Manxman Dan Kneen got his 2015 Isle of Man TT week underway on Sunday afternoon and the Braddan rider didn’t disappoint with a strong seventh place in the 6-lap Superbike TT race.

Riding the Valvoline Racing by Padgetts Honda, an opening lap of 129.189mph was just a fraction outside his personal best set 12 months ago and it placed him in seventh place and ahead of fellow Manx rider Conor Cummins. Despite lapping in excess of 127mph, Dan slipped back to ninth at the end of the second lap when he made his first of two pit stops but by half race distance he was back up to eighth.

That became seventh again on lap four but half way round the final lap, he was up to sixth and splitting the BMWs of William Dunlop and Michael Rutter. But with less than two miles to go, the race was red flagged due to an incident involving Michael Dunlop and a slower rider. And although Dan was in sixth and ahead of Rutter at Cronk ny Mona, he had to stop whereas Rutter was able to complete his lap. That meant that he was awarded seventh place and despite his and the team's obvious unhappiness, the result stood.

Dan Kneen: “I enjoyed the race and although I felt like I was trying a bit too hard at the beginning, I settled down as best I could and let the race come to me. It was difficult to know how hard to push at times but I focused on building up my speed as the race wore on and although I thought I’d got sixth sewn up, the red flag put paid to that and I had to accept seventh.”

“I passed through the incident but wasn’t able to complete the lap as I got stopped at Governor’s Bridge. It’s a shame but it’s a solid start and solid result. The bike was working well and it’s nice to get a full race distance under my belt so a big thanks to the team for giving me a great bike. It gives me a good platform to build on and we have plenty of races still to go.”

Picture by Pacemaker Press International