Peter Hickman has scored his third win of the 2022 Isle of Man TT after capitalising on a late DNF for rival Michael Dunlop that spoiled an otherwise classic Supertwins TT race.
Arguably the in-form men at this year’s TT, Hickman and Dunlop came into their Supertwins showdown on identical Paton SR-1 machinery as the only two riders to have won solo TT races this week, the former having already clinched the Superbike TT and Superstock TT, while the latter was the victor in the first Supersport TT race.
With very little to choose between them after qualifying practice, the stage was set for what promised to be a similarly tight affair over three laps.
Even so, few could have predicted just how close the pair - despite a vast distance between them on the road itself - would be through the splits. With the lead already swapped on five occasions as they entered the third and final lap, at no point had the margin between them exceeded 0.8secs after around 75 miles of racing.
However, what was shaping up to be a fight right to the flag was scuppered by Dunlop hitting technical difficulties on the run to Ballaugh, the Ulsterman eventually forced to retire on the course.
It meant Hickman could cruise back to the Grandstand for his third win of the 2022 Isle of Man TT, his eighth overall. He remains on course to match Ian Hutchinson’s record of five wins on a single TT, though Dunlop will start as favourite for this evening’s second Supersport TT race.
With another podium contender in Jamie Coward also forced out of the race, Lee Johnston and Paul Jordan took advantage to secure a popular second and third. Johnston’s run came on the new Aprilia RS 660 and went some way to making up for DNFs from lofty positions in the Superbike and Superstock races, while Jordan’s brilliant third place finish on a Kawasaki Z650 marks his first-ever TT podium.
Pierre-Yves Bian followed home in fourth place, ahead of veteran Michael Rutter in fifth and Rob Hodson in sixth.
