Michael Dunlop imperious form in the TT’s Supersport class continued on Tuesday afternoon.

The 37 year old racked up his 16th victory in the event’s middleweight division and his 34th win in total with a typically dominant display over three laps.

Dunlop finished the 113.19-mile contest 24.470 seconds ahead of Sunday’s Superbike winner Dean Harrison on the MD Racing Ducati V2.

Peter Hickman finished strongly to overcome Paul Jordan on the corrected time charts and take third, a further 23.506s down on Honda-mounted Harrison.

Jordan was fourth, Josh Brookes fifth and Dominic Herbertson sixth.

The day’s proceedings were delayed several hours because of wet weather overnight and into the morning.

As racing finally got underway at 3pm, clerk of the course Gary Thompson MBE warned the 54 competitors lining up Glencrutchery Road of damp conditions around the Mountain Course.

Speaking to Radio TT in the winner’s enclosure, Dunlop said conditions were not ideal and played a factor in why speeds were a bit down overall: ‘It was a lot damper out there than I was expecting.

‘Conditions were damp in weird places and you had to watch where you were going.

‘I was quite cautious the first lap, but then kept upping the pace until I knew “That was me” and that everything was going to plan.’

‘I knew Dean was going to be hot and heavy so I had to ride as fast as I could.

‘The bike has been great all week.’

Harrison was delighted to finish second with the Ducati’s top-end speed advantage. He said: ‘I’m over the moon to finish second - we’ve got a big speed deficiency compared to some of the other bikes. I’ve only got 600cc!’

Third-placed Hickman, who had to sit out last year’s races because of a crash late in qualifying, also said the course conditions had initially hampered him. He said: ‘They were not my sort of conditions at all - probably one of the wettest conditions I’ve ridden a race round here in.’

Hickman was also hindered in the mandatory pit stops at the end of lap one because of problems with the 765 Triumph’s fuel cap.

The 14-time winner finished strongly to finish 11.572 seconds up on Jordan who was riding a similar 890cc Ducati to Dunlop.

Behind Jordan, Josh Brookes finished fifth 18.5s down on the Magherafelt man and 6.759s up on Dominic Hertbertson after a last lap of 18 minutes 11.120 seconds (126.115mph).

Jamie Coward, Shaun Anderson, Ian Hutchinson and Mike Browne completed the top 10, the latter after being hit with a 30-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane.

Conor Cummins was also slapped with a 30-seconds penalty for the same reason, dropping him to 12th place 12.955s down on Davo Johnson.

New Zealander Mitch Rees, on board the Padgett’s Honda, claimed his best Mountain Course finish of 13th place in only his second TT.

Cummins’s fellow Manxmen Nathan Harrison, Michael Evans, Joe Yeardsley and Jamie Cringle finished 14th, 15th, 16th and 17th respectively.

Douglas’ Marcus Simpson was 25th and Glen Maye’s Jorge Halliday 40th of the 42 finishers.

Castletown’s Paul Cassidy retired at the Wildlife Park on the second lap.

Halifax’s David Brook came off at Sulby Bridge but the rider was reported as okay by race control.

Newcomer Gary McCoy also came off at Kerrowmoar on the final lap, but was reported as conscious and talking and was airlifted to Noble’s Hospital for further treatment and assessment.