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1991 - Hizzy Joins the Hat Trick Club |
The 1991 TT was a spectacular year for Steve Hislop, in that he joined the famous hat trick club winning the Formula 1, the Supersport 600 and the Senior in race week.
In the Formula 1 Steve was really up for it, especially after his disappointments in 1990. In practice he lapped at 124.36 which was the fastest ever lap time recorded up until then, with Joey Dunlop recording his first ever 120 plus lap.
The first lap of the race saw Steve record a 122.83, opening up a gap of some 9.4 seconds over his team mate Carl Fogarty with Brian Morrison in third, a further 9.8 seconds down. Trevor Nation, Dave Leach and Robert Dunlop made up the top six, and Joey unfortunately limped into the pits at the end of that lap retiring with a broken fork seal.
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On lap 2, Hizzy did it again, he took the lap record up to 123.48 and he was increasing his lead over Fogarty,
now up to 30 seconds. Phil McCallen had by then managed to work his way up to fifth with Dave Leach dropping back to sixth and Robert Dunlop retiring
because of the damaged collarbone that he was suffering from.
At mid distance the leader board showed the top three to remain as they were
however with McCallen making it up to fourth in front of Nation and Steve Cull. Dave leach retiring at the pits. The end of lap four saw Hizzy 31
seconds up on Fogarty with Brian Morrison in third place over 1 minute behind, lap five saw some dicing with 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th placings being
swapped around now reading Nation, McCallen, Morrison and Cull and Hizzy increased his lead over Fogarty to some 38.2 seconds. Steve Cull's race
ended at the pits with his retirement. The sixth and final lap saw Hizzy storm home 1 minute and 16 seconds in front of Carl Fogarty, with Nation
third, Morrison 4th, McCallen and Steve Ward rounding off the top six, however it was discovered that Trevor Nation had run with an oversize tank and
he was eliminated from the race moving Morrison, McCallen and Ward up one place and bringing Bob Jackson into sixth.
When the Supersport 600
race took place, Dave Leach was all fired up and raring to go for a double, however Hizzy obviously had other thoughts in mind. The end of lap one
saw Hizzy out in front again, with Dave Leach just 1.2 seconds behind. Bob Jackson sat in third place with Steve Ives, Steve Cull and Brian Morrison
making up the top six. Steve did it again with another lap record on lap two of 115.69 increasing his lead over Leach to some 8.6 seconds, Cull now
in third followed by Jackson, Morrison and Ives.
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Hizzy was flying and the race was all but his by the end of lap 3 when he had pulled out a lead of 34.8
seconds over Cull with Jackson, Leach, Ives and McCallen making up the top six. Leach retired at the pits at the end of that lap. Hizzy won his
second race of the week by 30 seconds with Steve Cull and Bob Jackson making the 1,2, 3. Steve Ives took 4th with McCallen coming home 5th and Joey
who hadn't featured very much in the race, coming home 6th.
By the time the Senior came round, everyone was rooting for the Scot to go for
the treble and he set off in this race at a scorching pace pulling out 9.8 seconds on Joey, who was riding the Carl Fogarty works RFV bike, with a
121.09 lap. At the end of the first lap, the top six were rounded off with Trevor Nation on the Norton, Brian Morrison, Phil McCallen and Dave Leach.
Hizzy increased his lead at the end of lap two over Joey to 18.8 seconds with the only change in the top six being Nation and Morrison swapping
places.
By the end of lap three there had been a few happenings which changed things around a bit, although Hizzy just kept on going
stretching his lead over Joey even further to 29 seconds. Nation dropped out with a seized motor at the Bungalow and Dave Leach dropped back to ninth
place with McCallen now in fourth and Nick Jefferies and Steve Linsdell moving up to 5th and 6th respectively. Lap four saw Hizzy 49.8 seconds in the
lead and it was looking good for the Scot. Linsdell hit problems dropping back to 18th with Bob Jackson moving into 6th place.
Lap 5 saw
Hizzy well clear of field with a 64 second gap, and now he was out to catch his team-mate on the road by the end of the race. Unbelievably by the end
of lap 6, Hizzy had done it, he caught Joey and they crossed the line more or less together. This gave Hizzy a win by some 2 minutes and 20 seconds
and a new lap record of 123.27. Phil McCallen rounded off the top three giving Honda the Manufacturers award. Morrison, Jefferies and Jackson
completed the top six.
At this time only two other people had achieved a treble in one week, those being Mike Hailwood and Joey Dunlop. Hizzy
had now well and truly been accepted into the TT Hall of Fame for his achievements in a glorious week of racing.
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