Davey Todd held off a sustained charge from Michael Dunlop to take a start-to-finish victory in a thrilling Isle of Man TT Superbike race, which was reduced from six laps to four.
The 29-year-old had an advantage of just 1.2 seconds over Dunlop by the end of the race, with the fastest lap of the race of 135.327mph on his final circuit helping the 8TEN Racing BMW rider secure the win.
For Todd, it is the third TT win of his career, the Yorkshireman having won the Superstock and Senior races at the event in 2024.
The two-time British Superstock 1000cc champion built up a 7.9-second lead after lap one and his advantage after the second lap was just marginally less at 7.1 seconds.
However, Todd lost six seconds to his rival in the pits and the gap was reduced to 0.2 seconds after the riders went through Glen Helen on the final lap but the eventual victor rallied to secure the success, with Honda Racing’s Dean Harrison a further 43.5 seconds behind in third.
“I’m over the moon, this feels sweet. The boys have done a fantastic job,” Todd told Radio TT after the race.
“I was more nervous than ever this morning but I knew we had the pace and didn’t want to show too much in practice.
“I lost a bunch of time in the pit stop so I had to put my head down on the last lap. Thanks to everyone who created this team over the past three months.”
With Peter Hickman ruled out of the race as a result of a qualifying crash at Kerrowmoar on Friday, it was the other fancied riders – Todd, Dunlop and Harrison – who predictably set the pace at the front from the off.
Todd increased his lead as he and Rokit BMW-mounted Dunlop pulled way from Harrison on the timesheets, only to suffer that setback in the pits which reduced his lead considerably.
The two battled it out between the hedges and stone walls of the 37.73-mile Mountain Course over the next two laps as the outcome hung in the balance but the Englishman prevailed at the chequered flag despite Dunlop posting a 135.416 on his final circuit.
Manx rider Nathan Harrison clinched his best TT result by claiming fourth on his Honda, with Australian David Johnson fifth on a Kawasaki, James Hiller completing the top six and John McGuinness seventh.
Among the leading riders to retire were Conor Cummins after lap one, James Hind on the Mountain section during lap one and Mike Browne at the conclusion of the second lap.
The race was originally scheduled to take place over six laps on Sunday but was moved back to allow for a qualifying session after a practice week beset by weather difficulties, delays and cancellations.
Superbike TT result
1 Davey Todd (BMW)
2 Michael Dunlop (BMW)
3 Dean Harrison (Honda)
4 Nathan Harrison (Honda
5 David Johnson (Kawasaki)
6 James Hillier (Honda)
