Manx Grand Prix: Maiden victory for Rob Hodson in Classic Superbike finale but no luck for Northern Ireland's Michael Dunlop

Three-time winner Dunlop had been in contention after the opening lap on the Team Classic Suzuki, when the 33-year-old was just under two seconds behind early leader Craig Neve (Alasdair Cowan Racing Kawasaki) and 0.6s behind David Johnson.

Dunlop, though, began to lose time on the leaders on the second lap and the 33-year-old climbed off his machine at the end of the second lap when they reached the Grandstand.

Hodson (Greenall Kawasaki) had moved to the front on lap two but Neve remained firmly in the mix with little to separate the duo for most of the four-lap race.

At the end of lap three, Hodson’s advantage was 4.5s, but Neve’s challenge faltered when he came to a halt at Greeba Bridge on the last lap.

Now with a comfortable lead of 18 seconds over Australia’s Johnson (Alasdair Cowan Kawasaki), Hodson was able to manage his pace over the final lap to clinch his maiden success in the feature race at the festival.

Behind him, Manx rider Nathan Harrison continued to hunt down Johnson and his last lap of 126.326mph – the fastest of the race – was enough to snatch the runner-up spot away from Johnson by just 0.617s, securing a dream one-two for the Greenall Racing Team.

Race winner Hodson said: “I had grown in confidence as the week went on and I believed I could do it.

“Out pit-stop was great so thanks to my dad and uncle for the great job they did and also to the Greenall team for their support this week.

“I pushed on as hard as I could and when I saw ‘plus 20’ on my board I knew I should slow down a bit, but I wasn’t sure how much.

“It’s brilliant to have a one-two for the team and we’ll have a few beers tonight.”

Onchan man Harrison is one of road racing’s up and coming young prospects and his blistering final lap underscored his potential as a TT star of the future.

“Craig Neve came past me and I don’t like following anyone, but once I was on my own I could get into a rhythm and on that last lap I just went for second place, so I can’t complain really,” he said.

“I did 128mph on my Superbike at the TT so 126mph on the ZXR750 isn’t bad.”

The top six was finalised by Ryan Kneen (Herheim Kawasaki), Michael Rutter (Bathams Suzuki) and Michael Sweeney (Mistral Kawasaki).

Lee Johnston finished seventh on the Ashcourt Racing Honda RC45 and lapped at over 122mph.

A number of leading riders failed to finish, including Paul Jordan (Mistral Kawasaki), Brian McCormack (Greenall Kawasaki) and Dominic Herbertson.

In the Senior Manx Grand Prix earlier in the day, Liverpool man Stephen Smith was a dominant winner on the Alasdair Cowan Racing Kawasaki ZX6R.

Smith set a new MGP lap record for the class at 121.796mph as he won by 38 seconds from Daniel Ingham, who sealed second place by just 0.068s from Manxman Jamie Williams. Dennis Booth from Ballymena finished the four-lap race in 15th position.