Michael Dunlop got race week underway at the Isle of Man TT Races with victory in the opening Monster Energy Supersport TT Race, his tenth victory in the class and 22nd in total.
Riding the MD Racing Yamaha, Dunlop grabbed the lead at Ballaugh on lap one and was never headed, eventually winning with a race record time by 12.3seconds with Peter Hickman (K2 Trooper Beer Triumph) getting the better of Dean Harrison (BPE by Russell Racing Yamaha) for second, the gap between the two at the end of four laps just 0.394s.
With superb conditions again all-round the Mountain Course, Harrison led through Glen Helen on lap one, his advantage over Dunlop half a second with Hickman a further second back in third.
Davey Todd (Milenco by Padgett’s Motorcycles Honda) was another seven tenths of a second back with Harrison’s team-mate James Hillier two tenths adrift of the Honda rider.
Dunlop nosed ahead on the run to Ballaugh with his advantage over Harrison now 1.5 seconds with a similar distance back to Hickman.
The lead had stretched to 3.6 seconds at Ramsey and the gap widened as Dunlop went up and over Snaefell Mountain, an opening lap of 128.305mph giving him a 5.4s advantage over Harrison.
Dunlop continued to extend his lead throughout the second lap and as he came into the pits for fuel, an improved lap speed of 129.136mph gave him a healthy 13.4s advantage.
After the fuel stop, Harrison cut Dunlop’s lead by two seconds on the third run to Glen Helen with Coward losing time at the pits and falling into the clutches of Todd, the gap between them now down to two seconds.
Back at the front and Dunlop quickly reasserted himself back in the race and going into the fourth and final lap, his lead stood at 17.5s.
With a healthy margin, Dunlop was able to ride to his signals on the final lap and duly took the chequered flag for yet another TT victory, but Hickman closed in on Harrison throughout the lap and finally got the better of him on the one-mile dash from Cronk ny Mona to the Grandstand, aided by a 129mph+ lap.
Coward saw off the challenge of Todd to take a fine fourth with Hillier in sixth ahead of Jordan, Johnson, Hodson and Hind who recovered from his penalty to take tenth. Local rider Ryan Cringle was the best newcomer in 22nd after lapping at 120.364mph on his final lap.
