Smith's Triumph's Gary Johnson has taken his second Isle of Man Supersport TT win today after a Titanic scrap with Bruce Anstey, winning by 1.502 seconds after only being a tenth ahead at Cronk-ny-Mona on the last lap.
The Lincolnshire man pulled out 1.4s in a couple of miles after dealing with rain on the Mountain and dicing with Michael Dunlop on the road but there was nothing Anstey could do about Johnson even after setting a 126.199mph lap on damp roads from the Mountain Mile with the Kiwi saying he thought it might have been stopped.
"I think this victory means more to me than the first and the whole Smiths Triumph team have worked so hard. With the Metzeler tyres as well, we had a race-winning combination and having been strong in practice, we were able to do the same in the race and convert it all into the race win," said Johnson.
" It was tricky over the Mountain with the wet roads and I didn't gel with the conditions up there but I went hard on the lower part of the course and we got the job done. Full credit to the team, John Trigger gave us some great engines and the bike never missed a beat so I'm delighted."
Michael Dunlop took the final podium spot but was ten seconds behind Anstey. He lost some time during the pitstop and then had to deal with Johnson. He let Johnson past and then followed him even though Johnson signalled for him to re-pass when the roads got damp.
Youngster Dean Harrison bagged his best ever result with a fourth place while William Dunlop flew into fifth place on the last lap, passing Guy Martin on corrected time at the Bunglow on the last lap.
The race was only ever between Johnson and Anstey. Johnson's lead at Glen Helen on lap one was 0.009s over the Kiwi with Michael Dunlop and Harrison in fourth but by the Bunglow, it was up to two seconds while early pacesetters John McGuinness and James Hiller slowly slipped down the order.
Hillier took the lead on the road at the Grandstand on lap one, as Honda's Conor Cummins staked his claim for a podium, moving into fourth ahead of the Manxman at six seconds behind the leader.
At Glen Helen on lap two, Anstey had an eight-tenth lead over Johnson while Michael Dunlop slipped back to 1.871s behind second place. Johnson was back in front at Ballaugh but only by half a second but that had extended to 2.137 at the Bungalow.
On the second lap pitstops, Johnson had a small problem and Anstey moved ahead by a second but at Glen Helen, Johnson was back in front by three-tenths and then by 1.991s at Ballaugh. Martin staged a comeback and moved back into fourth at Ramsey but was 27.697s in arrears and had slipped out of the top five by the Bungalow.
Johnson's lead at Glen Helen on lap four was 4.655s and it looked all over but Anstey had other ideas, halving the gap by Ramsey hairpin and by the time they got to the Bungalow, it was 0.280. Anstey was out in front and was unsure of the conditions but at Cronk-Ny-Mona the gap was a tenth but Johnson pulled the pin and crossed with the line with a 1.5s lead.
Martin finished in sixth place after Cummins retired at Ginger Hall while Hillier brought his Quattro Kawasaki home in seventh. Lee Johnston was eighth, Michael Rutter finished his 50th TT in ninth while Ian Hutchinson will be disappointed to have rouned out the top ten.
His Milwaukee Yamaha team-mate Josh Brookes pulled in with gear selection problems but then went out again for some testing laps.
