Todd triumphs in dramatic Senior TT
In contrast to last weekend’s RST Superbike TT, truly a race for the ages, the Milwaukee Senior TT was a somewhat subdued affair. It did however see a new name win the most prestigious race in road racing, with Davey Todd cruising to victory on his Milwaukee BMW.
Pushed back into the evening and cut to four laps after a weather affected race week, there was early disappointment when Michael Dunlop pulled out with a suspected clutch problem when going over the Mountain section on the opening lap. The 29-time TT winner was going for three wins in a day after standing atop the podium in the earlier Supersport and Supertwin TTs, but didn’t look like he quite had the pace to match the BMWs of Todd and Peter Hickman, who came out of the blocks swinging.
Defending Senior TT champion Hickman put the hammer down early on to lead Todd by a narrow margin but slid off on lap two while on lap record pace at Ginger Hall – thankfully without injury.
That meant Todd, who won his first TT with a Superstock success on Thursday, was able to control his pace and take the biggest win of his career by over 39 seconds.
“It doesn’t feel real,” Todd said after the race. “We’ve been feeling good all week and I wanted to be in the battle for the win today, as I knew we could be up there. I’ve loved this TT.
“I felt comfortable battling for the lead and felt I had some better lap times in reserve if needed. I think it was worse seeing the gap on my pitboard and those last two laps were the longest of my life. I was shortshifting the bike but to be fair it never missed a beat.
I love riding this BMW and full credit to the Milwaukee BMW team for their work this week and for giving me a perfect pitstop. We’ve had a mental one weather wise, but it’s a dream come true for me and it’s going to take a while to sink in.”
Behind Todd was a career best for Hickman’s FHO BMW team-mate Josh Brookes, who clocked a stunning 134mph lap. Many had expected the Australian, a two-time British superbike champion, to have a breakthrough TT campaign in 2024 and he finally confirmed that potential with a fine second place, seeing off 2019 Senior TT winner Dean Harrison by 26 seconds at the flag.
He said:
“It feels amazing. It’s been a pretty traumatic week and I knew the superbike would be me best class. I’ve not been able to get it together on the smaller bikes and feel more at home on big bikes, which I ride week in week out in the British championship. I felt like this was my class and was gutted when the chain broke in the Superbike race. I wasn’t expecting to be on the podium, so second feels like a win.
I know a lot of riders went out but that’s TT and you’ve got to take it when you can. The bike worked so well and I went the quickest I have ever gone around here. I think if I had a lap board saying someone was right behind me then I would have been able to find a little extra, so I’m really happy with how it’s gone.”
Harrison ended his first TT with Honda with a subdued third, but was able to take plenty of positives from race week. He added: “I struggled from start. We tried some stuff and went the wrong way with the set-up. I did what I could and did well to get third. We’ve had four podiums and the potential of the bikes are massive, so hopefully we have something to work on for the future.”
Behind the top three were some other standout performances. James Hillier ended his excellent race week with a brilliant fourth, ahead of 52-year-old John McGuinness, who looked revitalised on his Honda Fireblade all week. Mike Browne finished sixth, debuting the Aprilia RSV4 at the TT and getting his first 130mph lap. Seventh went to local rider Nathan Harrison, making it three Honda Racing Fireblades in the top seven, with Shaun Anderson eighth on a Suzuki.
The Senior TT caps a memorable race week. Dunlop took four of the solo TT wins to become the most successful road racer of all time with 29 wins. Todd captured his first two TT successes with Hickman grabbing a 14th career win after success in the Superbike TT. There were first time winners in the sidecars too, with Manx brothers Ryan and Callum Crowe topping the podium in both their races.
