Gary Johnson led the second Monster Energy Supersport race from start to finish to take his first ever victory at the Isle of Man TT on Thursday.
Johnson produced a stunning opening lap of 125.587mph to pull out a near 10 second lead on the rest of the field and was never under threat for the rest of the race. His life was made slightly easier though by the problems affecting pre-race favourite Michael Dunlop, who stopped at Ballacraine on the first lap.
The East Coast Construction rider extended his lead on the second lap after going even quicker than he had on the first, with attention soon switching to the fight to join him on the podium.
John McGuinness led it at the end of the first lap but had four riders within six seconds of him, but Cameron Donald soon emerged as his chief rival despite being held up by a red flag, shown despite the race not being stopped.
The Australian seemed to have grasped the advantage going into the final lap but unfortunately for him, the Wilson Craig Racing Honda let him down within two miles of the finish, expiring at Signpost. That secured second for McGuinness while Guy Martin took third, although his caused was helped by Dan Kneen's retirement at Crosby on the final lap, eliminating any threat from behind.
Keith Amor will have been relieved with fourth after crashing in the original running of the race yesterday which was postponed to due to rain. The Scotsman had no such problems this time and beat Bruce Anstey into fifth by just over six seconds.
Conor Cummins and Ben Wylie both got their best results of the 2011 TT in sixth and seventh, with the latter leading the Privateers class. Eighth should have gone to William Dunlop but like his teammate Cameron Donald, his Honda engine gave up the ghost on the last lap.
Roy Richardson (Barnes Racing), James Hillier (Bournemouth Kawasaki) and Mark Buckley (Energy Armor Racing) completed the top ten while Russ Mountford claimed the final silver replica in 11th.
John McGuinness still leads the TT Championship by 17 points over Keith Amor but Ian Mackman's retirement has reignited the Privateers Championship. Ben Wylie is now just 11 points behind him after his success today.
