the second lap. The pair later returned to the paddock with minor injuries.
Eliminations will continue on Tuesday evening with roads closing at 6:00 PM; the final sidecar session will take place on Wednesday morning at approximately 11:00 AM. Roads will close again at 9:45 AM, with the opening Senior solo race over seven laps starting at 10:20 AM. Five races will be held on Wednesday evening (roads closed from 6:00 PM until at least 9:40 PM), followed by four more races on Thursday, starting at 9:30 AM with five solo races and resuming after lunch at 1:30 PM. The Ellan Vannin Fuels Solo Championship will be held over nine laps at 3:20 PM, and the Daryl Blake Construction Classic Sidecar race at 4:00 PM; roads will reopen no later than 4:45 PM.