More Manx magic for Wigan's Rob Hodson
It was Paton-perfection when Wigan's road racing star made a Manx return.
Rob Hodson found the fast but occasionally typically temperamental Italian machine very much to his liking at the Southern 100 Race's Billown circuit, near Castletown.
The 38-year-old dad-of-one smashed the public roads course's existing lap record for this exciting, close call, fairing-bashing class on the SMT Racing 650cc two cylinder machine.
Before the Bryn racer went on to to grab a podium third-placed finish behind Irishman Paul Jordan and Manxman Joe Yeardsley in the newly-designated Bushy's Brewery Lightweight – formerly the
Super Twins class with new race regs to increase the range of manufacturers who can enter - Race Two.
The Southern 100 is quite a technical road racing challenge which is why it always attracts a top ranking field, including current TT most wins record holder Ulsterman Michael Dunlop - of the legendary Dunlop road racing clan - and current Honda UK works star, Yorkshireman Dean Harrison, the current absolute lap record holder for the 4.25 mile roads circuit.
Founded more than 70 years ago, it remains known affectionately by TT aficionados as 'the TT of the South'.
Later Rob, younger son of hugely experienced TT campaigner Jim Hodson - now part of his pit crew - would put down a personal best finish position on the SMT (Standish Metal Treatment Honda Fireblade CBR 1000 RR-R in the Superbike race.
All in all an encouraging reward for team owner Robin Croft, renewing race hostilities on the Isle of Man after June's frustrating combination of mechanical machinations plus truly awful weather made the TT Races one to forget.
The 37-and-three-quarter-mile-long Mountain Circuit - the races are traditionally held a month earlier than the Southern 100 - took a somewhat depressing turn when, mid-race, the SMT 'blade refused to continue fully 'revving-out.'
This was diagnosed after a post-race machine strip as a failing fuel pump.
And then a flying bullet-speed stone chip kicked up by the slick tyre of the bike in front punched a neat but fatal hole in the cooling radiator of the SMT Radiator Ducati Panigale V2.
But this time, a delighted Hodson would go on to hail the Southern 100 as clearly the fillip the SMT Racing team needed after the travails of the TT Races.
Rob said: "As always it was a brilliant meeting put on by the club...and the sun turned up for the entire week, too.
"As a team we always look forward to the Southern 100, but this year had certainly down thrown it's challenges at us and I want to say a big thank you to everyone in the team who worked hard to give me a good set up for the bikes as well as sorting the two engine mechanical problems with the Paton and the issue with the Ducati V2 to get me back out there''
"Despite the problems we had we still went home back to Wigan happy!''
This included taking the new Lightweight (Super Twin) lap record of 2.22.840 (106.368 miles per hour race average) in Race One on the Paton.
And a third-place podium joy in Lightweight Race Two on the same SR-1 machine.
With the four-day meeting topped off for Hodson with a new personal best time on the SMT Honda Superbike of 2.13.8 minutes for an eighth top-10 Isle of Man Steam Packet Superbike Race finish. also guaranteeing Rob and SMT Racing an overall eighth-placed finish in the Ellan Vannin Fuels ' Solo Championship.
Which was, he pointed out, a ‘big improvement’ on last year's Southern 100 showing on the big bike.
In-form works rider Honda Racing's Dean Harrison was winner, from Peter Hickman on the 'works' BMW 1000RR in the seven-lap meeting-closing race.
Rob also came eighth in the Bettridges of Foxdale Car Sales Super Sport race on board the SMT Racing Ducati V2.
Paton is one of the most famous original Italian names in Grand Prix bike racing, founded in Milan in 1957 by the late former FB Mondiale chief race engineer Guiseppe Pattoni and late former frame designing genious from Moto Guzzi,, Lino Tonti.
It is now run by Guiseppe's son, Roberto Pattoni, but based just a truculent a bowl of pasta fling distance from the firm's original premises in the heart of Milan's motorcycling engineering excellence region.