The Bennetts Suzuki team's bid for a debut TT win ended in disappointment, after Michael Dunlop was forced to retire from the lead of today's Superbike race.

After slotting into third place early on, Dunlop upped the pace to take the lead by the end of the opening circulation, with a lap of 131.135mph. Despite retirement, it remained the fastest lap of the six lap race.

He was extending his lead on lap two, before retiring with a technical issue at Handley's.

Team manager, Steve Hicken, commented, 

"What can we say? We were looking good and Michael was comfortable and pulling away, and it says a lot that we set the fastest lap of the race on the opening lap. There was plenty more to come and we could have done a couple of 132s, comfortably. Until that point the bike was working well but sometimes these things happen. It's frustrating but that's racing the TT. We'll strip the bike this evening to determine exactly what the issue was and work to resolve it ahead of Friday's Senior TT."

Isle of Man TT Superbike result: 1. Ian Hutchinson, 2. Peter Hickman, 3. Dean Harrison, DNF. Michael Dunlop.

Michael Setting off on his disappointing Superbike 1 Race