Isle of Man TT 2016: Peter Hickman wary of getting ahead of himself as Kawasaki ace sets his sights on victory
JG Speedfit Kawasaki rider Hickman remains the fastest newcomer at the Isle of Man TT, and as he tells Jack de Menezes, he's biding his time before popping the champagne
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Sum up the Isle of Man TT in one word, and Peter Hickman needs just a split second to answer. “Unbelievable”, says the fastest newcomer around the Mountain Course, who in only his third attempt will this year hope to register not only his first podium finish but possibly a maiden victory.
“You kind of take things as they come with the TT, I mean last year was only my second year there,” says 29-year-old Hickman, who competes with the JG Speedfit Kawasaki team in both British Superbikes and road racing, which includes the prestigious North West 200 and Isle of Man TT events.
In his very first year on the island – after driving more than 70 laps around the public road course to learn every bump, turn and braking point – Hickman registered an average lap speed of over 129mph over the 37.73 mile Snaefell Mountain Course, faster than any other rookie in the event’s 109-year history. Hickman has since become just the eighth man to lap the course with an average speed of 131mph or higher, which is astounding when the course is lined with lamp posts, walls and houses among many other deadly obstacles.
“Obviously I’m fast, I know that, but I’m still massively inexperienced, especially compared to anyone else in the top 10 certainly,” says Hickman, fresh off the back of a strong showing at Brands Hatch in British Superbikes. “I think pretty much everyone else in the top 10 has either won at the TT or been on the podium apart from me and everyone’s been going for a lot longer than I have, so for me it’s only year three.”
According to logic, there will come a time when the speeds peak and we see the fastest lap possible around the Isle of Man, but Hickman doesn’t believe that will be any time soon.
“Well they’ve been saying that for the last 50 years haven’t they?” he jokes. “Everyone always gets faster one way or another. One thing is I think is that 133mph [average] is possible, whether it happens this year or not, who knows. I think [John] McGuinness was only two or three seconds away from it so it’s going to be interesting to see what happens.”
McGuinness sets the bar for what the rest of the field aspire to. The Morecombe Missile is closing in on Joey Dunlop’s all-time win record of 26, with McGuinness needing three more victories to equal the legendary Irishman and another to break his record, which has stood untouched since his final race win in 2000.
At last year’s event, McGuinness overcame a difficult week to blitz the rest of the field in the blue-ribbon Senior race, and set a record 132.701mph average lap on his way to an incredible triumph that had fans celebrating long before the chequered flag was waved. But was Hickman surprised to see the then 43-year-old return to the top of the podium?
“Some people see it as weird, some people say they didn’t expect it but at the end of the day he’s been going there for nearly 20 years” Hickman explains. “He’s got so much experience compared to most of us and it makes a big difference having experience around the TT, like a really big difference, more so than most other places because it’s so complicated.
“So I don’t know, there was a lot of people who were surprised about it but I wasn’t particularly one of them – the guy’s been going along for so long, he did the first 130mph lap, he’s fast, he’s experienced, he’s smooth and the bike he was on was working really well. He’s been on the same bike for god knows how long as well so it’s all factors that go into making why he’s so fast and it’ll be interesting again to see how he gets on this year.”
The fact that riders like Hickman and McGuinness can master the TT course becomes all the more gobsmacking when you stand on the track during a normal day. Buses, lorries and all sorts line the roads, which are by no means suitable for riding motorbikes on at speeds in excess of 200mph. Yet from Saturday, racing will begin around the island with a week’s worth of practice leading up to the RST Superbike TT next Saturday, the first of five individual races as well as sidecars, lightweight machines and the rapidly developing all-electric TT Zero.
There are no sections that I dislike. I like riding all of it. As far as challenging sections, Jesus, all of it
At over 37 miles in length, concentration is key in the TT, and Hickman admits that while he loves the circuit, there really is no forgiveness if a rider allows themselves a lapse in concentration – as the tragic 248 fatalities around the Snaefell Mountain Course will testify.
“There are no sections that I dislike. I like riding all of it, it really doesn’t bother me at all because I just enjoy riding bikes,” says Hickman. “As far as challenging sections, Jesus, all of it!
“Even the straights aren’t really straights at 200mph because you’ve got so much to think about. I mean you do relax, to be quite honest with you it’s alright but you need to be switched on, you can’t relax too much. There’s some really difficult sections, the one from Ginger Hall to Ramsey – which is quite a long section – is so bumpy and all about getting the lines correct. If you don’t have the lines correct then you’re going to have a lot of problems.
“So that section is always difficult but to be fair, all of it is just so complicated because it always rolls on to the next thing. Even simple corners might have a mile-long straight after it so then that simple corner becomes very difficult because you need to get it absolutely smack on otherwise you’ll lose time all the way down the straight, if that makes sense. It’s got to be spot on.”
Hickman competes this year in the Supersport, Superstock and Superbike races, and for the first time will be able to field a factory-back Superbike that, he admits, may take some getting used to. TT favourite Richard ‘Milky’ Quayle famously said it takes three years to learn the TT thoroughly, but with two years behind him and a 131mph lap in the bag, it won’t be long before Hickman graces the top step of the rostrum.
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