After finishing runner-up on two previous occasions, Jamie Coward finally won the TT Privateer's Championship this year but he did so in style as he finished as the top privateer in each race, the first time the feat has been achieved.
And, in doing so, he joined the 130mph Club for the first time with a lap of 130.317mph on the sixth lap of the Senior making him the fastest Yamaha rider ever to have lapped the Mountain Course.
"Lapping at more than 130mph for the first time was one of my aims this year so to do that and become the fastest Yamaha rider ever around the Mountain Course is a great way to end the week," the Hebden Bridge rider said later.
It could have been quicker too as I started to run out of fuel at the Creg on the last lap and I had to roll off a little bit."
The 28-year old finished in the top ten in all six of his races, having only done so three times before, with five of those coming on the Prez Racing Yamaha's whilst he also set a new personal best lap of 126.889mph in the 600cc class on his way to an excellent fifth place in the second Supersport race.
"It's only a privateer team but they believe in me and they've given me everything I need with some great bikes. The deal was done early this year which meant I didn't have to worry about anything and I was more determined than ever to do well this year."
Coward's best result came on the KTS Racing Kawasaki in the Lightweight race when he finished in second place for his first ever TT podium although he fell an agonising 1.2s short of the win with Michael Dunlop just getting the better of him on the final lap.
I can't lie, I was a bit disappointed not to have won the Lightweight race. I fancied my chances for the victory so to lose by just 1.2s was a tough one to take. If it had been 15 seconds or something, it wouldn't have been as bad, but being so close was hard to swallow although finishing second behind a 19-time winner is no bad thing.
"Overall, I'm well pleased with the results this year and it's nice to have finally won the Privateer's Championship. My mechanics won it with Dan Hegarty in 2016 and to be the first privateer to finish in each race shows how well we've all worked."
