Manx Grand Prix: Newcomer Kevin Lavery lost for words after 'unbelievable' podium in Sportbike race
Kevin Lavery was lost for words after the Northern Ireland rider claimed a podium at the first time of asking in the Manx Grand Prix Sportbike race on Saturday.
The Mountain Course newcomer finished in third place behind Scotsman Johnny Stewart and Bedfordshire’s Eddy Wormald in the opening race of the 2026 festival.
Lavery also lapped under the old lap record on the LMLR/KMR Kawasaki, setting his best speed of 116.340mph on the third and final lap, which was close to the new lap record of 116.844mph set by race winner Stewart.
It was a dream start by the Manx GP debutant, who said the result was “unbelievable”.
“I can’t describe it, unbelievable – I can’t believe it,” said Lavery.
“I’ll take a podium all day long first time here, so over the moon and can’t thank everyone enough.
“Everything just fell into place, there was no moments at all and I can’t describe it.
“Thank you to everyone who’s supporting me and got me here. I’m over the moon.”
Stewart had set the pace on his Aprilia RS660 in qualifying and lived up to the formbook, winning by more than 22 seconds from Wormald.
“It was just steady away and I’ve tried to be consistent all week, so I just tried to do the same and nothing more,” he said.
“The pit board showed +10 up at the Creg so I thought, ‘right, we’re doing alright’ and just chip away at that.
“It’s mega. We’ve tried so hard the last few years and to finally get it is mega.
“We had a reliability issue last year and we decided to invest a lot of money into the wee Aprilia and it seems to have paid off.
“Thanks to the team, it’s a team effort and it takes so many people to make this happen.”
Lavery will be targeting another top-three finish in the Junior Manx Grand Prix race for Sportbike machines, which is scheduled to take place over three laps on Monday at 10:15 BST.