Anstey sets Classic TT lap record
I
sle of Man TT racing legend Bruce Anstey
has been back at the TT circuit but this
time for August’s Classic TT. Riding the
Padgetts Yamaha YZR500 Anstey broke
the outright lap record twice in the
Motorsport Merchandise Superbike Classic
TT Race, the final race of the 2017 Isle of Man
Classic TT, but had to settle for second place
as Dean Harrison won by only sixteen seconds,
and broke the race record in the process.
At the end of the race, Anstey revealed that
he’d had a few visibility problems, which caused
him problems, “I had a bit of dust kicked up so
I just took it easy on the first lap and then we
lost time in the pits because we have to take
on more fuel than the four-strokes. However,
I was pretty determined on the last lap and
just thought I’d go for the lap record.” Anstey’s
lap record now stands at 127.496mph.
Anstey also set a number of records on his way
to repeating last year’s victory in the Dunlop
Lightweight Classic TT Race. The flying Kiwi
started by breaking the outright 250cc lap
record on his opening lap, becoming the first
rider to do a 250cc lap under 19 minutes which
he followed up by becoming the first 250cc rider
to post a 120mph lap on his second lap and he
also broke his own race record by over a minute.
Anstey took the race in a new record time
of 1:16:50.072 (117.853mph). Michael Rutter’s
final lap of 116.662mph saw him finish in the
runner-up slot in 1:18.14.929 (115.723mph), with
Ian Lougher third in 1:18.17.289 (115.665mph).
In the winners enclosure Anstey revealed that
the team had been specifically targeting the
120mph lap, “Clive [Padgett]’s done brilliantly
getting the bike up to spec over the winter.
We have been targeting the 120mph lap so it’s
great to get it in the bag. I used Ian as a bit of a
target and went flat out for the first two laps.”
KIWI RIDER 13