With three top ten finishes from his four races so far - it would have been four had it not been for speeding in pitlane in the Superbike race - Dan Stewart has already wrapped up this year's Isle of Man TT Privateers Championship.
One of the most consistent performers in recent years, previous years have stated that anyone who has finished in the top ten the year before cannot be eligible for the Championship but that changed for 2012 and with a 39-point lead the Cumbrian bike dealer cannot be overtaken.
With eighth in the first Supersport race, ninth in the second and in the Superstock too, as well as 13th in the Superbike, Stewart has taken two wins, a second and a fourth in the Privateers Championship, and with 83 points to second placed Dan Cooper's, 44, the Wilcock Consulting rider cannot be overhauled with just the Senior race left.
"It's great to win the Privateer's Championship with one race to spare," said Stewart. "We've never received any manufacturer support but rules were rules and we haven't been previously eligible but with everything changing this year, it's something that was at the back of my mind coming here. I didn't want to count my chickens though so haven't really spoken about it to anyone, I just wanted to have good races and see where we ended up. I needed to score well in the Superbike races as I'm quite a big lad and not really suited to the Supersport bikes whilst we've also had a lot of problems with the 600cc bike in recent years."
"The Superbike race was a bit disappointing with the two time penalties but we'd changed the gearing and never got the chance to check the pitlane limiter so it was a tad annoying as it dropped me from 9th to 13th. I'm not one to get too down though so we put it behind us and the two Supersport races have been really pleasing as the bike's worked really well and I've had two good ninth place finishes. It's nice to win the Championship so, hopefully, we can end the week on a high note in the Senior."
One unique factor about Stewart's impressive haul of TT results over the years is that he never receives any signals - he simply rides at a pace he feels comfortable with, no bad thing around the most demanding course in the world.
