James Hillier and the Quattro Plant Wicked Coatings Kawasaki team opened their account at the 2019 Isle of Man TT races on Monday where the Hampshire rider took excellent finishes of second and fourth respectively in the Supersport and Superbike races, the former being his 13^th career podium around the Mountain Course.

Inclement weather on the island saw a number of the practice sessions cancelled and the Superbike race was put back from Saturday to Monday and cut from its original distance of six laps to four.

However, it was the four-lap Supersport race later in the day that gave Hillier his best result and he signalled his intentions from the word go, leading the race at Glen Helen on the opening lap by 1.3s from Lee Johnston. The gap had come down to 0.6s at Ramsey Hairpin and although Hillier lapped at 125.80mph first time around, Johnston had nosed ahead by 1.9s.

The gap had increased to 3.9s at Glen Helen on the second lap but James had a superb run to Ballaugh to bring the deficit down to 0.6s and at Ramsey, two-thirds of the way round the lap, the gap was still only 0.7s.

As the riders approached the pit stop at half race distance it looked like we were set for a superb final two laps, but rain had begun to fall on the west part of the circuit on that second lap and the race organisers decided, on safety grounds, to bring the chequered flag out at the completion of the second lap with Hillier awarded second place for yet another TT podium.

Earlier in the day the 34-year old had been out in the Superbike race which eventually got under way at 11.05am, and after setting some good times in the practice sessions that took place, he headed into the race in confident mood. Indeed, with a good first sector on the Kawasaki ZX-10RR from the Grandstand to Glen Helen, he slotted into third place behind early pace setters Dean Harrison and Peter Hickman.

With an opening lap of 129.853mph, he found himself pushed back to fourth by Conor Cummins and here he remained throughout the second lap despite upping his pace to 130.139mph. After coming into the pits for the solitary pit stop the 34-year old headed back out onto the course, but a third of a way into the lap the race was stopped because of an incident and the result declared at the end of the second lap, which gave James another fourth place.

Sadly, it was later announced that Daley Mathison had lost his life in the incident at Snugborough and everyone from Quattro Plant Wicked Coatings Kawasaki team wishes to express their sympathy to Daley’s wife Natalie and all his friends and family.

James Hillier: “I tried really hard in the morning’s Superbike race but the times just didn’t come so perhaps I was trying a bit too hard, although I was also affected by the quickshifter packing up on the first lap. I was really determined to make amends in the Supersport race and gave it my all – I didn’t leave anything out there that’s for sure. Every second counts at the TT so I got my head down at the start although I didn’t quite believe my pit board when I saw P1.”

“I tried to keep my momentum up but with the rain beginning to fall it made the race difficult, although I managed to close back in on Lee. We’ll never know what would have happened on laps three and four but I’m happy with second place and really happy for Lee. He’s someone who I have a lot of respect for and if anyone was to beat me, I would have wanted it to be him.”

Team owner Pete Extance said: “James had a fantastic ride in the Supersport race and he showed his intentions right from the beginning, leading all the way up to the Bungalow before Lee edged ahead for the first time. It was always going to be a tight race and even at the end of the first lap, only a handful of seconds covered the leading five riders. It got a bit damp on the second lap and it was the correct decision to stop the race.

“I’m really pleased for James and all the crew who have worked tirelessly since they’ve been here in what has been a challenging week. Although we had an issue with the quickshifter in the Superbike race, fourth place was still a fine ride by James. Second and fourth are two great results today but they’ve unfortunately been overshadowed by the loss of Daley – he was a good friend of the team and our thoughts are with his wife Natalie and all of his family at this sad and difficult time.”

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RST Superbike race (2 laps)

1 Peter Hickman (BMW)
2 Dean Harrison (Kawasaki)
3 Conor Cummins (Honda)
4 James Hillier (Quattro Plant Wicked Coatings Kawasaki)
5 Michael Rutter (Honda)
6 Michael Dunlop (BMW)

Monster Energy Supersport race (2 laps)

1 Lee Johnston (Yamaha)
2 James Hillier (Quattro Plant Wicked Coatings Kawasaki)
3 Peter Hickman (Triumph)
4 Dean Harrison (Kawasaki)
5 Michael Dunlop (Honda)
6 Conor Cummins (Honda)

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