2022 Isle of Man Superstock TT | Hickman peerless in dominant SSTK TT victory
Fresh from his win in Saturday’s Superbike TT and podium in the first of two Supersport races earlier today, Hickman was yet again the reckoned force on the Gas Monkey FHO BMW M 1000 RR in Superstock trim.
Having set the pace over six days of qualifying practice, Hickman - just as he was during the Superbike TT - was in no mood to hang around as he powered to the top of the timesheets through the first split before steadily multiplying his advantage up to the pit-stop over a keen Davey Todd.
Indeed, though Todd kept him honest initially aboard the Milenco by Padgetts Honda, Hickman had pulled the margin out to more than ten seconds coming back to the Grandstand for the first time.
From here, Hickman began to manage his pace, adding to his margin as Todd began to come under pressure from team-mate Connor Cummins behind him.
Despite losing some time as he came up on traffic - arguably scuppering his hopes of breaking the lap record - Hickman’s victory was nonetheless never in doubt as he crossed the line for his second win of the week and the seventh TT success of his career.
In what wound up to be an almighty tussle for second position, Cummins prevailed over Todd for the runners-up spot, the Manxman pulling himself back into podium contention after a slow start.
Even better for Cummins, his rapid final revolution saw him claim the fastest lap of all with a superb 133.1mph benchmark. Though his agonising wait for a first TT win goes on, this marks his 11th trip to the TT podium.
On a superb evening for the Padgetts squad, Todd completed third position to secure his maiden TT podium, which went a long way to making up for the disappointment of a dramatic rear tyre blowout while in contention for the rostrum in the Superbike TT.
Dean Harrison and Michael Dunlop missed out on a hat-trick of podiums as they followed home in fourth and fifth aboard their respective DAO Kawasaki and MD Racing Honda machines, while Jamie Coward secured third sixth place finish of the week with another eye-catching performance on the KTS Yamaha.
Ian Hutchinson brought it home for seventh place on the Milwaukee BMW, ahead of Dominic Herbertson and John McGuinness in ninth, the 23-time winner enjoying a solid run having led out once again. He fared better than his team-mate Glenn Irwin, who was tipped for a top six finish but retired after the first lap. Philip Crowe completed the top ten.
Elsewhere, there was more disappointment for Lee Johnston, as he retired while in contention for a top five finish. It is the second time this week Johnston’s BMW has failed on him after problems in the Superbike TT, while he was denied a podium in the Supersport race after a slow stop dropped him from third to fourth.
