Weather chaos and red flag disrupt Manx Grand Prix.
Another day; another multitude of problems for the Clerk of the Course to contend with. The first problem was roads that were too wet to allow racing to begin; that caused 2 hours of delay. To compound that emergency works were required on the drainage infrastructure at Union Mills that caused another long delay.
When the action finally started conditions were much improved, but many locations displayed lack of adhesion flags due to damp or wet patches. At Tower Bends the road was dry and the sun was shining. Proceedings began with a practice lap for all classes. It was used mostly by Senior MGP and Classic Superbike riders; although two Junior MGP riders did utilise it.
The first race scheduled for the afternoon was the Junior (Supertwins) Race. The practice form was soon proved to be accurate; Andrea Majola (Paton) led by 5s at Glen Helen from Maurizio Bottalico (Kawasaki), who had started 10s before him. Daniel Ingham (Aprilia) was third; with Julian Cregniot (Paton) fourth. Majola had closed the starting interval by Ramsey, and he led on the road at Tower Bends by 5 metres from his countryman as they swept through the S bend in fine style. He increased his lead over the mountain; to be 6.2s ahead as they took their compulsory pit stops.
There were a few penalties issued for pit lane infringements; but these did not affect the leading quartet. The first 8 riders had passed through Tower Bends on lap 2 when the red flag was displayed, halting the action. The flag was due to an incident at Ballacyre; between Ballaugh and Sulby. Thankfully the rider was conscious and talking to medics when he was being evacuated from the scene to Nobles Hospital.
The weather then returned to normality; rain that began in the west gradually spread to make the track unfit for racing. This gives Gary Thompson the unenviable task of trying to fit 6 shortened races into Monday. This may prove impossible if the current weather forecast is correct. This has been the most problematic MGP of all time; one day to go; no races completed.
