Harrison heads final Senior TT qualifying

Dean Harrison has sent out a warning to hat-trick Isle of Man TT winner Peter Hickman by topping the one-lap Senior TT qualifying to round out a packed Thursday which saw five races take place.

Harrison, who finished runner-up to Hickman in both the second Supersport and Superstock races today, produced a 131.49mph on his Silicone Engineering Kawasaki to beat his rival’s effort of 131.15mph on the Smiths Racing BMW.

Having won the Superbike TT on Monday using a hybrid BMW S1000RR, running a Superstock-specification engine with a Superbike front and rear, Hickman will use tonight to decide which specification bike he’ll use in Friday’s Senior TT.

The Senior race, the blue riband event of the Isle of Man TT, is scheduled to start at 10:00 as preparation to beat the forecasted rain which is predicted to arrive around midday.

Lightweight TT winner Michael Dunlop powered his Tyco BMW to third on the times with a 130.31mph lap ahead of Manx rider Conor Cummins on the Milenco by Padgetts Honda as Penz13.com BMW’s Davey Todd impressively rounded out the top five.

Michael Rutter, who won the TT Zero race moments before the qualifying session, grabbed sixth place on his Bathams Racing Honda ahead of Honda Racing’s David Johnson.

Derek Sheils has placed his Burrows Engineering Suzuki eighth on the times as Sam West (PRL BMW) and Brian McCormack (ON-1 Racing BMW) completed the top 10. Philip Crowe grabbed 11^th ahead of experience TT hands Ian Hutchinson and James Hillier, while John McGuinness produced a low-key 109.69mph lap on the Norton to round out the times in 38^th place.