Exciting battle for the podium places
Dean Harrison from Honda Racing UK was able to challenge Dunlop, but ultimately took second place. Davey Todd from Powertoolmate Ducati completed the podium in third place.
After a delay due to scattered small rain showers on various parts of the Mountain Course, the two-hour race finally got underway at 13:00. Dunlop immediately seized the lead and was 0.558 seconds ahead of Todd at the first pass of Glen Helen. James Hillier of Bournemouth Kawasaki followed just 0.136 seconds behind in third place, closely followed by Harrison just 0.3 seconds behind. The top four were therefore within a second of each other. Peter Hickman from Trooper Triumph by PHR Performance and Jamie Coward from KTS Racing powered by Steadplan Triumph took fifth and sixth place, separated by just half a second.
Exciting first lap
Heading into Ballaugh, Dunlop continued to lead, extending his advantage over Todd to 0.8 seconds, while Harrison edged Hillier into third by three tenths of a second. Hickman lost ground in fifth, but had James Hind of North Lincs Components Suzuki close behind, separated by just 0.2 seconds.
Mike Browne of Boyce Precision Engineering/Russell Racing Yamaha and Michael Evans of Smith Racing Triumph were well in contention in eighth and ninth, but Dominic Herbertson was forced to retire his Burrows Engineering/RK Racing Yamaha shortly afterwards at Kerromoar.
Tension right to the end
At the Ramsey Hairpin, Dunlop doubled his lead over Todd, with Harrison close behind in third. After a first lap of 204.95 km/h (127.389 mph), the Northern Irishman led, but Harrison’s speed of 204.83 km/h (127.281 mph) reduced the lead to just 0.9 seconds. Todd, who fell back a little at 204.59 km/h (127.119 mph), was 1.3 seconds behind Harrison. Hickman, Coward and Hillier followed in that order.
Decisive second lap
On the second pass of Glen Helen, Dunlop increased his lead to 1.79 seconds, while Todd was still within reach. The gap between second and third place remained almost unchanged. The battle for fourth place was also hotly contested, with Hickman less than half a second ahead of Coward.
Between Glen Helen and Ballaugh, Dunlop doubled his lead to 3.2 seconds, while Todd made up half a second on Harrison. But it looked as if Dunlop could no longer be caught. The gap between Hickman and Coward remained at half a second with just half a lap to go. Hinds’ good run came to an abrupt end, however, when he dropped out at Ballacraine.
At Ramsey, Dunlop increased his lead by a further 1.5 seconds and secured his sixth consecutive Supersport win with a second lap of 207.68 km/h (129.071 mph). He finished 3.889 seconds ahead of Harrison, who relegated Todd to third place by 2.34 seconds. Coward posted his best Supersport lap of 207.11 km/h (128.668 mph) to finish a strong fourth ahead of Hickman and Hillier.
Final placings
Browne, Jordan, Evans and Josh Brookes on the second Boyce Precision Engineering machine completed the top ten, with less than three quarters of a second separating the final two. Other strong performances came from Yeardsley (12th), the Manxman setting a new personal best on the Mountain Course at 198.36 km/h (123.268 mph), and Craig Neve (15th), who was contesting his first race after an accident in qualifying.
Joey Thompson (17th), Barry Furber (19th) and Frenchman Eddy Ferre (21st) also achieved good results, while rookie Loris Majcan finished 34th with a strong final lap of 189.91 km/h (118.053 mph).
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