The Superbike
David Johnson won the Superbike race after taking custody of the lead in the final two miles of the race from Michael Dunlop. The 37-yearold Aussie from Adelaide averaged 123.272mph for the four-lap event on Alasdair Cowan’s 750 Kawasaki to win by 41.2 seconds from Ireland’s Derek Sheils.
Dunlop retired at Hillberry less than two miles from the finish when his Team Classic Suzuki lost power with a flat battery on the descent from Creg-ny-Baa.
He had opened up an early twosecond advantage over Johnson at Ramsey on lap one, with Manxman Conor Cummins another six seconds down on the Milenco by Padgett’s 500 Yamaha V4, Dunlop completing the lap at an average speed of 124.868mph.
Upping the pace further on lap two, Dunlop was six seconds ahead of Johnson at Ballaugh. Cummins was coming under pressure from Michael Rutter (Team Winfield Yamaha) and Derek Sheils (Greenall Racing Kawasaki).
At half-distance Dunlop entered the pits with an 8.9s advantage over Johnson, with Rutter confirmed in third place.
Dunlop’s pit stop was considerably slower as the team carried out a prearranged rear-wheel change. This gave Johnson the lead for the first 18 miles of lap three, but by Ramsey Dunlop had regained a 3.7s advantage.
At Glen Helen on the final lap he was seemingly back in control with a 6.7s buffer, while Sheils was a distant third after the retirement of Rutter.
James Hillier was circulating well on the Oxford Products Ducati, as was Jamie Coward on the Kraus Kawasaki, but he was to ultimately retire.
With 15 miles to go Dunlop appeared to be a nailed-on certainty for a fifth Classic TT win, but he was then posted as a retirement.
Johnson finished comfortably ahead of an equally joyous Sheils, who edged home runner-up 1.5s in front of Hillier, with Cummins fourth and fellow Manxman Ryan Kneen (Herheim Racing Kawasaki) fifth.
“I put everything into that final lap; the bike was mint,” said Johnson.