A commanding performance by Northern Ireland’s Michael Dunlop saw him take victory in the opening Classic TT Lightweight race, finishing 47 seconds ahead of his nearest rival.
The Ballymoney man dominated the two lap race on the Isle of Man’s 37.7-mile (61km) Mountain Course after taking an early lead.
He brought the 250cc Honda machine home comfortably ahead of Ian Lougher, with Adam McLean just managing to hold on to third after a late issue with his bike over the mountain.
Run in the evening after rain delayed the day’s schedule, the contest was reduced from three laps to two.
Dunlop took an early lead on his Honda 250 machine, pulling out a two second advantage on Mike Browne by Glen Helen on lap one, with Lougher third on a Yamaha and Dan Sayle’s Honda fourth.
Browne had fallen back to fifth by Ballaugh, leaving Lougher and Sayle to chase the remaining podium places as Dunlop saw his lead grow to eight seconds.
The 36-year-old continued to pull away from the rest of the field, leaving then veteran Welsh racer more than 13 seconds adrift by Ramsey.
A charge from McLean on his 250 Yamaha saw him overhaul both Sayle and Lougher by the Bungalow, finishing the lap 16 seconds behind his fellow Northern Irishman.
Browne’s race came to an end when he came off at Brandywell on lap one, but the rider was reported to be OK.
The final lap of the truncated two-lap contest looked to be offering up a processional finish for the top three, with McLean circulating 15 seconds back on Dunlop at the Bungalow and Lougher a further 28 seconds back.
But there was last minute drama for the racer from Tobermore after a cylinder seized on his machine, leaving him to drop time on the climb down the mountain, allowing Lougher to take second.
McLean just managed to hold off Sayle in the closing sector of the race, crossing the line 0.6 seconds ahead to take third, with the Manxman holding fourth by a slender 0.04 seconds over Stuart Hall.
The 2025 event has seen the reintroduction of the Classic TT brand to the August racing event on the Mountain Course for the first time since 2019.
Dunlop told Manx Radio TT taking victory in the 250cc class was “a nice thing to have”.
“I knew I was fit to win if the bike ran well,” he said.
“It’s a big achievement round here, obviously with the TT coming back I wanted to win it.
“This bike – I rode it, my brother rode it – it’s close to my heart this one.”
Rhys Hardisty, Michal Dokoupil, Michael Sweeney, Craig Neve and Paul Cassidy rounded out the top 10 places.
Organisers originally started the Lightweight race on Monday, after bringing it forward by two days due to the unsettled weather predicted, but it was red-flagged on lap one following a crash by Andy Whale at Glen Helen.
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