Manxman Dan Kneen took his third top ten finish of the 2015 Isle of Man TT festival when he took a hard fought ninth place in Wednesday’s four-lap Supersport race, just two seconds adrift of seventh place.

Riding the Valvoline Racing by Padgetts Honda, the Braddan rider opened his account with a lap speed of 124.113mph, which slotted him into eighth place and sandwiched between fellow Honda riders Conor Cummins and John McGuinness.

The 27-year old went quicker still on lap two at 124.545mph to remain in eighth but it was McGuinness now in seventh and Cummins back to ninth as less than three seconds covered the trio. Lap three and it was all change again with Cummins seventh, McGuinness eighth and Dan ninth!

On the final lap of the 37.73-mile Mountain Course, Dan was the quicker of the trio with a lap of 125.587mph, his quickest ever lap on a 600cc machine, but it wasn’t quite enough to improve his ninth place although he was only two seconds behind seventh placed rider and fellow Manxman Cummins.

Dan Kneen: “It took me a while to get going in the race but once I did, it was an enjoyable ride. Clive made a few changes to the bike, which definitely worked, and I set my best ever lap on a 600cc machine on the final lap. It’s a bit of a shame that I couldn’t take seventh but it was really close between the three of us and I can’t complain too much. That’s another top ten finish this week and things are going well.”

Dan’s final race of TT2015 will be in Friday’s 6-lap Senior.