Isle of Man TT 2019 results: Johnston and Hickman winners on tragic first day at Isle of Man TT after Daley Mathison death
Re-live the action from the first day of the Isle of Man TT
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Your support makes all the difference.The first day of the Isle of Man TT combined entertainment and tragedy as Peter Hickman and Lee Johnston took victories overshadowed by a rider's death.
The opening RST Superbike race was red flagged due to an accident, which claimed the life of rider Daley Mathison. Race leaders Hickman and Dean Harrison had embarked on their third of four laps when the red flags were brought out due to a crash at Snugborough, on the run towards Union Mills early in the lap, which led to the standings at the end of lap two being used to determine the results and award Hickman his third TT victory. It has since been confirmed by Mathison's wife that he died following the accident.
The second race of the day saw the Birchall brothers, Ben and Tom, power to victory with a new race record in the Locate.IM Sider Race 1, and in the final race of the day Johnston clinched his first victory at the TT in the Monster Energy Supersport Race One ahead of James Hillier and Hickman. Follow the live action below.
What time does it start?
The RST Superbike race begins at 10:45am BST on Monday 3 June,
Where can I watch it?
Race highlights will be shown on ITV 4 from 9pm.
How can I follow it?
Races are not shown live from the TT, so the best way to follow the action as it happens is with local radio or The Independent’s live blog throughout the event. Radio coverage is provided by Manx Radio over the fortnight, while live timing is available through the official www.iomttraces.com website.
Monday schedule
10:45am: RST Superbike Race
1pm: Locate.IM Sidecar Race 1
3pm: Lightweight qualifying
3:55pm: TT Zero qualifying
6:30pm: Monster Energy Supersport Race 1
The five-minute klaxon has sounded, it looks like we're about to go racing!
Conor Cummins fires up the Milenco Padgetts Honda and he's ready to get underway as the first man out there. The sun is shining, but wind gusts are between 25 and 30mph that isn't for the faint hearted.
Here we go!
Cummins and Harrison disappear down towards St Ninians before the McGuinness Norton howls away from the Grandstand in what is undoubtedly the most beautiful sounding bike out there. McGuinness is not expected to feature at the front end of the race as he gets used to the new bike, but with all the unpredictability surrounding the opening race of the week, you never know...
Lap 1: So as the lead riders head towards Glen Helen, who should we be looking out for? Harrison and Cummins have been the form riders throughout the little qualifying that we've had, and as they're the first two on the road we should get a nice early idea of what pace they're on. James Hillier is another to keep an eye on, with the Kawasaki rider a little further in the pack this year on the No 5 plate, with Michael Dunlop right behind him. Michael Rutter's No 7 is also one to look out for given he's on the Honda RCV213 that wails away from the start line, while David Johnson behind him on the Honda Racing Fireblade showed good pace in practice yesterday with the third fastest time. Hickman goes off at No 10, but can he challenge with the superstock machine?
Lap 1: Harrison leads Cummins by 2.2 seconds out in front at Glen Helen, but Hickman slots into second and is just 1.1s behind Harrison. Hillier is just a further second behind in third ahead of Cummins and Dunlop. Early on it's fair to say that neither McGuinness nor Hutchinson are on the pace.
Lap 1: On the road, Harrison is catching Cummins quickly as he's stretched the advantage to more than three seconds at Ballaugh. Hickman goes through and keeps the gap at 1.2s, and it looks like the 2018 battle at the front has picked up where it left off. Cummins has picked up time on Hillier to move into third, which will delight the natives.
Lap 1: Harrison continues to chase Cummins with fewer than five seconds between them as they round the Ramsey Hairpin and head up the Mountain. There's 80 seconds between them off the start so we'll have to wait an eternity for Hicky to come through each checkpoint, but when the Smiths BMW arrives we get a gap of 1.4s. That'll be music to the ears of Hickman as he knows his strongest part of the track is the one ahead of them over the Mountain.
Lap 1: Harrison's through the Bungalow and the gap to Cummins has stabilised there as he only took half-a-second out of the Manx Missile through that section. You wouldn't be surprised if Hickman leads by the end of the lap if he gets the Mountain Mile right, but he hasn't been able to take any time at all as it remains 1.5s.
Meanwhile, Cummins has pulled 11 seconds on Hillier in the battle for third.
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