Peter Hickman wins drama-filled Superbike race

He claims 14th TT victory after fifth-lap havoc for Dunlop and Todd

Peter Hickman has taken victory in a drama-filled and chaotic six-lap Superbike race at TT 2024.

In an unlikely turn mid-race, Davey Todd went on to take second with Dean Harrison claiming third and a second Honda podium of the year.

The top three proved a very different outlook from earlier in the race as Michael Dunlop led proceedings only for both he and Todd to suffer pit-lane drama going onto the fifth lap which cost the two valuable time.

Todd, Dunlop and Harrison quickly emerged as the three leading riders with almost nothing to choose between them on the opening two laps with Todd just about setting the early benchmark at the top.

All change during lap two as Dunlop took the lead at Ballaugh with Peter Hickman moving in front of Harrison and into third - advantage Dunlop by 9.43 seconds from Todd heading into the first pit stops at the end of lap two.

Despite having to slow for the stop, Dunlop's pace earned him a new Superbike lap record at the TT at 135.543mph, eclipsing the previous best of 135.445mph set by Hickman in 2023.

An efficient pit dash saw Dunlop maintain that cushion onto lap three ahead of Todd whilst Hickman was further cementing his third-placed standing ahead of Harrison.

Unrelenting, 26-time winner Dunlop had stretched his dominance further onto lap four and at half-race distance by 17.3 seconds from Todd who was now fighting off the advances of Hickman who'd closed that particular gap down to just four seconds.

Elsewhere, Harrison now in a comfortable fourth then stepped up his charge to get back into podium contention by chipping away at Hickman's timings and back to within striking distance on the fourth lap.

Then drama following the second pit stop as Dunlop exited the pits only to come to a temporary halt near St Ninian's to adjust his visor whilst Todd also took time to get his bike to start up before setting off onto the penultimate lap.

This saw a dramatic change at the top with Harrison moving to the top just one second clear of Hickman up to second - meanwhile Todd had now dropped ten seconds behind in third and Dunlop a further 19.6 seconds back in fourth.

The rollercoaster continued at Ramsey on lap five as Hickman then took the lead for the first time ahead of Harrison whilst Todd had brought down the gap between himself and Harrison to under six seconds.

Less than seven seconds separated leader Hickman, Harrison in second and Todd in third heading into a nail-biting final lap.

Whilst Hickman controlled at the front, Todd's efforts to get back into the race paid off on lap six at Ramsey as he edged ahead of Harrison into second spot.

Despite his late charge and the seismic shift of the last two laps, Hickman kept things fast and steady to take a stunning win at the end of six breathless laps of the mountain course.

In a small consolation or Dunlop who would end the contest fourth, he shattered his own lap record again on the final run to record a new Superbike benchmark at 135.97mph.