It’s difficult to remember a better evening’s racing at Billown than Wednesday.

Conditions were idyllic, with the exception perhaps of the low sun on sections of the course later on.

It was a highly-successful one for the local contingent, beginning with Laxey’s Joe Yeardsley in the opening Mike Kerruish Plumbing and Heating Lightweight/twins race.

After an initial short delay when Ben Rainbow’s RAF MSA Suzuki twin expired on the warm-up lap approaching Ballakeighan, the action was relentless and accident-free throughout the whole evening.

Yeardsley made a good start but soon found his 700cc Flitwick Motorcycles Yamaha was no match for Hodson’s superquick Paton.

‘Rob got past and simply disappeared,’ he said, admitting that he was almost high-sided on the exit to Cross Four Ways trying to stay on level terms with the Italian twin.

Hodson had built up a 3.5-second lead by the end of lap two.

Paul Jordan retired from a leaderboard place on lap three, then Hodson appeared to make a mistake at Ballabeg hairpin, losing considerable time. Shortly later he pulled up to retire at Cross Four Ways on lap four.

Yeardsley found himself in the lead but had to push hard to keep Michael Sweeney’s Aprilia 660 behind him. Having made what he described as a woeful start, Sweeney managed to reel the Laxey man in but the latter got the message and upped his pace again to take the chequered flag four seconds clear, with Dom Herbertson at another seven tenths on a 660 Triumph that he said was like bringing a knife to a gunfight.

The top three finishers had all been lapping more than two seconds a lap slower than Hodson.

Jamie Williams and Paul Cassidy were the next locals home in sixth and 10th.

Peter Hickman made a rapid getaway in the Ellan Vannin Fuels Superbike race and was two tenths of a second in front of Dean Harrison at the end of lap one.

Three seconds covered the top six after two laps, with Harrison fractionally ahead of Hickman. But the latter, in only his second race on the course, went straight on at Ballakeighan and subsequently dropped way down the order to around 12th.

Unaware of his rival’s slip-up, Ballaugh resident Harrison piled on the coals and broke the race lap record on lap four to open up a 6s lead over Browne.

Going even quicker on subsequent laps, Harrison upped the record to 116.799mph on lap six to storm his way to an 8s winning margin in a Honda rout of the top-five, followed home by Browne, Nathan Harrison, Jordan, Yeardsley and Hickman, who ousted Marcus Simpson on the final run-in to the flag.

The local dominance continued in the JCK Supersport B race when Sulby’s Dan Sayle led almost throughout on his Yamaha R6 to win by 5.4s from a real scrap for second, with the next three blanketed by 0.6s.

Browne won the H&H Motorcycles 600 A race on his R6 from Jordan’s Ducati V2 by a relatively comfortable margin, with Herbertson getting the better of Nathan Harrison and Yeardsley in a thrilling scrap for third, with Hickman’s 765 Triumph a close sixth.

Seven sidecars came to the line for the Ace Hire and Sales Classic Sidecar race, of which six completed the full four laps.

Newcomer Will Smith and passenger Andy Smith led for a couple of laps before Kieran Clarke and newcomer passenger Rob Coppock got through on a similar 1100cc BMW.

Clarke and Coppock won by 3s, with Dave Molyneux and Sayle consistent in third throughout on the down-on-power 750cc Suzuki.

- Reports from championship day will appear in Tuesday’s IoM Examiner.