Simpson fights on in dramatic conclusion

Ian Simpson yesterday rode his Honda 750 to victory in the senior race at the Isle of Man TT races after a tense finish in the six-lap event. Filled with drama and excitement, the race was a worthy finale to the carnival.

Bob Jackson finished second after fitting an over-sized fuel tank to his Kawasaki 750 so that he would have to make one pit stop instead of the usual two.

The plan went awry when his filler cap jammed during the stop. He did well to make up lost time, and even led by half a second on the last lap, but Simpson raced hard to win by 3.7 seconds.

"When I dropped into second place at Ramsey on the last lap I knew I had to push that little bit harder over the mountain," Simpson said.

Michael Rutter started well on his Honda 750 and looked like he might take his second TT trophy until a puncture at Bray Hill on the third lap put him out of contention. He eventually finished 13th.

Jim Moodie, on a Honda, also upset the leader board, by retiring on the fourth lap while in second place.

Simon Beck, on a Kawasaki, had set the fastest time during practice, but retired on the final lap while in fifth position. The atmosphere was tense throughout the 226-mile race, as shown by Ian Lougher and John McGuinness almost colliding in the pit lane. In the three-lap production event, Jim Moodie, on a Honda CBR 900, broke the lap record and rode a brilliant race to give Honda their 100th win at the TT races.

"It's fantastic," said Moodie, a Scot. "After the hard work my team has put in over the past two weeks, it's difficult to believe I've finally got the win I've been looking for."

Moodie beat Nigel Davies, on a Kawasaki ZX9RR, by 29 seconds.

Yesterday's races provided a fantastic finish to a TT festival that had been dogged with bad weather and race disruptions.

The Dunlop brothers, Joey and Robert, were the only riders to benefit from the shortened race differences, with each winning a trophy despite being heavily injured. Full distance races would have drained their stamina.

A rider sustained fatal injuries during the production TT race. Ian Hardisty, a 40-year-old from Abergavenny, was married with one child.