Dunlop and Bennetts Suzuki top Isle of Man TT Superbike qualifying

Full report from Bennetts Suzuki/Hawk Racing below 

Michael Dunlop ended qualifying for tomorrow's Isle of Man TT Superbike race at the top of the time sheets, posting a lap of 131.062mph onboard his Bennetts Suzuki GSX-R1000 in today's session.

Dunlop recorded the time from a standing start, and while happy with the progress he and the team have made with the new machine, the lack of track time means there are still areas left to improve and more potential to exploit with the big Suzuki.

Michael Dunlop, "I'm happy to do the lap, but we have suffered with the lack of track time and we're still working on setup. It's the first time this bike has been round here, so we've been changing lots of things each time we go out. The time's good but we've got to ride at that pace for six laps tomorrow, so we'll see how we go."

Team manager, Steve Hicken, "If anyone was going to be hindered by a lack of track time this week it was going to be us. We've done a lot with the bike, changing settings and components, improving it all the time, and we're pleased with the lap, but we're still working on everything; from corner entry to stability, everything. There's plenty of potential there but getting a bike to work around the Isle of Man takes time and it takes laps. But we're all working hard and we'll do our best again tomorrow."

Superbike qualifying result: 1. Michael Dunlop (131.062mph), 2. Peter Hickman (130.629mph), 3. Ian Hutchinson (130.327mph).