It's fair to say Davey Todd was a revelation at the 2018 Isle of Man TT Races as not only did he win the Newcomer's Trophy, he also became the second fastest debutante in the history of the event - second only to a certain Peter Hickman - and won the TT Privateer's Trophy ahead of vastly more experienced rivals.
The Burrows Engineering rider, a former race winner in the Pirelli National Superstock 600 Championship, switched to the roads in 2017 and prepared for the TT as much as possible and he simply got quicker and quicker as the week wore on. A brace of 12ths in the two Supersport races were superb but he surpassed that with tenth in the Superstock race where, at one stage, he was running in an unbelievable seventh place. However, he saved the best until last with ninth in the closing Senior race.
Having already bettered Josh Brookes' lap of 127.726mph from 2013 in the Superstock race, the six-lap blue riband race saw him set his best lap of the fortnight with his opening lap of 128.379mph seeing him confirm his status as the second fastest newcomer in history, second only to Peter Hickman's lap of 129.104mph from 2014, a superb achievement.
"The place is absolutely unbelievable," said Todd speaking to bikesportnews.com after the Senior. "I said all along that I had no major expectations, I just wanted to come and learn the circuit as much as possible and enjoy myself so full credit to the team and everyone around me.
"It also showed how much work I'd put in prior to practice week and how much preparation I'd done over the winter months - that was something I was keen to prove to everyone. I rode the full fortnight at 90% and made steady progress throughout, increasing my speeds by roughly 2mph each session."
"The results certainly exceeded my expecations and it's the best place to ride a motorbike in the world and you go through every sensation imaginable - from being scared and nervous to being deliriously happy and enjoying every second. It surpassed everything I thought it would be and whilst, deep down, it would have been nice to have left as the quickest ever newcomer, 128.3mph is a great lap and being second to the guy who's just set the outright lap record isn't bad is it..."
It was a hard fortnight for Todd though with both former Burrows Engineering rider Dan Kneen and fellow newcomer Adam Lyon losing their lives and Todd admits it made him even more aware of the dangers of the Mountain Course.
"The tragedies made it all 'real' and certainly kept my feet on the ground and ensured I didn't get carried away. I knew it before but being in the paddock and racing myself made me even more aware of how hard the place can bite back.
"After the accidents, it made me even more determined not to make a mistake as I want to come back and race here for years and years. I worked really hard for the last ten months coming over to do laps in a car, watching on-board laps every night and playing the computer game as much as possible so I'm really pleased all my preparation paid off."
