Santon’s Mike Evans completed a Manx Grand Prix double with a dominant record-breaking win in the Senior MGP on Friday afternoon.

Delayed by two hours because of mist around the higher sections of the Mountain Course, action finally got underway at 12.15pm with all eyes on Evans and namesake Barry Lee Evans of Wales.

The former had won the Junior MGP earlier in the week and therefore the Manxman was being tipped to be the first man since Andy Brady in 2011 to claim the double.

And he duly delivered in spectacular fashion as the duo battled it out at the front throughout the four-lap race, with Mike opening up a 5.7-second lead over Barry Lee by Glen Helen on the opening lap.

The Welshman was less than half a second ahead of Douglas’s Jamie Williams who in turn was a similar gap in front of fellow Manxman Joe Faragher. The latter enjoyed a good battle with fellow local Dean Osborne during the opening laps.

By the time they started the second lap, Mike Evans was going steady just over 6s clear of Barry Lee thanks to a record-breaking lap of 122.657mph from a standing start.

Williams was third a further 18.9s back in front of Osborne and Faragher with Darren Cooper completing the top six.

With the bit well and truly between his teeth, Mike Evans was irresistible in the second lap as he shattered the lap record again with an average speed of 122.866mph - despite coming in to pit - to move more than 10 seconds clear of Barry Lee, with Williams third just in front of Osborne.

However, there was bad luck for Joe Faragher who was forced to retire at the Gooseneck when riding well.

Barry Lee was half a second quicker than Mike in the pits but the main story was further back where Osborn’s rapid pitstop saw him gain four seconds on fellow local Williams to move into a podium position by the time they reached Glen Helen for a third time.

The gap between the top two remained consistent around the 13 or 14-second mark but there was drama at the end of the third lap when Barry Lee was forced to pit again due to a problem with his chain, which allowed Mike to pull further clear and Osborne to close the gap significantly on second.

The latter had closed the gap to Barry Lee to only 1.2s by Glen Helen, with Williams a further 11s further back as he chased a podium.

It wasn’t to be though as Barry Lee kept his cool and gradually pulled further away to preserve his second place on the podium.

Virtually assured of victory, Mike Evans cooled off and eased his Suzuki back over the Mountain one last time to cross the line a minute clear of Barry Lee to break the race record and seal a memorable Junior/Senior Manx Grand Prix double.

Barry Lee eventually crossed the line to claim the runner-up spot some 11.3s ahead of Osborne in an impressive third, while David Lumsden was fourth just ahead of Williams and Nick Anderson who completed the top six.

Full report, reaction and photographs in the Isle of Man Examiner, on sale Tuesday.