Peter Hickman backed up the pre-race hype by claiming a dominant win in the RST SUperbike race at Saturday’s Isle of Man TT.
Hickman had blitzed qualifying by posting an impressive 132.874mph lap on the Gas Monkey Garage by FHO Racing BMW.
And he carried that form into Saturday’s opening race, surging to a an impressive 39.199-second win over Dean Harrison.
Ballymoney rider Michael Dunlop was a further 18.427 seconds adrift in third on the Hawk Racing GSX-R1000R Suzuki, claiming his 30th podium finish on the island.
Meanwhile, Glenn Irwin impressed on his Isle of Man TT debut by finishing eighth in Saturday’s Superbike event.
Irwin also became the TT’s fastest-ever newcomer with a lap speed of 129.84mph.
Elsewhere the scheduled three-lap sidecar race was red flagged after just six minutes following an incident between the bottom of Bray Hill and Quarterbridge.
Organisers confirmed shortly afterwards that there would be “no further racing today”.
They added in a statement: “We will confirm a new time for the race to take place in due course.”