McGuinness gets right back in old routine

Seventeen-time winner John McGuinness upped the ante in the second session for TT2012, posting a Superbike lap time of 129.411mph on his TT Legends Honda Fireblade. Fellow Honda man Cameron Donald, on Londonderry businessman Wilson Craig’s machine, was second quickest in Tuesday night’s session, just three seconds behind J-Mac with a lap time of 17mins 32.74sec (129.023mph). Tyco Suzuki’s Guy Martin was showing no ill effects from his high-speed crash at the North West 200 just 10 days ago in third place, with a lap speed of 127.542mph (17mins 44.97sec). Michael Rutter and Michael Dunlop posted times in the 126mph bracket with Bruce Anstey, Gary Johnson, Ryan Farquhar and William Dunlop all lapping at 125mph. The Dunlop brothers William and Michael topped the early Supersport leaderboard with exactly one second separating the pair — both posting similar lap times at just over 124mph. The Ballymoney duo are set fair for the week ahead although they face a battle from the pursuing pack. Ballyclare’s Jamie Hamilton was the top newcomer in the session. The former 600cc short circuit champion was mighty impressive with a best lap of 117.447mph and is well on course for a 120mph lap on his KMR Racing ZX-10R Kawasaki should the weather hold for the rest of the week. “I’m loving it here — it’s really awesome,” was his comment prior to taking his Supertwin for a lap. “The sun is out and we’re all having a good time,” he added. His KMR team boss Farquhar is already in a class of his own in the all-new Lightweight Supertwins class, recording a time of 115.398mph, over 20 seconds faster than his closest challenger to date, James Hillier, also Kawasaki mounted. Rutter was neck-and-neck in the times with Hillier, also on 113mph, with Donald three seconds back in fourth. All were riding ER6 Kawasaki machinery. Anstey put his Padgetts Honda at the top of the Superstock class with a 126mph lap, but the biggest talking point of the night was the return of injured Manxman Conor Cummins who sat out Monday’s session. Nursing a hand injury the Tyco Suzuki man ended any speculation that he would pull out of this year’s event with a more than respectable time on his 1000cc Suzuki at 121.643mph. Last night’s practice was stopped prematurely with a red flag situation during the final session of the evening for sidecars after an incident at Sarah’s Cottage.