Canny snatches late Manx Grand Prix Senior win

Caomhan Canny took his first Manx Grand Prix win in dramatic fashion

Caomhan Canny snatched a last sector win in the Senior Manx Grand Prix, taking victory over Chris Cook by just half a second.

The 30-year-old, from Gleneely in Ireland, took his first win on the Isle of Man's 37.7-mile (61km) Mountain Course a year after making his debut.

Cook, from Hawick in Scotland, had led for the majority of the four-lap race, before a final charge by Canny saw him overhauled in the closing sector.

Manxman Jamie Williams followed up his earlier win in the Junior race with third place on the podium by the narrowest of margins over Ryan Whitehall.

Caomhan Canny, Chris Cook and Jamie Williams finished on the podium for the Senior Manx Grand Prix

A blistering start for Cook saw him take an early lead, nearly three seconds ahead of Johnny Stewart and Canny, with Williams in fourth.

Although Williams had gained ground on Stewart and Canny, moving into second by Ramsey, Cook had stretched his lead to more than seven seconds, going on to record an opening lap speed of 120.595mph.

However, a strong challenge from Canny over the mountain saw the Irish racer put in a 120.229mph lap, leaving him seven seconds ahead of Williams at the Grandstand, closing in on Cook's now three-second advantage at the front.

But the Gleneely man was not able to continue to match the pace of Cook's Kawasaki, with the lead stretching back out to 8.7 seconds by Ballaugh on lap two as the bikes came into the pits.

After a quick stop by Canny's team, Cook's advantage had narrowed to 2.5 seconds by Glen Helen on lap three.

Williams continued to comfortably circulate in third on his Honda machine a further 25 seconds back, with Whitehall, Don Gilbert and Stewart also holding firm in the next three places behind.

Caomhan Canny celebrates his victory

A renewed push from Cook saw him once again pull away from Canny's Suzuki, leaving him with a 5.7-second advantage at the end of the penultimate lap.

But a blistering final lap by Canny saw him reel the Scot in to take the win in dramatic fashion, crossing the line just 0.5 seconds ahead.

Canny told Manx Radio Motorsport there were "no words" to describe taking his first win on the Mountain Course.

"I'd like to thank every single person who's believed in me," he said.

"I just don't know how it happened."

Congratulating his rival, second-placed Cook said: "I gave everything I had left on the final lap, so well done to the winner."

Chris Cook led for much of the race before being pipped to victory in the last sector

And the battle for third offered up its own drama with a last-lap charge by Whitehall.

Having fallen back to 41 seconds behind the then second-placed Canny at Ballaugh on the final circuit, Williams saw his advantage brought down to 5.5 seconds.

But ultimately there was disappointment for the racer from the Isle of Wight, who had to settle for fourth after finishing 0.007 seconds behind the Manxman, who ended his race 50 seconds behind the leaders.

Gilbert, Stewart, Graham McAleese, Toby Shann, Adrian Harrison and Ryan Garside made up the top 10 finishers.