Davey Todd critical of Paton at Isle of Man TT

Davey Todd says his factory Paton was “definitely not” identical to Michael Dunlop’s in the Isle of Man TT Supertwin class and suggests it “didn’t want to give away all the secrets”.

Michael Dunlop has dominated the Supertwin class in recent years on his Paton, with the Northern Irishman completing a clean sweep in 2025.

He registered his 33rd TT victory in Friday’s Supertwin TT 2, beating Todd by almost 30 seconds and setting a new lap record of 123.056mph in the process.

Todd raced a Paton with the Padgetts Racing team in the class this year, which he says “was meant to be the same as Michael’s bike” having been purchased from the factory.

But after Supertwin TT 2, he was doubtful of this and critical of a bike “that wasn’t cracked up to what it was supposed to be”.

“I rode that thing so hard,” he told TT+ afterwards.

“After the first twin race we were all just super disappointed.

“Clive [Padgett] bought that Paton from the factory and it was meant to be the same as Michael’s bike, and it’s most definitely not.

“I don’t think they wanted to give away all the secrets. So, Clive has worked his butt off to develop that bike and improve it from the first race, and I pulled my finger out.

“I thought I was riding it hard in the first one, but apparently there’s a lot of corners here you can take flat that I never knew about.

“Grateful to the Padgetts team for giving me this opportunity and spending all that money on a bike that wasn’t cracked up to what it was supposed to be.

“And they worked so hard to improve it. I’m just super glad to be able to stick it on the podium.

“I’m stoked with P2. Michael on that factory bike, we’ve absolutely no chance of getting there.

“I hung in as best I could. The team did a fantastic pitstop, I’ve got to give it up to them. I’m just excited to hopefully come back stronger next year.”

Todd will be aiming for a second Superbike win on Saturday when the Senior TT finale gets underway, following his Superbike TT victory on Monday.

He was denied a chance to fight for victory in Friday’s Superstock TT 2 due to an issue getting his 8TEN Racing BMW restarted at the pitstop.

Honda’s Dean Harrison won both races in the Superstock class this week.