A first time appearance at the Isle of Man Classic TT Races ended on an extremely high note for Josh Daley on Tuesday as the Wigan rider finished in an excellent 23rd place in the Superbike Classic TT race. Riding the Primus Racing 750 Kawasaki, the 21-year old was having his first outing on a bike bigger than 600cc around the 37.73-mile Mountain Course but it didn’t show as he continually improved his pace to be rewarded with an excellent result and a maiden silver replica.
 
A solid week of practice for Josh saw him complete seven laps in total with the only issue being a foot peg working its way loose one evening and a fastest lap of 113.697mph in the final session placed him 30th on the overall leaderboard.
 
Originally scheduled to take place on Bank Holiday Monday, poor weather meant the four-lap race was delayed 24 hours and it eventually got underway at 2.50pm on Tuesday afternoon with an opening lap of 112.731mph placing Josh in a solid 36th place. Second time around and a quicker lap of 113.942mph moved Josh up the order to 30th place as he came into the pits to make his solitary fuel stop and he was soon back out on the world famous Mountain Course.
 
A great stop by the pit crew saw Josh gain time and he moved up further to 26th on lap three with just the fourth and final lap remaining. And he saved the best until last with his quickest lap of the week, 114.467mph, seeing him take the chequered flag in an excellent 23rd place overall and sixth place in the ‘Privateer 2’ category.
 
Josh Daley: "It’s been a good first Classic TT for me, building my speed up in practice every time I went out and feeling more comfortable with the bike every time I rode it. The race itself went really well finishing in 23rd position and achieving my first ever silver replica, which I am over the moon about. Massive thanks to Dale, Sam and John of Primus Racing for giving me the opportunity to ride at the Classic TT and also to my Mum, Dad and sister Sophie for all of their help and support. Finally, a massive thanks to all of my sponsors because without them all of this would not be possible"
 
Josh’s next outing will be at Oulton Park, Cheshire on September 15-17 with his first appearance in the Pirelli National Superstock 1000 Championship.
 
Photo - Courtesy of Pacemaker Press International.