Peter Hickman lapped at 133.22mph during Thursday evening’s TT Superbike practice session.

Hickman also topped the leaderboard for the Superstock and Supertwin classes, at 129.910mph and 120.994mph respectively on his Gas Monkey Garage by FHO Racing BMW and VAS Engine Racing Paton, but it was close in the latter with Michael Dunlop only 0.2s slower on his Paton.

The Ulsterman had the consolation of being quickest in the Supersport category after lapping at 126.662mph on his MD Racing Yamaha.

Hickman’s 133.22mph lap was 6.83 seconds quicker than Dean Harrison’s 132.333mph, with Davey Todd only 1.1s further back after posting his best lap of the Mountain Course to date with 132.187mph.

Dunlop slotted into fourth on the Hawk Racing Suzuki at 131.44mph, his best lap of the week so far, with local ace Conor Cummins on the second Padgett’s machine the fifth and final rider to lap in excess of 130mph at 130.867mph. John McGuinness was sixth in 129.278mph, just ahead of James Hillier in 128.431mph..

Hickman got back out on track on his Superstock BMW and topped the class with a lap of 129.91mph which put him ahead of Todd (128.933mph), Cummins (128.733mph) and Dunlop (127.642mph).

Glenn Irwin, after experiencing trouble with his Superbike, was eighth quickest on his Honda at 126.689mph, yet another personal best for the newcomer.

In the Supersport class, Lee Johnston (Ashcourt Racing) set the initial pace with a lap of 125.202mph and he was able to hold on right up until the closing moment when Dunlop set the fastest 600cc lap of the week at 126.662mph.

Johnston slipped back to fourth after Harrison (125.563mph) and Jamie Coward (125.213mph) both overhauled him in the final minutes, while Todd (124.014mph) and Hillier (123.784mph) completed the top six.

Newcomers Joe Loughlin (120.419mph) and Rennie Scaysbrook (117.079mph) plus Frenchman Pierre Yves-Bian (119.968mph) also went well in the 600cc division.

The Supertwins were the last class to get out on the course and it was Johnston who again set the early pace after a lap of 117.178mph on his Aprilia before Hickman took over the top spot with a lap of 119.719mph.

Johnston improved second time around to 118.454mph, as did fourth-placed James Hind (118.38mph), but Hickman and Dunlop were more than 20 seconds quicker than anyone else with their respective laps of 120.994mph and 120.965mph, the first laps over 120mph of the week in this class.

Sidecars

Earlier in the evening, the Sidecars had gotten the session underway and unsurprisingly it was Ben and Tom Birchall who were comfortably the quickest as they completed the opening lap at 117.516mph.

This was the fastest Sidecar lap of the week so far, some 19.5s quicker than Ryan and Callum Crowe whose lap of 115.564mph was another personal best.

Newcomer driver Harry Payne with Mark Wilkes went third quickest (112.398mph), with Lee Blackstock/Patrick Rosney (112.354mph) and Tim Reeves/Kevin Rousseau (112.34mph).

In sixth was 17-time winner Dave Molyneux (110.827mph) just ahead of Paul Leglise/Melanie Farnier (110.236mph) but both John Holden/Dan Sayle and Lee Crawford/Scott Hardie stopped out on track during the first lap.

The Crowes went straight through for a second lap only to retire at Sulby Crossroads, which meant Reeves/Rousseau who were first to complete their second lap at 113.708mph which was six seconds up on Blackstock/Rosney who improved to 113.137mph.

Payne/Wilkes upped their pace to 112.798mph, while Steve and Matty Ramsden moved into sixth on the leaderboard with a best ever lap of the TT Course of 111.903mp.

Although the Birchalls posted another 117mph+ lap, their first lap remained the quicker of the two.