Peter Hickman secured a sixth Isle of Man TT win with a dominant start-to-finish success in Saturday’s six-lap Superbike race.
The Lincolnshire rider won by 39 seconds from Dean Harrison as the international road racing event returned for the first time since 2019.
Michael Dunlop finished third, with Ian Hutchinson fourth and John McGuinness fifth on his 100th TT start.
Hickman set the fastest lap of the race on his second circuit at 133.46mph.
The 35-year-old stamped his authority on the 226-mile race from the start, establishing a healthy lead over his rivals and extending it throughout in perfect sun-soaked conditions.
Riding a BMW machine in the colours of Gas Monkey by FHO Racing, Hickman had set the fastest speed in qualifying to mark him out as favourite for the race victory.
The British Superbike competitor led Harrison by 9.3 seconds after lap one and built his advantage to 16.8 seconds by the end of the second.
Come the end of lap five, Mountain Course lap record holder Hickman was 40 seconds clear of Harrison and he was able to cruise to the chequered flag to repeat his victory in the 2019 Superbike race.
‘I really got my head down’
“What a race. The BMW worked absolutely awesome from the first lap. It was perfect, I had no problems at all,” said a delighted Hickman after the race.
“I did the opposite to what I normally do as I was fast from the off. I really got my head down and built up a gap straight away.
“I figured I had to do that and once you get a gap here it’s nice because you can take it a bit easier – short-shift a little, conserve some fuel and save the engine.
“The bike looks the part and goes the part so I’m really happy to get the first race over and start as I mean to go on.”
For DAO Kawasaki rider Harrison, it was his 10th second place finish at the TT.
Dunlop was 18 seconds adrift of the Yorkshireman in taking the final podium position, with Hutchinson another two minutes in arrears..
Jamie Coward rounded out the top six leaderboard, with James Hillier seventh and high-profile newcomer Glenn Irwin a very creditable eighth in his first race at the event.
The Northern Irishman became the fastest debutant ever at the TT by storming to a final lap of 129.85mph on his Honda Fireblade, eclipsing Hickman’s previous benchmark from 2014.
Among the notable retirements on lap two were Padgett’s Honda duo Davey Todd and Conor Cummins, while both were contending for rostrum spots.
Lee Johnston parked up at Quarter Bridge on the third lap while occupying fourth place.
