Tuesday evening was overcast at the 4.25 miles of the Billown Circuit. The early practice sessions for the solos saw some fast action; especially in the 600cc class where places on the grid for the A Race were at stake. The exit to the Castletown Corner; the last corner on the circuit produced some wheelie good action. The following sidecar session was red flagged due to an incident at Church bends. We have had no official notification regarding the condition of those involved; but we wish them a full recovery.

The delay for the red flag meant that the Senior Race was moved ahead of the Lightweight (Supertwin) in the batting order. A shower just as the Senior was ending meant that Lightweight was not run; it will be fitted into the schedule later in the meeting.

When the lights went to green Dean Harrison (DAO Kawasaki) and Davey Todd (Milenco Padgetts Honda) were fastest away along the run to the right hand bend at Ballakeighan. Front row man Michael Dunlop had slow getaway on the bike raced by Danny Kent at Mallory last weekend. Harrison was first to the commentary point at Cross Four Ways; with Todd 20m behind. They had opened a 50m gap over the chasing pack.

The first bike into our view was that of Dean Harrison; he had Davey Todd 15m behind as they braked hard for the tight right hand bend. Behind them it was still tightly packed; Nathan Harrison (IOM SPCo Honda) was third just ahead of Michael Dunlop (Buildbase Suzuki). Next was Jamie Coward (Steadplan Yamaha); with Michael Sweeney (MJR BMW) a metre behind. Then it was leg trailing Ryan Kneen (Charmer BMW) and Rob Hodson (Dafabet Kawasaki). These riders had opened a gap of 2s over the main field that was led by Richard Charlton and Paul Jordan.

The leaders edged away from the chasers; Dean Harrison led by 10m from Todd as they crossed the railway bridge and took the tight bend. They were 200m clear of the pack; Dunlop had passed Nathan Harrison; Coward was 4^th, Sweeney 5^th; Kneen 6^th and Hodson 7^th. They were now well clear of the remainder of the field.

Lap 3 saw Todd just a couple of metres behind Dean Harrison and looking for an opportunity to pass. This proved to be Todd’s best lap and the fastest of the race at 115.165mph; impressive given that they would be slower than usual through Church Bends. Behind them Dunlop was on his own in third. Nathan Harrison was dicing with Coward for 4^th; with Sweeney 50m behind them. Kneen had 10m in hand in his private battle with Hodson.

Lap 4 was pivotal; Todd led at Cross Four Ways and at Castletown Corner he was 20m clear of Dean Harrison. Shortly after passing us the Kawasaki cried enough and Dean was out of the race leaving Todd well clear of Dunlop. The pecking order behind remained the same; the main talking point being Kneen nearly losing control of the BMW coming into the corner; he stayed on board and ahead of Hodson. The demise of Dean Harrison promoted Paul Jordan (Prez Yamaha) to 8^th.

Lap 5 and the positions were unchanged; Nathan Harrison resisted the pressure being applied by Coward and Kneen similarly was able to keep Hodson behind; both battles giving the spectators plenty to talk about.

Todd received loud acclaim as he took the corner for the final time and accelerated away to take the chequered flag. A superb victory in his second year at the event. Dunlop took second on a bike that seems to have issues with the rear end; if that is sorted out; he will be a hard man to beat. Nathan Harrison took the final step of the podium after a super ride and great battle with Coward. Sweeney took fifth after a fairly lonely ride. Ryan Kneen’s demon late braking enabled him to keep Hodson at bay and take the final leader board place. Paul Jordan duly took 8^th after a strong ride on the Yamaha. Richard Charlton and Marcus Simpson completed the top 10; the latter putting in his best ever lap at over 108mph.