Southern 100: Davey Todd takes maiden win in first race of 2022

Todd said he was "stoked" to take his first win at the event

Davey Todd earned his maiden victory in the opening race of the 2022 Southern 100 International Road Races.

The Yorkshireman secured top spot in the seven-lap Senior Race on the Billown Circuit in the south of the Isle of Man.

The 26-year-old finished nearly 20 seconds ahead of nearest rival Northern Irishman Michael Dunlop, with Manxman Nathan Harrison in third.

The event returned this year following a two-year hiatus as a result of Covid.

The race took place on Tuesday evening following a delay caused by a red flag incident in the sidecar qualifying session, which saw Paul Riley and Jody James taken to hospital for examination.

As a result, the Senior Race, which had been due to be the second of the evening, was brought forward, with the Lightweight Race rescheduled for Wednesday.

Dean Harrison took an early lead, closely followed by Todd, before being forced to retire at the end of lap five due to a mechanical issue with his DAO Racing Kawasaki.

Todd, having taken over the lead near the end of lap four, then rode out the rest of the race at the front of the pack, finishing in a time of 15 minutes, 47.9 seconds, at an average speed of 112.977mph on his Milenco by Padgett's 1,000cc machine.

Dunlop rode his Buildbase Suzuki to second place with a time of 16:07.08, with Nathan Harrison completing the top three a further three seconds back on his Quayside Racing Honda.

The Southern 100 International Road Races are being held for the first time since 2019

Speaking to Manx Radio, Todd said he was "stoked" to take his first win on the 4.25-mile Billown Circuit.

"Shame I couldn't get more of a battle with Dean there, it was shaping up to be a really good one," he said.

Reflecting on the return of the event, he said it was "so cool to see everybody hanging over the walls and the fences there, cheering us on every lap", adding it was "absolutely mega seeing everybody out there".

"Massive hats off to the team as well, we had a couple of issues and they've righted the problems with the bike and that is one unbelievable machine now right there," he added.

Qualifying for the 2022 Southern 100 road races began on Monday, with racing due to continue until Thursday.