Three wins and new lap records: Peter Hickman on the new BMW M 1000 RR at the Isle of Man TT.
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.
