Successful Isle of Man TT finale for Wigan's Rob Hodson

Hodson took his JGH Racing BMW round the 37 ¾ miles of Snaefell Mountain Course at an eye-watering pace in a tense race which saw records tumble.

While Dean Harrison and Peter Hickman were battling for the lead in the white-knuckle ride, which Hickman took on the final lap by just two seconds, Hodson was leading the way for Wigan.

Hodson’s dad Jim retired in the pits after a lap, while Hawkley Hall’s Josh Daley was still suffering for the illness which cut short his Supersport race on Wednesday and also called it a day after a lap.

But Hodson - in his first TT since brother Jamie died at last year’s Ulster Grand Prix - stayed in the battle to record an impressive result while paying tribute to his brother.

After the race he tweeted: “Thanks everyone, happy to finish 14th in today’s Senior TT, and do a personal best lap while wearing Jamie’s Memorial helmet!”

Hodson’s time of 1:50.30 saw him average the 225 1/2 -mile race at 122.913mph on a day which saw the TT’s first ever 135mph lap.

Winner Hickman's 16:42.778 lap pushed the bar to 135.452mph - a huge leap on the lap record as it stood coming into TT 2018: 133.962mph.

Daley, who had enjoyed a successful week despite two retirements, tweeted: “Started the race today but started to feel worse and worse as the lap went on so retired at the end of lap one again, same sort of story as Wednesday, struggling to breathe, there is always next year we will try.”

Elsewhere, Astley’s Mike Norbury came off his bike at Keppel Gate, but wasn’t injured.