In a tough week for the Isle of Man, Conor Cummins gave the Manx population something to smile about with the Padgetts Honda rider taking an excellent second place in Saturday’s RST Superbike race.

After a strong showing at the North West 200, the Ramsey Rocket had shown good pace throughout practice week, placing fourth on the overall leaderboard and he brought that form into the six-lap race.

Third at the end of the opening lap with a speed of 131.763mph, the 32-year old held station in the final podium position until Dean Harrison’s fourth lap retirement and he duly came home for his seventh TT podium, his first since 2014. He also set a new personal best lap of 132.589mph to become the fifth fastest rider ever around the Mountain Course.

“I’ve been happy with how I’ve been riding this year and I had a bit of a go today,” said Cummins. “I’ve done a couple of early BSB rounds which have sharpened me up and I’m so lucky to have the expertise of Clive Padgett and the whole team around me.

“I’m a better rider for it and I felt like my pace was good today so I tried to be as smooth as possible. We’ve been making tweaks all week and progressing each night with the lap times coming to me. Clive and the boys were up until 6.30am this morning getting the bike ready and it never missed a beat.”

“It goes without saying, it’s been a terrible week for the Isle of Man and the Manx population have felt it a lot. It’s been a sad week and although it’s not a win, it’s nice to get on the box for Dan (Kneen) today.”