TT 2018: Hickman 'feeling good' after setting best lap

Peter Hickman set his quickest ever lap of the Isle of Man Mountain Course to top Thursday evening’s qualifying session by a comfortable margin.

The Smiths BMW rider’s second lap of 132.806mph comfortably surpassed his 132.4mph all-time best and saw him just two seconds off joining the exclusive sub-17 minute club.

Hickman finished on the podium in every race he started at last year’s TT including second places in the Superbike, Superstock and Senior races and is keen to clinch his first TT victory this year.

The Lincolnshireman has been quietly confident throughout practice week, breaking the 132mph barrier on Tuesday evening before further improving his time tonight.

“I’m pretty chuffed with that!” he said. “I wasn’t pushing too hard but I was cracking on a bit. The Superbike has been feeling really good since the start of the week, there’s maybe a few little bits we can try tomorrow but I’m feeling confident ahead of Saturday’s race. I’m also feeling strong on the Superstock bike, we weren’t quite as fast as we have been on that tonight, but generally it’s going ok.

“I’m not really a quick laps guy in practice, I build myself up so to set my personal best lap with a few damp patches on the course isn’t so shabby. I’m looking forward to going racing now.”