TT 2016: Best result and 130mph lap for Norton

Norton Motorcycles celebrated their best result at the Isle of Man TT and broke the 130mph barrier for the first time in yesterday’s RST Superbike Race.

Dave Johnson took the V4-powered SG5 racer to seventh place in yesterday’s six lap race to mark the iconic British marque’s best TT result since returning to the mountain course under the ownership of Stuart Garner in 2009.

The outfit has been blighted by a plethora of technical issues since first taking on the mountain course with the V4 racer in 2012, but a major breakthrough this year has seen the team obliterate their personal best lap time over and over again despite a few niggles in practice.

Johnson held off the much more established machinery of Lee Johnston and Gary Johnson and even Bruce Anstey on the exotic RC213V-S MotoGP replica to take the top ten result, clocking a fastest lap of 130.8mph on the final circulation of the 37.73 mile course.

“I knew once we found the problem the bike had been having for the last few years it would become an absolute weapon,” Johnson told MCN. “It’s not far from being an ideal bike for round here, it feels really good.”