Paul Jordan and the Dafabet Devitt Racing team enjoyed an excellent day of racing at the Isle of Man TT races on Thursday with the Northern Ireland rider taking a career best finish around the Mountain Course of fourth place in the Lightweight race. This followed up the 11th and 14th place finishes he’d taken earlier in the day in the Supersport and Superstock races respectively.

The two-lap Lightweight race, held in the evening, was the third of the three races for Paul in what was an extremely busy day and a good opening lap of 118.920mph on the 650cc Kawasaki put him in a fine sixth place.

However, as the race wore on, the 27-year old got quicker and quicker and he overhauled both Gary Johnson and Stefano Bonetti on the second lap. Indeed, a final lap speed of 121.248mph, the third fastest lap of the race, saw him take a brilliant fourth place and finish just five seconds adrift of third place rider Lee Johnston.

Paul’s first race of the day had come in the two-lap Supersport race which, having originally been scheduled for 10.45am on Wednesday, was cut from four laps to two and eventually got underway at 12.55pm.

An opening lap of 122.920mph on the Kawasaki ZX-6RR put Paul in a fine tenth place and although he slipped back to 11th at the conclusion of the race, his second lap of 123.545mph was his quickest ever around the 37.73-mile circuit on a 600cc machine. It gave him his second silver replica from two races but he also contested the three-lap Superstock race on the Kawasaki ZX-10RR where he started from the 30th start position.

Despite having to overtake a significant amount of traffic, his first lap of 125.052mph put him in a strong 15th place and after a good pit stop, he moved up the order to 14th. A final lap comfortably in excess of 124mph enabled him to maintain 14th place for his fifth top twenty finish from his five race starts so far this week.

 Paul Jordan:

“I was a bit tense before the Lightweight race as I knew it was my best chance of a top six result so it took me a bit of time to get going but once I did, the bike felt really good. When Jamie Coward came by me, I tucked in behind him and used him as a reference and it dragged me along a bit. He was faster than me in some bits although I felt a bit quicker than him in others but he got by Peter Hickman quicker than me and I lost the tow.”

“Overall, I’m really happy with fourth place and a 121mph lap and to be fair, I’m happy with the day as a whole and am pleased with my results. I learn more and more each time I go out and I settled in quickly to the 600cc race where I posted my best ever lap in the class so I’ve got to be pleased with 11th place. The Superstock race isn’t my strongest class but I managed another 125mph+ lap and 14th was a good solid result so I can’t complain at all with how today’s gone.’

Ben Constable, Team Co-owner:

“We’d have taken a top five finish in the Lightweight race before we came here so to finish in fourth place is brilliant. Paul hadn’t ridden the bike until he got here and with very few laps in practice due to the weather, he’s lapped at more than 121mph – which not many people have done in the class – and finished just five seconds off the podium so the team, particularly Adam Nowell who’s put hours into preparing the bike, are very happy tonight.”

“We’ve had all manner of problems with the 600 so for Paul to post his personal best lap in the class and finish in 11th is brilliant and it was a similar story in the Superstock race where he again lapped at more than 125mph. Everyone has worked their socks off since they’ve got here and days like today make it worthwhile. Paul’s moving forward all the time and I hope we’ve shown people what we can still do with results like what we’ve had today.”

The final race of the week, the six-lap Senior, is scheduled for 10.00am on Friday.