TAS Racing BMW rider Todd scored just his second and third career TT podiums earlier this week in the Supersport and Superbike races.
Feature: The real-world application of the new Isle of Man TT game
A champion at Superstock level in the British championship, Todd was expected to be a strong contender for victory in the delayed first race for the class at TT 2024 – though he would have to dethrone Hickman, who hasn’t been beaten in class since 2018 and holds the outright lap record on that spec of bike.
Fighting hard with Hickman across a frantic three laps, Todd got to the finish 2.2 seconds clear of the FHO Racing BMW rider on corrected time.
Michael Dunlop, who made history on Wednesday by scoring a record 27th victory at the TT, completed the podium on his MD Racing Honda.
Todd - who only made his TT debut in 2018 - led the field on corrected time through to the Glen Helen sector split on the opening lap of three, 1.5s clear of Dunlop, who was a further 0.108s ahead of Hickman.
Hickman leaped Dunlop on the times through to the Ballaugh Bridge sector split and 0.5s behind Todd, with that gap shrinking to 0.080s at the Bungalow.
At the end of lap one as everyone headed in for their mandatory fuel stop, Todd had gotten his lead up to 1.7s and a quicker pit intervention time meant he was 4.7s up on Hickman at Glen Helen on lap two.
Hickman dug deep on his FHO-run BMW to close Todd’s lead down to 2.8s and 2.1s over the mountain, but again lost time on the run from Cronk-ny-Mona to the Grandstand and was 2.5s behind as he started the last lap.
Todd was 2.3s through Glen Helen on the final lap, but Hickman wiped most of that advantage out as he clicked through the Ballaugh split just 0.5s adrift.
That grew a little to 1.1s at Ramsey and remained stable through the Bungalow, before Hickman encountered traffic in the form of James Hillier on the run to Cronk.
Todd, who was able to navigate traffic expertly, held a 2.2s lead for his run through to the finish and maintained that to the chequered flag.
Hickman was marginally faster than Todd over that final lap, posting a 135.140mph effort versus a 135.092mph. No other riders cracked the 134mph barrier in that race.
Dunlop completed the podium having admitted he’s struggled with his Superstock bike all week, while Honda’s Dean Harrison faded from rostrum contention as the race wore on in fourth.
Hillier was fifth on the WTF Racing Honda, while Jamie Coward slotted into sixth.
John McGuinness put in his best ever Superstock lap on his way to seventh, with the 23-time TT winner posting a 131.845mph on the Honda.
Connor Cummins was eighth from Dominic Herbertson and Mike Browne, as Josh Brookes fell to 11th after an issue in the pits.
