The Jackson Racing team secured their first results at the 2017 Isle of Man TT Races on Monday when Dan Kneen and Josh Brookes took eighth and 11th place finishes on their CBR600 Honda’s in the four-lap Supersport 600cc race.
 
However, Kneen was left to rue what might have been after being docked sixty seconds due to speeding in pit lane after the single pit stop which dropped him from sixth to outside the top ten. He fought back valiantly to claim eighth, aided by his best ever 600cc lap of 125.882mph but without the penalty he would have finished fifth.
 
Having only joined the team at the 11th hour, and with a trying practice week due to inclement weather, neither rider had managed many laps on their Supersport mounts prior to the race, which was delayed by over two hours due to overnight rain.
 
It eventually got underway just after 1pm and an opening lap of 122.926mph put Manx rider Kneen into eighth place and as track conditions improved, he was able to pick up the pace considerably second time around. Indeed, with a lap of 124.337mph, he was up into sixth and less than two seconds behind Sunday’s Superbike race winner Ian Hutchinson.
 
The team did a superb job in the pits but as he left pit lane, Dan accidentally pressed the wrong button which failed to activate his pit lane speed limiter and he broke the speed limit, unfortunately picking up the aforementioned penalty.
 
Despite dropping out of the top ten, he regrouped well and really flew on the final lap, his near 126mph lap moving him up to eighth after 150 miles of hard fought racing.
 
For Australian Brookes, he was making his return to the TT for the first time since 2014, which was also the last time he rode a Supersport machine. Taking over the Honda earmarked for 23-times TT winner John McGuinness, the 33-year old got quicker as practice week wore on although the damp conditions on the opening lap hindered his progress slightly.
 
Fifteenth at the end of the first lap, a lap of 121.838mph on lap two moved him up to 13th and with another good pit stop by the team, he was up to 12th with one lap to go. And with a final lap of 123.099mph, he was able to overhaul Ivan Lintin and take a good 11th at the chequered flag.
 
Third team member, Craig Neve unfortunately tipped off at Creg ny Baa during Sunday’s Superbike race, fortunately without injury, but he’ll be back on the Honda Fireblade in Friday’s Senior.
 
Alan Jackson, Team Owner: “Dan rode the wheels off the 600 today and it’s such a shame he picked up the penalty as fifth place would have been a great result. There are numerous buttons on the bike and unfortunately he pressed the wrong one, which resulted in him breaking the speed limit and picking up the penalty. After that, he rode brilliantly and lapping at close to 126mph shows how well he was riding and how well the bike was performing.”
 
“We were pleased with Josh’s result as well as it’s been a long time since he rode a 600 whilst the tricky conditions were far from ideal and probably held him back a bit more compared to Dan who’s obviously been coming here a lot longer. The 600 is very different to the Norton he rode in Sunday’s Superbike race so 11th at the end of the four laps was a pleasing outcome.”
 
The second Supersport race is due to take place at 10.45am on Wednesday with the Blue Riband Senior scheduled for 12.45pm on Friday.
 
Photo courtesy of Pacemaker Press International.