Josh Brookes took his maiden victory on the Mountain Course on Saturday afternoon when he led the four-lap Senior Classic TT from start to finish.
Riding the Winfield Paton, the Bringelly rider set the fastest lap of the race at 111.295mph and although it got close after he made a pit stop for fuel at the end of lap three, his eventual winning margin over Jamie Coward (Ted Woof Norton) was 34s with William Dunlop (Davies Motorsport Honda) completing the podium in third.
“I knew it was going to be close on the final lap as we had to make a pit stop for fuel and Jamie didn’t and there was nothing in it,” Brookes said afterwards. ”I’d been really careful not to over-rev the bike in the early stages of the race in case we needed it towards the end and after muffing the pit stop, I gave it everything I had.
“My first pit board hadn’t caught up and I had to wait until my second to see what the gap was but I had nothing to lose and gave it everything I had. It was a bit of a balancing act in the first couple of laps as it was no good revving the bike too much but I caught the traffic on the last lap in the right places and didn’t lose any time.”
John McGuinness had won the corresponding race twelve months ago and Brookes gave Roger Winfield a second successive win no mean feat given his only previous Classic race experience was on an XR69 Suzuki at the 2012 Phillip Island Classic Festival.
“It’s nice to fill in for John and a great honour whilst Roger’s built a great bike. It’s nice to give the team the win and be part of the whole experience. It’s not a TT win but the riders in the race are still racing as hard as they can so it’s pretty special to have won today.”
After a 15-minute delay due to an oil spill on Bray Hill, it was Brookes who led through Glen Helen on the opening lap, his lead over Dunlop an impressive seven seconds but three of the pre-race favourites were already out, Ian Lougher and Dean Harrison retiring their MV Agustas at Greeba and Ballagarey respectively and Michael Rutter sliding off the Ripley Land Seeley at Ballacraine, fortunately without injury.
By Ballaugh, Brookes had extended his lead to 12 seconds but Coward had moved up to second with Dunlop now third albeit only eight tenths of a second adrift. As the lap progressed, Brookes continued to pull away and with an opening lap of 111.295mph, his lead rocketed up to 33.2s.
Coward was still in second after lapping at 108.340mph on the single cylinder Norton but Maria Costello (Beugger Paton) was now in third as Dunlop slipped back a further place to fourth although only seven seconds covered the three riders. Michael Dunlop retired the Black Eagle MV Agusta at the pits, whilst Alan Oversby on another Davies Motorsport Honda was black flagged at Sulby and later retired.
Second time around and Brookes had Coward in his sights on the road, although his advantage on time through Ballaugh remained almost the same as at the Grandstand at 32.8s. Coward had edged away from Costello, the gap now 4.6s, with Dunlop in fourth ahead of Michael Russell (Izzard Racing Norton) and James Cowton (Kenah Racing Norton).
Brookes second trip through the speed trap at Sulby was some 10mph down on his opening lap speed of 146.8mph but the Paton was still singing and a second lap of 110.539mph meant his advantage over Coward was 38.6s although the latter’s lap of 110.054mph was the fastest ever around the Mountain Course on a British single cylinder machine.
Costello still held onto third but Dunlop had closed to within 0.7s and went straight through whilst Costello pitted for fuel and subsequently dropped back. Russell and Cowton maintained station in fifth and sixth with James Hillier a further place back in seventh.
At the end of the penultimate lap, Brookes’ lead over Coward had increased to 47.2s, the duo lapping at 110.823mph and 110.057mph respectively, another British new record for Coward, but the Australian lost time when the bike didn’t fire first time after he’d pitted for fuel. Indeed, at Glen Helen for the final time his lead was down to just 0.252s! Meanwhile, the battle for third was on also as Dunlop’s pit stop reduced his advantage over Costello from 51s to 8s.
By Ballaugh, Brookes had edged away to lead by four seconds and this had become 14s as he swept round Ramsey Hairpin for the fourth and final time. The former British Superbike Champion duly came home for the victory as Coward and Dunlop completed the podium.
Costello held on for fourth with Dominic Herbertson coming through for fifth and Bill Swallow sixth despite the latter incurring a 30s pit lane speeding penalty. Michael Russell, James Hillier, Horst Saiger and Chris Swallow completed the top ten after Mark Herbertson retired on the final lap.
