Wednesday evening’s races were
shortened to enable to organisers to accommodate the
Classic Race that could not be run on Tuesday. The first
race away was the Total Oils Senior Race. Guy Martin
was leading when the race had to be red flagged on the
second lap after Mark Parrett crashed out at Ballawhetstone.
He was taken to hospital with rib injuries; we wish
him a speedy recovery. Guy Martin was first into Ballabeg
Hairpin on the opening lap of the re-started 6 lap race.
Ian Lougher held second, Ryan Farquhar third, Conor
Cummins fourth, Michael Dunlop fifth and James McBride
sixth as they accelerated away towards Ballawhetstone.
On lap 2 Martin had opened a 30 metres gap over Farquhar
and Cummins, who held a 20 metres advantage over Lougher
and Dunlop, who were well clear of McBride.
On lap 3 Farquhar had reduced Martin’s lead,
whilst he had pulled 10 metres ahead of Cummins as the
pace of the race increased to over 111mph. Dunlop had
passed Lougher and behind him McBride was coming under
pressure from Mark Buckley. Throughout the field there
was very close racing to keep the large crowd entertained.
On lap 4 Martin’s lead was down to just a couple
of metres over Farquhar with Cummins now a similar distance
behind Farquhar. Cummins had set a new outright lap
record at 112.185mph and Farquhar had lapped at 112.030mph
on the third lap.
On lap 5 a blanket would have covered the first three
as they braked hard for the hairpin; Martin just retaining
his lead as they threw the machines into the corner.
Dunlop and Lougher had dropped further behind this battle;
with McBride and Buckley scrapping for sixth 15s behind
them. The race was providing a great spectacle; it was
a shame that it was only for six laps. At Ballabeg on
the final lap there were mere inches between the three
leaders; Martin still at the head of events. At the
sharp right hander at Cross Four Ways, Farquhar was
better on the brakes and managed to squeeze into the
lead. Despite Martin’s best efforts he could not
re-pass and had to settle for second after a truly wonderful
race.
The next race was the Mann Auto 250cc race which had
only 13 starters. Chris Palmer and Ian Lougher were
quickest away from the lights and had a 50 metres advantage
over Davy Morgan as they reached Ballabeg for the first
time. William Dunlop was a further 20 metres behind,
a clutch problem causing him to have a slow start; so
leaving him with a big problem in a race over just four
laps.
On lap 2 Palmer still held a narrow lead from Lougher;
but he was having problems with handling; new parts
for the Mannin Honda had not arrived. William Dunlop
was in third and had closed to within 15 metres of the
leaders. On lap 3 Dunlop had the lead by a metre as
they skirted the wall on the inside of the hairpin and
accelerated away. The pace at the front was rapid, Palmer
unable to keep pace with the two leaders on the ill
handling Mannin Honda. Dunlop made a mistake at Cross
Four ways gifting the lead back to Lougher. On the final
lap Lougher still had a machine’s length advantage
as they rounded the hairpin. However William was not
to be denied; with a new class lap record of 103.231mph
he was able to snatch victory by just 0.147s. Palmer
duly secured the final podium place.
The next race was the Radcliffe Butchers 600cc race
and it provided some motorcycling fillet steak for the
crowd. Fastest out of the blocks was Ryan Farquhar;
he had a very slight advantage from Ian Lougher and
Guy Martin as they blasted towards us from the tricky
Iron Gate / Ballanorris section. Roy Richardson held
fourth just ahead of the slow starting Michael Dunlop.
Another slow starter was Conor Cummins who was in seventh
place. This race proved to be as good as the earlier
Senior Race with close racing right throughout the field.
On lap 2 Farquhar and Lougher had opened a 15 metres
gap over Martin. Dunlop had passed Richardson and was
closing the gap on Martin. Cummins had taken sixth place
from Chris Palmer, but was 5s down on the leader. On
lap 3 Farquhar still held a marginal advantage over
Lougher, whose machine was slightly down on top speed.
Behind them Dunlop had caught Martin and was trying
to ease his way past. On the fourth lap Farquhar had
increased his lead to 10 metres over Lougher. Behind
them Dunlop had passed Martin and was cutting the deficit
to Lougher. Cummins was also on the move, he had taken
fifth place from Richardson with the aid of his best
lap of the race.
On lap 5 Farquhar led by jus 5 metres from Lougher,
with Dunlop now just 20 metres further behind and closing
fast; in fact so fast that he set a new class lap record
at 108.464mph on this lap. The last lap promised to
be very interesting. For Guy Martin the race was run;
he pulled in at Ballabeg. He did re-start but only made
it to Billown Farm where he parked the Honda. On the
last lap Farquhar led by a metre; Dunlop grabbed the
inside line and second place from Lougher. His better
top end speed allowed him to pass Farquhar at Stadium;
however Ryan took a wide line at Castletown Corner and
got the better drive out of the corner to take victory
by just 0.047s after a marvellous race. Lougher took
third place 1.5s further back.
The next race was the Vehicle Sourcing Centre Sidecar
Race. The riders wore black armbands and the outfits
all had Dongo emblazoned upon them; the competitors’
tribute to their fallen colleague.
Fastest away from the lights was Ireson Honda of Steven
Coombes and Paul Knapton. They were 10 metres ahead
of Ian Bell and son Carl on the LCR Yamaha. The veteran
pairing of Roy Hanks and Dave Wells held third a further
10 metres astern. Greg Lambert; Gary Bryan and Neil
Kelly completed the top six. On lap 2 Coombes had doubled
his advantage over Bell, who in turn had pulled away
from Hanks. Lambert was 50 metres ahead of the battle
for fifth between Bryan and Kelly. On lap 3 Bell was
right with Coombes and looking for a chance to pass.
These two were now 3s clear of Hanks. There was no change
on lap 4, Bell still harassing Coombes and looking for
a chance to take a victory.
Try as he might Bell could not find a way to pass Coombes,
who put up the fastest lap of the race on lap 5 in his
effort to protect his lead. As the flag dropped to end
an emotion charged race it was Coombes who took the
spoils by just 0.5s from Bell. Hanks took the final
podium place, 16s behind Bell. Greg Lambert just held
onto fourth with Gary Partridge, the man who passengered
Phil Dongworth to second place in the TT.
The final race of the evening was a four lap dash for
the Classic & Forgotten Era machines. There was
again a very small field for this event and its future
inclusion in the programme must be in doubt . Jamie
O’Brien on one of the two Forgotten Era machines
was first from the lights and led by a few metres as
the machines reached Ballabeg for the first time. Alec
Whitwell was second with Dave Madsen-Mygdal on his rear
wheel. Allan Brew held fourth, Anthony Redmond fifth
and Billy Lyle sixth. Lap 2 saw Madsen-Mygdal in the
lead from O’Brien. Whitwell had 5 metres advantage
over the soon to retire Brew. Madsen-Mygdal had a 6s
advantage as he rounded the hairpin for the third time
and seemingly had the race in the bag. However it was
not to be; his machine slowed allowing both O’Brien
and Whitwell to pass him; his sole consolation being
the fastest lap at 88.503mph.
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