Dunlop sets unofficial outright lap record in final qualifying

Ballymoney man dominates on final day before racing begins

Michael Dunlop set an unofficial outright lap record and supertwin lap record time during a busy final qualifying session of TT 2023 today (2 June).

Along with the change in time from evening to afternoon for this session, there was also a change in the running order as the sidecars were this time the first out on the Snaefell Mountain Course.

Having been the fastest outfit on the opening day, Pete Founds & Jevan Walmsley topped the charts today at 117.807mph with Ryan & Callum Crowe on their tail again in second at 116.452mph and Tim Reeves & Mark Wilkes making up the top three timings at 113.509mph.

Ben & Tom Birchall - who set an unofficial sidecar lap record last night and the fastest sidecar times of the previous three days - didn't set a flying lap as they stopped at least once on their only lap today to make mechanical adjustments.

Supertwin and supersport machines were next out, and Michael Dunlop took the first headline of the outing as he set a new unofficial supertwin lap record on his MD Racing Paton at 123.474mph, eclipsing his previous unofficial lap record in the class of 122.907mph earlier in the week.

That blistering pace meant the nearest competitor in the supertwins this afternoon, Jamie Coward was a full 21.7 seconds behind at second-fastest (121.08mph) whilst third in the timings in the class was another good ride from Mike Browne who clocked 119.522mph.

Dunlop was also the dominate force once more on the supersport machines, setting the quickest pace of 127.51mph, but once again he had company towards the top with Dean Harrison just under 2.5 seconds down on his time in second (127.216mph) and Davey Todd just under 13 seconds back from Harrison at third (125.715mph).

And it wasn't over for the Ballymoney man who saved the most dramatic lap until the tail end of the session on his Hawk Racing Honda as he clocked an unofficial outright lap record of 135.531mph for the fastest time of the day.

Hickman, the current outright lap record holder, went second-fastest just outside record pace also at 134.91mph - making up the top three was Dean Harrison also over the 134mph mark (134.216mph).

Elsewhere in the superstocks, only eleven machines finished at least one lap today with Todd at the fastest time in the class (131.08mph) with Browne (129.664mph) and James Hillier (129.099mph) slotting into second and third respectively.

Tomorrow will see the first race day of TT 2023 featuring the Supersport TT Race 1 and Sidecar TT Race 1 - roads around the TT course are currently due to shut at 10am and will reopen no later than 9.30pm.