Davey Todd takes first ever victory during superstock race at Isle of Man TT

Davey Todd claimed his first victory at the Isle of Man TT during the superstock race, winning by just 2.2 seconds after a thrilling tussle with 14-time winner Peter Hickman.

The 28-year-old Yorkshireman came into this TT with just one podium finish at the event, but achieved runner-up positions in both the first supersport and superbike race.

Michael Dunlop completed the podium with a third place finish on his MD Racing Honda.

With a 12.15pm start, Todd led at Glen Helen on the opening lap, his advantage over Dunlop 1.5 seconds with Hickman only a tenth of a second further back.

Dean Harrison was 0.3 seconds behind Hickman, with James Hillier and Jamie Coward rounding out the early leaderboard. Only two seconds covered the front four riders. Todd’s lead was down to half a second as he jumped Ballaugh for the first time and it was Hickman now in second. Dunlop was third, almost two seconds down on Hickman, as Harrison, Hillier and Coward continued to run fourth to sixth.

Round Ramsey Hairpin for the first time and the gap remained half a second between the leading two riders but Harrison had now moved ahead of Dunlop for third albeit by 0.02 seconds.

There was little to choose between Todd and Hickman at the Bungalow with just 0.08 seconds between them as they were continuing to edge away from the chasing pack but with an opening lap of 133.362mph, it was Todd who led as they came in for their compulsory pit stop.

Hickman (133.137mph) lost a bit of time from the Bungalow and was now 1.7 seconds adrift whilst Dunlop (132.639mph) was back in third, just a second ahead of Harrison (132.517mph).

Coward had now taken over fifth from Hillier as Josh Brookes on the second FHO Racing machine, Conor Cummins, Mike Browne and John McGuinness rounded out the top ten.

With a quicker pit stop, Todd was almost five seconds clear as he reached Glen Helen on the second lap with Dunlop having also pulled clear of Harrison in the battle for third, the gap now 3.8 seconds.

Hillier and McGuinness were now in fifth and sixth although Coward was clearly having transponder issues as he was still running with McGuinness on the road. Brookes lost almost a minute in the pits though and slipped back to 16th.

Hickman took almost two seconds out of Todd’s lead on the high-speed run to Ballaugh and it was 2.4 seconds through Ramsey for the second time but James Hind was out of luck again retiring from 14th at Greeba Bridge.

Fellow Suzuki rider Michael Evans was also out, the Manxman having stopped at Union Mills.

The lead had further reduced at the Bungalow at 2.1 seconds but as they started the third and final lap, Todd had added another four tenths of a second to his lead. It looked to be a two-horse race as Dunlop was now more than seven seconds adrift in third. He in turn was more than four seconds clear of fellow Honda rider Harrison.

The lead was back down to 2.3 seconds through Glen Helen for the final time and by Ballaugh, it was very much ‘game on’ as Hickman had closed to within half a second with only half a lap remaining.

Todd responded on the run to Ramsey though and doubled his advantage with just the final run up and with the Mountain to go and the gap remained the same at the Bungalow as Todd and Hickman set almost identical sector times from Ramsey Hairpin.

However, Todd was quicker from the Bungalow to Cronk Ny Mona, and he got the verdict from Hickman by 2.2 seconds, who set the fastest lap of the race at 135.140mph, with Dunlop a comfortable third, almost 18 seconds behind. Harrison was only 3.6 seconds adrift at the chequered flag as fellow Honda riders Hillier and Coward took strong fifth and sixth place finishes.

McGuinness, Cummins, Dominic Herbertson (Burrows Engineering/RK Racing BMW) and Browne completed the top ten with Brookes taking 11th after Nathan Harrison on the third Honda Racing machine unfortunately retired at Kate’s Cottage on the final lap.