Dan Kneen made a solid comeback to International road racing on Sunday when he took 14th position in the 6-lap Isle of Man Superbike TT race. The Marks Bloom Racing rider was having his first International outing of the year after recovering from a broken foot and with his practice week being hindered by inclement weather, he opted to use the race as further practice for the remainder of the week. Nevertheless, the Manxman acquitted himself well and picked up another top 15 finish and bronze replica.
 
With the race getting underway at 3.00pm, slightly later than scheduled, an opening lap of 123.715mph saw Dan occupy 20th place but a lap later he moved up to 17th and although he dropped back one position after his pit stop, another 123mph+ lap on the fourth circuit meant he was back up to 16th place. Lapping at 123.582mph on the sixth and final lap, Dan was able to claim 14th at the chequered flag which also placed him third overall in the TT Privateer's Championship.
 
Speaking afterwards, a satisfied Dan commented; "I'm happy enough with the result today given the injury back in April and the lack of dry practice that we've had. I was a bit stiff and sore at the beginning of the week whilst we simply haven't had enough time on the Superbike to get it fully set up right. Given the situation, today was more like a giant practice session for the Senior later in the week and we've definitely learnt a lot with the bike and know where we can improve. It's also been good for me to get six laps and the full race distance under my belt so I'm confident we'll be closer to the sharp end in the remaining races this week. There's plenty more racing to be done and I'm sure the results will get better with each and every outing."
 
Dan's back in action on Monday for the Supersport and Superstock races.
 
Photo - Pacemaker Press International.