Maiden Isle of Man TT podium is dream come true for speechless Paul Jordan

The Ulster rider, who turned 31 last Tuesday, celebrated his birthday in style with a magnificent third place in the Bennetts Supertwin race on his 650cc PreZ Racing Kawasaki.

Still present on the island yesterday ahead of an evening sailing back to Belfast, Jordan said the achievement had yet to fully hit home.

He recalled his excitement on the final lap as he chased Frenchman Pierre Yves Bian for the final rostrum spot, eventually overhauling the Paton rider to join race winner Peter Hickman and close friend and fellow countryman Lee Johnston in the winners’ enclosure.

It is a moment Jordan still cannot grasp almost a week after the three-lap race around the 37.73-mile Mountain Course.

“It hasn’t even hit me yet,” said Jordan, who is still nursing a hand injury following a crash at the Cookstown 100 in April.

“To be up on the podium with Peter Hickman and obviously with Lee was something special. I didn’t even realise that I was in third place until I turned up towards the return road.

“I only had two boards, one at Ballacraine, and I saw that I was in sixth. Then I saw Michael (Dunlop) go out, so I obviously knew then that I was up to fifth.

“That’s when I started to think that I might have a shot. I just put my head down and kept going,” he added.

“My brother Gary was doing a board at the Creg and the whole of Northern Ireland must have been there, because they were going completely mental!

“I couldn’t even see the board there but I was screaming the whole way from the Creg to the finish to try and make sure I made the most of the situation.”

With the finishing line almost in sight, Jordan narrowly avoided disaster after a big moment at Governor’s Dip.

“I lost the front,” he said.

“I was just flicking direction from