The Monster Energy by FHO Racing BMW team took their first win of the 2023 Isle of Man TT Races this afternoon, dominating the three-lap RL360 Superstock Race with Peter Hickman scoring his tenth TT win.
With a small delay to the day’s schedule the three-lap RL360 Superstock Race got underway at 2.45pm this afternoon, with the sun once again shining around the Mountain Course. By the first sector at Glen Helen, Hickman was up into second and it wasn’t long until he took the lead at the next sector, Ballaugh Bridge.
At the end of the first lap, on the compulsory pit stop Hickman was still holding the lead aboard the BMW M 1000 RR Superstock machine, and with a super-quick pit stop from the FHO squad he was back on the road for the remaining two laps.
Commanding the race ahead of his track rivals, Hickman was 15s ahead of Michael Dunlop in second place at the end of the second lap. On the third and final lap, Hicky was quickly approaching traffic but with a strong lead already in place, time wasn’t crucial for the FHO rider.
At Ramsey and coming into his strongest sector, the Mountain, Hickman was holding a 20s lead. Clearly enjoying his BMW Superstock machine, and with his pit boards displaying a healthy lead, he entertained the crowds with some wheelies as he went flying past.
Crossing the finish line with a 23s lead over Michael Dunlop and third place finisher Dean Harrison, Hickman took his tenth TT victory, his fourth consecutive Superstock win and BMW’s sixth consecutive Superstock TT win.
Meanwhile for teammate Josh Brookes, the Superstock race was a short-lived event after he was forced to retire at the end of the pit lane just as he’d set off, with an unfortunate electrical issue.
The Monster Energy by FHO Racing BMW team will now regroup and prepare for the second RL360 Superstock race, which takes place on Friday 9 June.
Peter Hickman:
“Finally, the third race of the week and our first win of the 2023 TT event. I’m mega happy with today, the Monster Energy by FHO Racing BMW was absolutely fantastic, the Superstock machine has been perfect from the second I got on it and I was super happy with it early on, so we parked it and worked on sorting out the Superbike. The M 1000 RR worked right from the start and I managed to get a gap early on, which I wasn’t expecting if I’m honest. I got caught with a bit of traffic on the final lap, but overall we had mega pace and the bike feels so, so good. A massive thanks to the whole team and all the sponsors, I’m looking forward to getting out later in the week on it for the second race on Friday.”
Josh Brookes:
“As you can imagine I’ve not got too much to say as we unfortunately didn’t complete the race. I was ready to go and everything was as it should be, we’d had a good qualifying week and I was looking forward to the race. We got going off the start and I got to second, maybe third gear and the bike just stopped with an electrical issue. It’s a shame as I was looking forward to the race, but I know the team are looking into it and will get to the bottom of it. It’s one of those things with racing, you can be prepared with everything having run smoothly and then something silly will halt progress. We have a solo warm-up lap tomorrow morning so hopefully we can run the bike to see if we’ve managed to cure the issue and then we can look forward to Friday’s race and having another go.”
Faye Ho – Team Principal:
“I’m so, so pleased with the team for all their hard work with the Superstock machine and so proud of Pete scoring his tenth TT win, and our first of this year’s TT. During qualifying week it was clear that Pete was happy with the machine, as he parked it quite early and turned his focus to the Superbike. Everyone is working so well and I’m so pleased we can be rewarded with this win today. For Josh, the race was unfortunate with the electrical issue, but the team will look into this and make sure we’re back on track for Friday’s second race. A huge thanks to all our sponsors and the fans trackside waving Pete on across the three-laps, and of course to all the Marshals out there who without their continued support, we wouldn’t be able to race.”
