Steve Plater went out for two laps on the HM Plant Honda Superbike before switching to the Padgett’s Honda Superstock machine for a further two laps and then back on the Superbike for a final circuit.

Once practice got underway around 6.30pm Steve soon got dialled in and, from a standing start posted a lap time of 17m 51.62s – 126.75mph. He went on to better that and produce his personal best time for his three year TT campaign of 128.453mph with a lap time of 17m 37.42s that is only a whisker away from the outright course record and third fastest time of the session.

He then took the Padgett Racing Honda Fireblade out for two laps of the course, his best time being 18m 17.82s – 123.726mph in the Superstock class.

With time still left in the solo session Plater embarked on a final lap with the Superbike but the time does not reflect his true performance as he was hindered by yellow flags at Ginger Hall because of an accident and then again at the 33rd milestone because of oil on the track.

“I spent a bit of time going through things with the team this morning and then had a bit of lunch with the family and then spent the afternoon just getting ready for the night’s practice.

“It was quite cold earlier today and it looked as if we were in for a cooler evening so thought I might need a pair of long johns but all of a sudden the sun came out and it’s lovely now. The low sun is a bit of an issue again but it’s the same for everybody so it’s no big deal.

“All three of my bikes are fine, they are not a million miles away but we are just trying to fine tune a number of things, try different tyres and get myself even more into TT mode. I was much happier on Tuesday and found my way around so felt more relaxed.

“We had a pretty good night tonight and I learned a lot from it. I did get a good lap time in but really that’s not what we are here for, its only practice and it’s more about finding a good set up and being smooth and clean rather than posting the fastest lap.

“I took the Superbike out after the team had made more adjustments and my job was purely to analyse the changes ahead of Thursday practice.”

Thursday practice is scheduled to get underway at 6.30pm; there will be a further update on Friday.



Pic credit Mark Wally Walters – show Steve Plater on the Padgett’s Honda Superstock bike