The Isle of Man TT races may ultimately have been dominated by the sport’s biggest names, but the iconic road racing festival also highlighted the emergence of several rising stars.

Fermanagh’s Lee Johnston only made his debut on the Mountain Course in 2012, but the former British Superstock 600 champion secured the coveted Privateers Championship following a string of impressive results.

Johnston took 11th on the East Coast Racing Honda in the Senior race hours after earning his best ever TT result with ninth in the Lightweight race.

He also finished 13th and 12th in the Superbike and Superstock races respectively and claimed a top 20 finish in the Supersport class.


Ballyclare man Jamie Hamilton also made solid progress at the TT on Ryan Farquhar’s Vauxhall KMR Kawasaki machines, claiming a stunning fifth place result in the Lightweight race.

Hamilton lapped at almost 124mph from a standing start as he sealed a respectable 16th in the Superbike race and twice finished 12th in the Supersport races.

The 22-year-old never completed the Superstock or Senior races but Hamilton – last year’s top newcomer on the Mountain Course - can reflect on a satisfactory fortnight on the Island.

Two names that continuously cropped up at the sharp end of the TT leaderboard were Dean Harrison and James Hillier.

Bradford rider Harrison has a bright future ahead of him and showed his potential last week, finishing as the runner-up behind Hillier in the Lightweight race and taking fourth in the Superstock event on his Kawasaki machines.

The 24-year-old was 11th and eighth in the Superbike and Senior races on his RC Express MSS Kawasaki ZX-10 and eighth and seventh in both Supersport races.

Hillier, meanwhile, will expect to battle for honours in 2014 following a superb performance in the Senior TT in particular as the Bournemouth man pushed Bruce Anstey all the way in a battle for the final podium place.

Anstey prevailed by 0.9 seconds to take third, but Hillier will take plenty of confidence from the race after tagging on behind John McGuinness and producing two laps in excess of 131mph.

He took his maiden TT victory in the Lightweight race by a commanding 30 seconds - setting a new lap record at 117.959mph - and finished fifth and sixth in the Supersport races and sixth in the Superstock encounter.



Kyle White
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