Another day; another heap of challenges for Gary Thompson to face. After a weather related delay, a much revised plan of action was put into place when the Sidecars left the Grandstand for a two laps timed practice; led away by Pete Founds / Jevan Walmsley.
The conditions were good at Tower Bends which was fairly sunny; but there was a fairly brisk breeze blowing. The clocks showed that the Crowe brothers were fastest in all sectors up Ramsey. At Tower Bends, Founds/Walmsley had the Crowes inches from the rear wheel, a fine sight as they flicked right then left as they powered up the mountain. The Crowes were soon leading on the road and had a rapid trip over the mountain to record a speed of 119.337mph on their sole lap. Behind them Founds / Walmsley and Ben Birchall/ Patrick Rosney were matching each other closely; their sppeds115.843mph and 115.198mph. Birchall went straight through for a second lap; which proved to be better at 115.664mph. The action was good for the scattering of spectators in the Waterworks to Gooseneck section. Lee Crawford / Scott Hardie were the only pairing to lap at over 115mph.
On their second lap; the newcomer pairing of Keiran Clarke / Andrew Johnson produced a superb speed of 113.040mph. Newcomer drivers Stephen Kershaw and George Holden both produced a 110mph+ lap. In a surprise move for most of us; Founds / Walmsley came into the pits to change all of their tyres. The move was pre-planned to allow them to have them in prime condition for the first race; scheduled for Monday. The complex task was completed with a minute to spare before the pit lane gate closed. Ther were proceeding well; but then had a gasp inducing crash at the exit to Rhencullen. Whilst Pete and Jevan have escaped relatively unscathed; the outfit has not been so lucky. The session was immediately red flagged and with rain staring to fall on the western side of the course and in the Gooseneck area further action seemed unlikely.
The weather relented and another reorganization allowed the Superbikes, Superstocks and Supersports to have 40 minutes session; with the Supertwins given a 10 minutes window of opportunity to start a lap. The first session was well attended and the speeds impressive. The main news was that Michael Dunlop made a significant step forward with his Superbike; upping his best to 132.003mph. Conor Cummins made similar progress with his Superstock; raising his best to 129.853mph. Rob Hodson raised his Superbike best to 129.135mph. Young local rider Marcus Simpson was just shy of 125mph with his best Superbike lap thus far. There were no dramas in the Square; just a couple going off piste briefly into the parking area. Elsewhere local rider David Rigby escaped injury in an incident at Creg ny Baa. It was good discover that Peter Hickman was back at the Grandstand and already planning for next year.
Dean Harrison switched to his Supersport and in far from ideal conditions set the best lap of the session at 124.736mph. Mikey Evans was second quickest with 123.28mph. Paul Jordan was the best of the Supertwin riders with 118.584mph.
The forecast for Monday is promising; hopefully tomorrow will the scheduled 3 races completed; all be it the Superbike will be 4 rather than 6 laps.
