TT 2023: Peter Hickman retains Senior trophy with all-conquering display in fastest ever TT race

It was Hickman’s 13th victory at the event as he dominated the six-lap showdown, winning by 19.9s from DAO Racing Kawasaki’s Dean Harrison.

Michael Dunlop, who beat Hickman in the RST Superbike opener, had to settle for third on the Hawk Racing Honda.

Dunlop also won four races to increase his tally to 25 victories, but the Northern Ireland rider will have to wait at least another year for the chance to equal his uncle Joey’s all-time record of 26 wins.

Hickman set a new Senior TT lap record of 135.507mph (16m 42.366s) on his second lap as he slowed for the first pit-stop, although his searing 136.358mph lap in the second Superstock race on Friday is the fastest ever recorded around the 37.73-mile Mountain Course.

The 36-year-old also established a new Senior race record in the fastest ever six-lap race in history at the TT, completing the 226.38-mile distance in a time of 1h 42m 29.488s.

Hickman also set new sector records on the run from Glen Helen to Ballaugh (lap one) and the Grandstand to Ballaugh (lap two).

On the opening lap, Harrison held a slender advantage of half-a-second over Hickman at Glen Helen, with Dunlop 2.2s back in third.

Hickman, though, was ahead of Harrison by 3.4s at Ballaugh Bridge and was never headed again.

An opening lap of 135.349mph – the fastest ever from a standing start – gave him a cushion of 6.1s over Harrison, who was 3.9s clear of Dunlop.

Manx rider Conor Cummins was fourth on the Milenco by Padgett’s Honda after the first lap, 14.8s down on Dunlop, with OMG Yamaha’s James Hillier in fifth.

Mike Browne retired in the pits after the opening lap, saying he was unhappy with the handling of the Burrows Engineering/RK Racing BMW.

Hickman’s advantage had increased to 8.7s at Ramsey on lap two over Harrison, who had extended his lead over Dunlop to 6.8s.

A new Senior TT lap record of 135.507mph put Hickman 11.8s up on Harrison at the end of lap two as they slowed for their pit-stops.

A fast stop for Harrison allowed him to close the deficit to eight seconds at Glen Helen on the third lap, but Hickman soon made up ground and was 9.9s clear at the end of the lap.

On lap four, Hickman clocked a speed of 134.822mph ahead of his second pit-stop for an increased margin of 12.3s over Yorkshireman Harrison.

Dunlop was unable to make any inroads into Harrison as he fell 21 seconds behind the Kawasaki rider, although he was comfortably ahead of fourth-placed Cummins by almost a minute.

With such a commanding lead, Hickman was able to manage the race over the final two laps.

The Louth man completed the penultimate lap almost 16s up on Harrison and extended his lead to 21.6s at Ramsey.

Hickman had overtaken Dunlop on the road and set a final speed of 134.842mph on his sixth and final lap to close out a victory by 19.98s from Harrison.

Dunlop was 20.43s further adrift in third, with Cummins taking fourth, 1m 30.917s behind Dunlop,

Hickman’s team-mate Josh Brookes finished fifth and set his fastest ever TT lap at 132.529mph, while Hillier rounded out the first six.

John McGuinness was seventh for Honda Racing UK with David Johnson in eighth on the Jackson Racing Honda.

Davey Todd, struggling with illness, finished the gruelling six-lap race in ninth on the Milenco by Padgett’s Honda.

Rob Hodson rounded out the top ten on the SMT Honda.

Ulsterman Shaun Anderson was 12th on the Team Classic Suzuki with Paul Jordan from Magherafelt in 15th on the PreZ Racing Yamaha.

Michael Rutter, who was riding the Bathams Honda RC213V-S MotoGP machine in a race for the final time, retired on the fifth lap at Glen Vine.

Jamie Coward was also a retirement on the KTS Racing/Steadplan Honda on the first lap.