Manx Grand Prix: Rob Hodson battles to Classic Superbike victory

Rob Hodson won the race by 15 seconds

Rob Hodson secured his second victory at the Manx Grand Prix with a win in the Classic Superbike race.

The 34-year-old from Wigan came home more than 15 seconds clear, completing the four lap race in 1hr 13mins 13.606 secs on his Kawasaki ZX-R750.

Manxman Nathan Harrison went on a charge to pip Australian David Johnson, both also on Kawasaki machinery, to second in the final sector.

The result gave the Greenall Racing team a one-two in the race.

But there was disappointment for Grimsby's Craig Neve, who retired on the final lap after being in contention for a podium place for most of the race.

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Neve had taken the lead by Glen Helen on lap one, followed closely by Northern Ireland's Michael Dunlop on his Suzuki GSXR750, with County Waterford's Brian McCormack less than second back on him.

However, Dunlop had been pushed back into third by Hodson by the end of lap one, with Australia's David Johnston and Manxman Nathan Harrison slotting in front of McCormack by the end of the lap.

Hodson overhauled Neve by the end of the second lap, leading by 2.6 seconds as the riders came into the pits, with Harrison just 0.8 seconds ahead of Johnson.

There was disappointment for Dunlop, who had fallen down the leaderboard, and McCormack who both had to retire.

A slower pitstop by Harrison gave the Johnson the advantage for a podium finish at the start of lap three, with the 38-year-old Australian stretching it almost 10 seconds by the mountain section of the course.

Hodson had extended his lead over Neve to 4.5 seconds by the end of the lap before the latter retired at Greeba Bridge on the final lap of the 37.75-mile circuit after an issue with his bike.

But 24-year-old Harrison put on a charge to bring the gap between second and third down to just over one second at the Bungalow, eventually securing the runner-up spot by 0.6 seconds.

It marks Rob Hodson's second victory at the Manx Grand Prix

Hodson told Manx Radio the race had been "just mint".

He added: "I've grown in confidence throughout this week and I believed I could do it."

Ryan Kneen, Michael Rutter, Michael Sweeney, Lee Johnston, Michal Dokoupil, Barry Furber and Shaun Anderson made up the rest of the top 10.