Ballymoney’s Michael Dunlop took his second win of TT 2018 when he stormed to victory in the opening Monster Supersport race and blasted the lap record when he set a 129.197mph lap on the second circuit - and then said in parc ferme a 130mph lap is possible.
Dean Harrison took his Silicone Racing ZX-6R into second place, crossing the line ten seconds behind Dunlop and allowing him past at the flag while Peter Hickman and James Hillier had a titanic scrap for third.
Hickman took the final podium spot away from Hiller by 0.639s at Ramsey on the last lap but it was cut to 0.237 at the Bungalow. It was 1.723s at Cronk-ny-Mona and 1.806s as they got to the grandstand as Hickman explained he had to throttle off for a crash at Verandah.
Harrison held the lead on lap one by a second at Glen Helen and then 0.228s at Ballaugh but Dunlop was past on corrected time and held a second lead at Ramsey before extending it 1.740 with a 128.265mph lap from a standing start.
Dunlop was held to a 1.603s advantage by Harrison at Glen Helen on lap two but by Ramsey, Dunlop had got the hammer down and it was 4.613s at Ramsey and he didn’t look back, eventually catching Harrison on the road.
Conor Cummins was in the fight for the podium early doors but lost out to Lee Johnston on lap two, slipping out of of the top five as Johnston started pouring the coals on his Padgetts Honda. But the little Irishman began to slow on on lap three and Cummins came past at Ballaugh to finish in fifth, 40s behind Hillier.
McAMS Yamaha’s Josh Brookes also took advantage of Johnston’s problems and also pushed past Gary Johnson on the last lap with a 126.301mph lap as Johnson slowed with a 125mph lap.
Johnston ended in eighth place, just ahead of James Cowton with Ivan Lintin in tenth. Derek McGee was 11th, newcomer Davy Todd in 12th with Martin Jessopp, Dominic Herbertson and Sam West completed the top 15. Ian Hutchinson finished in 16th place.
