Munich. Peter Hickman (GBR) and the Monster Energy by FHO
Racing BMW Team brought the curtain down on an extremely successful
week of racing at the 2023 Isle of Man TT with another victory in
the prestigious Senior TT at the weekend. As well as his third
triumph in the Senior TT, Hickman also won both Superstock TT races.
These were the first Isle of Man victories for the new BMW M 1000
RR, which was making its debut at the famous road race this year.
‘Hicky’ also set a new outright TT lap record and new lap records in
the Senior TT and the Superbike TT. Hickman’s latest successes take
his Isle of Man TT record to a total of 13 wins, ten of which have
come in the 1,000 cc class on BMW bikes.
“Congratulations to Peter Hickman and the entire team led by Faye Ho
for this fantastic performance,” said Dr. Markus Schramm, Head of
BMW Motorrad. “Peter Hickman entered this year’s Isle of Man TT
as one of the top favourites, and he more than lived up to that role.
It’s great to see that he was able to seamlessly continue the
successes of previous years with the new BMW M 1000 RR. That cannot be
taken for granted, as we saw once again in 2023 how strong the
opposition is at arguably the most famous road race in the world.
Being there in person this year, I could see for myself that Peter and
the FHO Racing Team worked tirelessly and hard to achieve these
successes. It was a unique experience, crowned with two victories in
the Superstock races, another triumph in the prestigious Senior TT,
and new lap records. We are very proud and grateful to Peter Hickman
and the team for continuing the success story of the BMW Motorrad
brand at the Isle of Man TT also in our centenary year.”
The race week began for Hickman and the Monster Energy by FHO Racing
BMW Team with the Superbike TT on Sunday 4th June. Hickman struggled
with technical difficulties in the opening laps, but then gradually
worked his way through the field, sector by sector. In doing so, he
set a new Superbike lap record with an average speed of 134.445 mph
and ended the race in second place, just eight seconds behind the
victorious Michael Dunlop (GBR / Honda).
Two days later, Hickman switched to the Superstock version of the BMW
M 1000 RR for the first of the two Superstock TT races. This time, he
took the lead early on and continuously extended his advantage until
he took the chequered flag after three laps. He took his first victory
of the race weekend with a lead of 23 seconds over runner-up Dunlop.
Hickman went one better in the second Superstock TT race on Friday
when he won again, but this time with a sensational average speed of
136.358 mph on the Superstock version of the M RR – the new official
outright lap record at the Isle of Man TT.
The race week concluded on Saturday with the highlight race – the
six-lap Senior TT. Hickman switched back to the Superbike and led the
timings from the first lap. He set a new Senior TT lap record of
135.507 mph on lap two and by the finish had opened a lead of almost
20 seconds over Dean Harrison (GBR / Kawasaki), who took second place
that time.
Hickman: “That’s the 2023 TT Races done and dusted and the Monster
Energy by FHO Racing BMW team have done a fantastic job. The boys have
worked tirelessly to get the Superbike working to how I wanted it to.
This year the Superbike class has been a tough one; we already showed
what we can do in Superstock where we had no problems at all. In the
Senior TT it was great to see that Dean Harrison got out the right
side of the bed and gave us a run for our money. Michael Dunlop has
been super-fast for the last two weeks, which is fantastic to see and
healthy competition is exactly what we want! The fact that the other
boys are pushing us on, makes us work harder, try harder and race
harder, we also know that coming back next year we’ll have another go
at it. Thank you to everyone for the support over this TT!”
His team-mate Josh Brookes (AUS) was making his first appearance at
the Isle of Man TT for five years. The Australian started his IoMTT
comeback with seventh place in the Superbike TT. He failed to finish
the opening Superstock race due to an issue with the electrics. In the
second Superstock race, Brookes finished fifth to claim his best IoMTT
result so far. He repeated that result in the closing Senior TT, in
which he set a new personal best of 132.529 mph.
Faye Ho, Team Principal Monster Energy by FHO Racing BMW Team: “I’m
really pleased with the results this week; the team has achieved so
much and have put together a very good package for both Pete and Josh
to ride. Pete’s results have been incredible and to get the lap
records he’s got for FHO Racing, I couldn’t be prouder. I know the
boys have their own goals as they arrive at the TT, but for me I
wanted a lap record for FHO Racing and we achieved that with the
outright TT lap record. I’m also really pleased for Josh and the
progression he made over the event; he’d been away for five years,
came back and just went for it. He improved over each session and then
to get that 132mph lap at the end and finish fifth in the Senior, he’s
done such a good job. I’d like to thank everyone in the team for all
their hard work, at times it was a tough week, but we got there in the
end, thanks also to our sponsors and partners, the TT team for putting
on such a fantastic event, the Marshals and of course all of our fans
and supporters.”
In total, 16 road racers competed at this year’s Isle of Man TT on
BMW motorcycles. Dominic Herbertson (GBR / Apero) finished eighth in
the Superbike TT and ninth in the second Superstock race. Mike Browne
(GBR / Burrows Engineering RK) finished the first Superstock race in
ninth place. Brian McCormack (GBR / Roadhouse by Macau FHO) came home
14th, eleventh and 15th. Philipp Crowe‘s (GBR / Appleyard Agriwash)
best result was 12th in the second Superstock TT. Flying the flag for
Germany on the Isle of Man was once again David Datzer, who started
for the MTP Racing Team. After a DNF in the Superbike TT, he finished
26th, 22nd and 24th in the remaining races. He also became the fastest
German on the Isle of Man with an average speed of 126.86 mph.
During this year’s Isle of Man Tourist Trophy, BMW Motorrad also
presented the new BMW M 1000 XR prototype together with Hickman,
providing a first preview of the third M model at BMW Motorrad.
