Friday, 8th of June, 2018. Douglas, Isle of Man.
Peter Hickman took his place on the start line in front of the Grandstand for his final race of this year's Isle of Man TT. The moment he was released he flattened himself as low as possible on his BMW S1000RR and opened it up with just one thought on his mind. Michael Dunlop's 130.456 from the previous year. That was the average speed he needed to beat. Six laps, two refuelling stops, 226 miles, 130.456 miles per hour, to set a new record. It had already been a successful TT fortnight with a win on the Superstock machine and third place on the Supersport, but this was the big one, the Senior TT.
An hour and three quarters later and he'd done it. First place, and smashing the previous record. 131.700 mph.
Friday, 14th of September, 2018. Douglas, Isle of Man.
Peter Hickman took his place on the start line in front of the Grandstand for his final race of this year's Isle of Man Broom TT. The moment he was released he flattened himself as low as possible on his Thunderbolt RX 3 and opened it up with just one thought on his mind. Fleur Delacour's 149.230 from the previous year. That was the average speed he needed to beat. Six laps, no stops, 226 miles, 149.230 miles per hour, to set a new record. It had already been a successful magical TT fortnight with a win on the Firebolt in the Classic race, and another in a tough race for the Cleansweep Cup, a single mark one-off event that served to advertise the new Cleansweep Twelve. But this was the big one, the Unlimited race.
He knew that the Firebolt company's latest racing broom was a great ride, but Delacour had one too, and she was lighter and just as skilled as he. He could only hope that his new sponsors had found an edge. Wind-tunnel testing at McLaren Magitech had certainly shown he was in with a chance, it would not harm acceleration, would improve his straight-line speed, but he'd not been able to test the effect on cornering, and of course wearing his motorcycle leathers during practice week would have given the game away.
An hour and a half later, exhausted and sweaty but without robes flapping around in the breeze and causing drag, he'd done it. First place, an angry Veela accusing him of cheating, and a new record. 150.522 mph.
He couldn't wait for next year. The geeks were talking about adding foot-operated controls for a rudder.
AN: The TT's website sells a DVD with footage of Hickman's record-breaking race. Watch that and you'll think he's a wizard too.
I envision the magical TT course as being exactly the same route as the normal one, with large rings on all the corners that must be flown through, plus a couple of vertical chicanes on the Sulby Straight and at Cronk-y-Voddy.