Hickman smashes outright TT lap record to win Superstock Race 2

FHO man hits over 136mph in blistering performance

Peter Hickman smashed the outright TT lap record as he crossed produced another stunning Superstock win in the second race in the class

The FHO Racing man was dominant come the end of the race clocking a best lap speed of an incredible 136.358mph and finishing 17.2 seconds ahead of Michael Dunlop whilst Dean Harrison took another third placed finish to complete the podium.

Meanwhile, Conor Cummins, returning again from two days away to recover from illness made a positive return to racing to finish fourth whilst his teammate Davey Todd was forced to retire two laps in

Ahead of the race there were questions as to whether Todd would take part, and having originally been ruled out due to illness the rider made the start line at the last minute after receiving an anti-sickness injection from medics whilst his teammate, Cummins, returned once more after taking a rest day on Wednesday and Thursday to continue his recovery from being unwell also.

Winner of the previous superstock contest earlier in the week, Peter Hickman, started as a he finished the last race leading the pack early on but under real pressure from Michael Dunlop through each sector as little separated the two in lap one.

Just 1.8 seconds separated the duo at the front heading into the mandatory pit stop at the end of the opening run, meanwhile Dean Harrison had slotted into third 11.7 seconds away with the returning Cummins running well in the early stages 7.4 seconds back in fourth.

Elsewhere, the pit stops proved poignant for the battle within the remaining top ten as into lap two James Hillier dropped two places to eighth at Glen Helen behind Jamie Coward, Josh Brookes and John McGuinness as less than four seconds separated that quartet on the run towards Ballaugh at that stage.

Back at the front, whilst nothing was certain, Hickman started to inch further in front of Dunlop on the run to the mountain section and by the time machines started to cross the line on Glencrutchery Road for the final lap, Hickman's advantage over the Ballymoney rider had grown to 5.2 seconds.

That battle was starting to roar into the distance away from Harrison 23 seconds back in the final podium place in third - elsewhere, Cummins was running well in fourth a full 16.5 seconds ahead of the ongoing tussle between Coward, Brookes, McGuinness and Hillier.

Meanwhile, Davey Todd - a late entry into the race and suffering with illness - retired at the end of lap two having been running outside the pace of the top ten machines to that point.

Through Ballaugh on the final run Hickman began to challenge outright lap record pace to increase his dominance heading into the north of the Island and over the mountain section for the final time whilst Dunlop, still just over 8.5 seconds back, was also flirting with outright record speed.

The next race takes place this afternoon, the Supertwin TT Race 2, which is due to get underway at 2.45pm.