Peter Hickman notched up his first win of the 2023 Isle of Man TT with an authority resorting romp to victory in the opening Superstock TT race of the week.

The dominant force on Superbike and Superstock machinery in most recent editions of the TT, Hickman nonetheless came into the third race of his 2023 TT campaign with a settle to score after trailing Michael Dunlop in the Superbike and Supersport openers.

However, on the stock Monster Energy FHO Racing BMW M 1000 RR, the five-time BSB race winner promptly turned the tables once more, coming out of the blocks faster than Dunlop to establish a lead he'd multiply to more than 23secs over the ensuing three laps.

Dean Harrison collected his third straight podium on the DAO Kawasaki ZX-10RR, with Davey Todd (Milenco by Padgetts Honda) and James Hillier (OMG Yamaha) completing the top five.

Hickman returns favour in Perfect TT 10

Victory for Hickman earns him his tenth career TT win and extends his unbroken run of SSTK TT wins to four, while in turn raising the stakes for the remaining races this week following Dunlop's commanding wins on Saturday and Sunday.

So often the centre of attention at the TT when it comes to the 1000cc bikes, Hickman found his spotlight stolen by Dunlop ahead of the Superstock encounter following his defeat at the hands of the Ulsterman in the Superbike TT.

Perhaps relishing his unfamiliar 'underdog' status, Hickman issued a statement of intent from the off to establish himself in the lead by the time the field had passed through Ballaugh. Indeed, while Dunlop had the edge in the first timed sector to Glen Helen, thereafter Hickman was able to gain control.

With his Supersport and Superbike TT efforts undone by a slow build up of momentum that left him with too much work to do to catch the faster-starting Dunlop, Hickman was on the ball straight away, leaving the pit-lane for his mandatory end-of-lap-one stop with a slender +2.7secs advantage.

By Ballaugh on lap two it was up to +7.5secs and had swollen to +15.7secs upon returning to Grandstand to start lap three, leaving only fate to intervene to prevent Hickman from scorching home to a confidence-restoring victory.

And so it proved, Hickman hitting 134.331mph on his final revolution to reclaim the top step of the podium and move his career victory tally into double figures.

Though seemingly without the same verve in the overcast conditions - the excessive cloud cover having delayed the start to the afternoon already - Dunlop kept it neat to notch up another podium.

It puts his quest for a 24th TT win - one that would lift him ahead of John McGuinness for second on the all-time list - on hold for the moment, possibly only a few hours even, as Dunlop turns his attentions towards the first Supertwins TT race he starts as favourite this evening [Start - 18.30].

Once again trailing in the wake of Hickman and Dunlop, Dean Harrison made it a trio of third place finishes on the DAO Kawasaki ZX-10RR, some 37secs adrift of the win.

Davey Todd bounced back from his retirement in the Superbike TT by heading up the 'best of the rest' on the Milenco by Padgetts Honda, the BSB rider chased home by James Hillier, the OMG Yamaha rider collecting his second top five result of the week, just eight seconds shy of the Fireblade ahead.

If Hillier was close to Todd, then Jamie Coward was even closer to Hillier, the KTS Racing by Steadplan Honda rider resisted into sixth place by just +1.3s.

In his first appearance of the week after missing the SSP and SBK TT races due to ill health, Conor Cummins soldiered on for a solid seventh place finish of the Milenco by Padgetts Honda.

With John McGuinness a late retirement from a top ten running position, his exit promoted David Johnson (C&L Fairburn Jackson Honda) into eighth place, ahead of Mike Browne (Burrows Engineering RK BMW M 1000 RR) in ninth and Shaun Anderson (Team Classic Suzuki GSX-R1000R) completing the top ten.

Elsewhere, there was a notable landmark further back as road racing veteran Michael Rutter - who finished 13th on the Bathams Honda - drew level with legendary TT-winning father, the late Tony Rutter - with his 83rd TT start

2023 Isle of Man TT - Superstock TT Race 1 FULL RESULTS