Adrian Archibald took an emotional victory in the Formula One TT, the opening race of this year's Isle of Man TT Festival, finishing the delayed six-lapper some 75 seconds clear of Ian Lougher, riding the Honda Racing SP-2.

Ulsterman Archibald had agonised on whether or not to race following an accident at the Crosby section of the course during Thursday's practice session which cost the life of his Suzuki team-mate, the nine times TT race winner and outright lap record holder David Jefferies. Archibald immediately dedicated his success to the memory of the Yorkshireman.

Lougher was in contention early on, as John McGuinness, riding a Ducati led the 226-mile race, averaging 125mph over the opening two laps, but Archibald moved into second place to the Lancastrian by the first round of pit-stops at the end of lap two.

That proved crucial, with Archibald exiting the pits quicker, and from then on holding the upper hand, with consistently fast lapping, and a second slick pit-stop at the end of lap four as he extended his lead to half a minute. McGuinness, troubled by a gearbox problem, made an unscheduled stop after the fifth lap, dropping behind Lougher, but holding on to third, just, from Jason Griffiths.

"I'm happy with that," said Lougher. "After a hard practice week we achieved a good set-up and hopefully we can do a more bit more work on the bike's suspension before the Senior race on Friday - I'll be out to win that. This is a brilliant bike and I'd like to thank Honda for giving me the chance to race it," said Lougher.

Archibald, an emotional and popular winner, said: "After all of the problems of the week, this is obviously very good - I just wanted to win this one for David and his family. I was very nervous to begin with - it took me a few laps to settle in, but then I got away."

Results: TT Formula One race (six laps - 226 miles)

1. Adrian Archibald Suzuki 1hr 31m 58.9s - 123.05mph

2. Ian Lougher Honda

3. John McGuinness Ducati

4. Jason Griffiths Yamaha

5. Richard Britton Suzuki

6. Ryan Farquhar Suzuki

7. Shaun Harris Suzuki

8. Gordon Blackley Suzuki

9. Chris Heath Suzuki

10. Paul Hunt Suzuki