Hickman enjoyed two podiums in the first two races of the 2023 event, but was resoundingly beaten by Michael Dunlop in the Supersport and Superbike TTs.
The Englishman admitted that he battled brake and quickshifter problems on his FHO Racing BMW Superbike in the race, and has faced issues on the M1000RR in that trim throughout practice.
But on the Superstock version of that bike, Hickman – who later said he hasn’t ridden the bike since Wednesday’s practice - was unbeatable, leading for all but one sector of the three-lap race to claim his first win of TT 2023 and his 10th overall.
Low-hanging mist over the mountain forced the Superstock race to be postponed from 11:45am local time to 2:45pm.
Dunlop on his MD Racing Honda set the initial pace to Glen Helen on the opening lap, leading by 0.650 seconds from Hickman, with DAO Racing’s Dean Harrison a further 1.6s behind.
But on the run to Ballaugh Bridge, Hickman had gained time on Dunlop and led by 2.2s as the Ulsterman found himself struggling to overtake OMG Racing’s James Hillier.
Into Ramsey, Hickman’s lead stood at 3.3s from Dunlop, though he lost time passing the Padgetts Honda of Davey Todd and was only 2.7s out front on corrected time as he headed for his mandatory fuel stop at the end of the tour.
A solid stop from his FHO Racing squad allowed Hickman to take a lead of 5.3s through Glen Helen at the start of lap two as Dunlop continued to bleed time.
Across the rest of the second lap, Hickman grew his advantage over Dunlop to 15.7s and came under no threat across the last tour.
Source: Autosport