Peter Hickman, competing for Swan Racing Yamaha, took second place, while Mike Browne on the Scott Racing Aprilia completed the podium in third.
An exciting race with many lead changes
The race started at 15:45 and Dunlop immediately took the lead. He led Peter Hickman through Glen Helen with a lead of 3.5 seconds, followed by Jamie Coward (KTS Racing powered by Steadplan Kawasaki) a further 1.2 seconds behind. Browne was just four tenths of a second behind Coward, and Dominic Herbertson (Burrows Engineering/RK Racing Paton) was close on Browne, just 0.005 seconds behind. Barry Furber (DC Autos Newtown Yamaha) secured an excellent sixth place.
Stefano Bonetti (VAS Engine Paton), Davey Todd (Dafabet Racing Kawasaki), Adam McLean (Flitwick Motorcycles/SMV Yamaha) and Bonetti’s team-mate Pierre-Yves Bian completed the early lead group.
Dunlop’s dominant run
On the way to Ballaugh, Dunlop extended his lead over Hickman by a further 3 seconds. Coward cut the gap to Hickman to less than a second, while Herbertson battled for third place, just 0.3 seconds behind Browne.
With the best sector time ever set by Ballaugh, Dunlop extended his lead to 8.9 seconds at the Ramsey Hairpin. Hickman was able to pull away slightly from Coward, but the latter soon began to slow over the hill and eventually had to retire at Creg Ny Baa.
With another new best time in the sector from Bungalow to Cronk ny Mona, Dunlop secured the lead with an impressive first lap of 122.451 mph. However, Hickman caught up on the way over the hill and reduced his deficit to 6.4 seconds before the second and final lap of 37.73 miles. Coward’s retirement moved Browne up to third, followed by Herbertson, Jordan and Todd.
The final section and the unexpected interruption
Behind the leaders, Brookes, McLean, Furber and Bonetti completed the top ten. Rob Hodson, who had to start from the back of the field due to starting problems with his SMT Racing Paton, worked his way up to sixth place.
With a clear track ahead of him, Dunlop extended his lead over Hickman to 3 seconds on the second lap. Browne was a further ten seconds back, but held a narrow 1.7-second lead over Herbertson in the battle for third place.
Dunlop increased his lead at every measuring point and gained a further four seconds on the high-speed section after Ballaugh. It was here that the race for third place changed, with Herbertson four tenths of a second ahead of Browne.
At Ramsey, Dunlop was more than seven seconds faster than his 2018 lap record and had set the fastest ever time in three of the six sectors. However, as he drove down the hill for the final time, the race was stopped due to a red flag.
The result
The race was declared a result at the end of the first lap, and so Dunlop secured the win ahead of Hickman and Browne. Herbertson was unlucky to miss out on the podium and finished fourth. Jordan finished fifth, followed by Hodson, Todd, Brookes, McLean and Furber.
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