Image: Supplied.

Smiths BMW charger Peter Hickman captured victory in the 2018 PokerStars Senior TT at the Isle of Man TT races, fuelled by Monster Energy, claiming a new outright lap record of 135.452mph in the process.

Hickman defeated Dean Harrison (Kawasaki) by just two seconds in a Senior TT thriller. It was the latter who led the first five and a half laps, but the final lap was all Hickman come lap six as he went on to smash the race record by 48.064s from Harrison and Conor Cummins (Honda).

“I knew that Dean was going to be fast but I’d always been strong on the Mountain section throughout the week,” Hickman reflected. “It’s a bit like a short circuit and I came into my own on it. I thought it if I was within five or six seconds on the last lap I could have a go over the Mountain.”

Superbike race winner Michael Dunlop (BMW) finished fourth on Friday ahead of top-finishing Australian Josh Brookes (Norton), who became the fastest-ever Australian at the TT with a personal best lap of 131.745mph. Brookes was 10th in the Superbike race earlier in the week after circulating with a flat tyre, plus claimed sixth in both Supersport races aboard a Yamaha.

Countryman David Johnson (BMW) retired on lap one of the Senior TT while in podium contention, however he managed to claim fourth position in both the Superbike and Superstock TT races contested earlier during the race week.

Michael Dunlop also won Supersport race one and the Lightweight race to further establish himself as a TT legend, as Hickman also won the lone Superstock affair, Harrison emerged victorious in Supersport race two and the TT Zero race was won by Michael Rutter (Mugen).

There were two lives sadly lost during the 2018 IoM TT event, with local racer Dan Kneen killed during Superbike TT qualifying and Adam Lyon of Scotland in the opening Supersport race. Steve Mercer was critically injured following a course car collision, however is reported to be stable following surgery.

Detailed results