John McGuinness has taken the Senior TT race at the Isle of Man this afternoon, equaling Mike Hailwood's record of 14 TT wins.
The Morecambe Missile had a great scrap with double-winner Cameron Donald until the Aussie experienced problems halfway round the sixth and final lap, and eventually trailed McGuinness by more than 50s as they crossed the line. Donald's Relentless Suzuki began to leak oil, so he throttled off just to bring it home.
McGuinness said: "That's incredible, what a day to do it. It's fantastic. I tried hard all the way. I had some arm pump at the start and when Conor's bike blew up, I thought it was mine and took my eye off the ball a bit. But when I saw he had pulled over, I settled down. I got two great pitstops."
Donald said: "She had a couple of hiccups on the last lap and I had a couple of thoughts of pulling in. There was oil on my boots but I reckoned I could do it. I was pretty proud of myself to bring it home actually."
Ian Hutchinson got the last step of the podium with Ryan Farquhar, riding a superstock-spec bike, in fourth and Steve Plater in fifth.
Bruce Anstey, who won the second supersport race on Wednesday, was leading from Ramsey Hairpin on lap one and had built a four second lead by the end of lap two but was forced to retire in the pits. He also set the fastest speed through Sulby at 191.7mph.
After a long pitstop, Guy Martin was forced to retire at Quarterbridge on lap three, leaving Donald and McGuinness to scrap for the lead.
McGuinness left the pits on lap three with a four second lead over Donald but by Ramsey, Donald had snatched it back and led by one tenth of a second. However, McGuinness retook the lead at the top of the Mountain and came through Glen Helen a fraction under two seconds in front on lap four.
By Ramsey, Donald had reduced the gap to half a second and was then more than three seconds in front by the Bungalow. Coming into the pits to start lap five, McGuinness was less than half a second behind.
As the pair went out to Glen Helen for the fifth time, Donald was a smidge over four seconds in front which McGuinness pegged back to three seconds by the leap at Ballaugh Bridge. Both went through Sulby at 190.6mph but Donald had a near-seven second lead by Ramsey.
Over the line to start the last lap, the gap had been reduced to just under five seconds and Donald's mechanical woes were in evidence as McGuinness's Padgetts Honda led by more than nine seconds at Glen Helen, pulling back 14s in just over nine miles.
McGuinness's lead then stretched his lead as Donald struggled to keep his bike the right way up.
Result:
1 3 John McGuinness 01 46 2008 Honda 1000cc / Padgetts Manx Gas Racing 47.69 127.186 Silver
2 6 Cameron Donald 2008 Suzuki GSXR 1000cc / Relentless Suzuki by TAS Racing 01 47 38.64 126.183 Silver
3 8 Ian Hutchinson 2008 Yamaha R1 1000cc / AIM Racing 01 48 29.44 125.198 Silver
4 11 Ryan Farquhar 2008 Kawasaki ZX10 1000cc / Harker Racing 01 48 47.45 124.852 Silver
5 10 Steve Plater 2008 Yamaha R1 1000cc / AIM Racing 01 49 22.02 124.195 Silver
6 16 Gary Johnson 2005 Honda CBR 1000cc / Robinson Concrete 01 49 42.39 123.810 Silver
7 9 Ian Lougher 2008 Yamaha R1 1000cc / Black Horse Finance Yamaha Motor UK 01 49 59.30 123.493 Silver
8 14 Carl Rennie 2006 Suzuki GSXR 1000cc / PRF Racing 01 50 16.08 123.180 Silver
9 20 Daniel Stewart 2007 Honda CBR 1000cc / Wilcock Consulting 01 50 30.89 122.905 Silver
10 19 Michael Dunlop 2008 Yamaha R1 998cc / Phase One Endurance Team 01 51 03.62 122.301 Silver
11 21 Mark Parrett 2007 Yamaha R1 1000cc / Ripley Land 01 51 35.61 121.717 Silver
12 18 Ian Pattinson 2007 Suzuki GSXR 1000cc / Martin Bullock Raceteam 01 51 51.93 121.421 Silver
13 13 Gary Carswell 2008 Suzuki GSXR1000K8 1000cc 01 52 18.27 120.946 Bronze
14 27 Mark Buckley 2008 Yamaha R1 998cc / Phase One Endurance 01 52 49.75 120.384 Bronze
15 30 Stephen Oates 2007 Suzuki GSXR 1000cc / Hallett Aviation Racing 01 53 35.09 119.583 Bronze
16 28 Victor Gilmore 2006 Honda Fireblade 1000cc / T Lindsay Racing 01 53 36.33 119.561 Bronze
17 29 Ian Mackman 2007 Suzuki GSXR 1000cc 01 53 51.83 119.290 Bronze
18 36 Paul Dobbs 2004 Suzuki K4 1000cc / Dave East Engineering 01 54 40.03 118.454 Bronze
19 26 Paul Owen 2006 Kawasaki ZX10 1000cc / Back to Normal, Ready/Steady/Go 01 54 56.74 118.167 Bronze
20 62 Robert Barber 2008 Suzuki GSXR 1000cc / Dave Cottrell 01 55 23.41 117.712 Bronze
21 38 Stefano Bonetti 2006 Suzuki GSXR 1000cc 01 55 37.30 117.476 Bronze
22 45 Paul Shoesmith 2008 Yamaha R1 1000cc / Ice Valley Speedfreak Raceteam 01 55 44.29 117.358 Bronze
23 17 Les Shand 2007 Yamaha R1 1000cc / T French & Son 01 55 49.80 117.265 Bronze
24 58 David Hewson 2008 Kawasaki ZX10R 1000cc 01 56 09.51 116.933 Bronze
25 33 David Paredes 2008 Yamaha R1 1000cc / BILL SMITH MOTORS 01 56 19.21 116.771 Bronze
26 50 Dave Madsen-Mygdal 2007 Yamaha R1 1000cc / CSC/Branson Racing 01 56 35.32 116.502 Bronze
27 51 George Spence 2006 Yamaha R1 1000cc / Ayton Smiddy Ltd 01 56 46.81 116.311 Bronze
28 53 Thomas Schoenfelder 2005 Suzuki GSXR 1000cc / ADAC Hessen-Thueringen 01 56 53.91 116.193 Bronze
29 43 Craig Atkinson 2005 Honda Fireblade 1000cc / VRS Performance Centre 01 57 10.99 115.911 Bronze
30 54 John Crellin 2006 Suzuki GSX K7 1000cc / Pro Superbikes John Richards 01 57 23.10 115.711 Bronze
Racing
31 32 Roger Maher 2007 Yamaha R1 1000cc 01 58 04.55 115.035
32 35 Thomas Montano Suzuki GSXR 1000cc / Marks Bloom Racing 01 58 18.14 114.814
33 59 Karsten Schmidt 2008 Ducati 1098 1098cc / Befaster/Ducati Berlin 01 59 30.39 113.657
34 61 Chris Petty 2006 Suzuki GSXR 1000cc / Dave Milling Motorcycles 01 59 50.59 113.338
35 60 Alan Connor 2006 Suzuki GSXR 1000cc 01 59 59.94 113.191
36 64 Mike Crellin 2006 Suzuki GSXR 1000cc / Webtech Software 02 00 59.76 112.258
37 65 Eric Wilson 2006 Yamaha R1 1000cc 02 01 30.26 111.789
38 63 Toni Rechberger 2005 Honda CBR 1000cc / MSC Rottenegg 02 02 47.12 110.622