Milwaukee Yamaha had a successful opening day at TT2013 taking fifth and ninth places in the six-lap Dainese Superbike TT with Conor Cummins and William Dunlop respectively.
Despite limited track time due to inclement weather during practice week, both riders lapped in excess of 128mph from a standing start on lap one. Cummins upped his pace and posted an even more impressive lap of 129.091mph on his Milwaukee Yamaha R1 on lap 4.
William Dunlop unfortunately incurred a pit lane speeding penalty and lost out on a top eight finish, but impressed throughout and is now ready for the next challenge, along with Cummins in today’s opening Supersport and Superstock encounters.
Cummins said: “The first one and a half laps I was just finding my feet, but I know I can do 130mph on this bike and match the front guys. It just takes a while to get comfy and find your confidence, but the boys are doing a great job on the bikes and with a bit more work we can be up there on Friday in the Senior. My ideal lap time is just shy of 130mph and I know where I need to be going faster. If we can calm the thing that little bit more then I’m very confident we will not be far away.”
Dunlop said: “That was a good run and only for the pit lane penalty I’d have been in the top eight. Like Conor, I’ve a few things I need to tweak on the big bike, but I love riding it and I know we have the speed and pace to push up even closer to the front – we just need track time. Now we can hopefully push for the win on the 600. I’m looking forward to it.”
Team Owner Shaun Muir concluded: “I’m really happy we were able to get six laps under our belt with both riders, as unlike many of the other manufacturers, we’ve really only had a handful of laps to get data from the Milwaukee Yamaha R1. The boys were on identical pace on that first lap with impressive 128mph lap times. William deserved a top eight and would have done that, only for the pit lane penalty, but he’s learnt a lot to take into Friday.
“Conor has been battling with set-up and it was far from ideal, so to do 129.091mph is a fantastic effort and shows the potential of the Milwaukee Yamaha R1. We have more to try on Wednesday night in the practice session before the Senior, so I really believe we will see Conor back in the 130s and challenging for a podium.”
Dainese Superbike TT [6 laps]
1: Michael Dunlop [Honda]
2: Cameron Donald [Honda]
3: John McGuinness [Honda]
4: Guy Martin [Suzuki]
5: Conor Cummins [Milwaukee Yamaha]
6: Michael Rutter [Honda]
7: James Hillier [Kawasaki]
8: Bruce Anstey [Honda]
9: William Dunlop [Milwaukee Yamaha]
10: Josh Brookes [Suzuki]
Today’s (Monday) Races commence with the four lap Monster Energy Supersport Race 1 at 10.45am, followed by the four lap Royal London Superstock race.
For more information visit www.milwaukeeyamaha.com
