Dull and overcast was the welcome that awaited competitors, officials, marshals and fans early Saturday morning as the 61st Steve Henshaw International Gold Cup Road Races were kick-started into action. However, by the time practice commenced at 9.00am the skies had cleared and a gentle wind was drying the 2.43-mile Oliver’s Mount circuit.

Notable absentee was seven times Gold Cup winner between 2003 and 2009, Guy Martin, sidelined with blood infection.

Practice and Qualifying completed the first of Saturday’s 11 races got underway at 1.00pm, with the first heat of the Darran Lindsay Superbike Trophy over four laps won by Michael Dunlop, 8.9 seconds ahead of Robert Wilson and Lee Vernon.

The second heat was won by Ryan Farquhar, just 0.75 of a second ahead of John McGuinness with William Dunlop taking third spot.

Race 3 was the 1st leg of the 250cc Lee Pullan Trophy Race, over 8 laps.

Chris Palmer took the lead and held it at the end of the opening lap by 0.3 of a second from William Dunlop, however a lap later the Ulsterman was in front of the Manxman by nearly two and a half seconds.

Lap three and Williams advantage was up to four seconds over Chris with Derek Clark third a further six seconds adrift. Half distance and the lead had increased by a further second with Palmer also extending his lead over Clark by a second.

The gap remained static up to three-quarters distance until lap seven when the lead was reduced to 3.6 seconds with third man another 9 seconds down.

At the flag it was William Dunlop 3.5 seconds ahead of Chris Palmer with Derek Clark third.

Race four was the opening leg of the 125cc Stu Reed Trophy over six laps.
Chris Palmer took the early lead and after two laps was 4.3 seconds ahead of Craig Shirlaw with Darren Gilpin third.

At half distance it was Palmer 4 seconds ahead of Shirlaw with Gilpin a further 3 seconds down in third.

Palmer took the chequered flag for the 84th time 4 seconds ahead of Shirlaw, with Gilpin third another 13 seconds adrift.

Race five was the 1st leg of the Darran Lindsay Superbike Trophy.
John McGuinness got the hole shot and held it at the end of the opening lap of eight from Ryan Farquhar by 7/10ths of a second.

A lap later the lead was cut to 3/10ths with Michael Dunlop third two seconds down. Then the red flags came out.

The restart over four laps saw McGuinness take the hole-shot and held it to the end of the first of the four laps from Farquhar and Michael Dunlop, the lead was 1.1 seconds.

The second lap saw the lead down to 0.379 of a second, the positions remaining the same.

Lap three and it was Ryan Farquhar heading the field with a 0.747 of a second advantage over McGuinness, with Michael Dunlop 3/10th down on John.

At the flag it was Ryan Farquhar from John McGuinness and Michael Dunlop, with William Dunlop, Ian Lougher and Dean Harrison completing the top six.

Race six saw the F2 Sidecars in action for the first time.
The entire six laps saw a three way battle between Ian and Carl Bell; Conrad Harrison and Lee Patterson and Carl Fenwick and Mark Sayers until half distance when Harrison and Patterson retired with machine problems, leaving the Bell family to take the chequered flag from Fenwick and Sayers by 9.9 seconds.

Race seven saw the first heat of two of the David Jefferies 600 Supersport Cup.

Craig Shirlaw got the hole-shot, but it was William Dunlop who had the lead at the end of the opening lap of four, followed by Shirlaw and Ian Lougher.

William had a 4.2 second lead at the end of the second lap, but over Ian Lougher this time round as Shirlaw dropped to third.

Lap three and the gap between William and Ian had closed to 3.43 seconds.

At the chequered flag it was William Dunlop taking his first 4-stroke win at Oliver’s Mount, 3.47 seconds ahead of Ian Lougher, with Craig Shirlaw taking third.

Race eight was the second heat of the David Jefferies Supersport Cup,
Saw Ryan Farquhar with a 6 seconds advantage at the end of the opening lap only for the race to be red flagged on the second lap.

The restart over three laps saw Farquhar take the hole-shot and still held the lead at the end first lap by 1 second from Michael Dunlop and Mark Goodings.

The gap had been reduced by half next time round and the chequered flag went to Ryan by 0.657 of a second from Michael Dunlop with Mark Goodings third 19 seconds adrift.

Race 9 was the first leg for the Phil Mellor Trophy for 650cc SuperTwins,
over eight laps provided Ryan Farquhar with start to finish victory, with Ivan Lintin and Dan Frear completing the podium.

Race 10 the first leg of the David Jefferies Supersport Cup
was again over eight laps. Again Farquhar took the hole-shot and at the end of the first lap he had a 1 second lead over the Dunlop’s, Michael and William, half a second separating the brothers.

Lap two and positions remained the same with Farquhar increasing his advantage to 2.3 seconds, whilst the difference between Michael and William was down to 0.3 of a second.

Lap three and William was ahead of Michael by 0.6 of a second, as Ryan stayed in front by 2.6 seconds.

Half distance and William had reduced the gap between himself and Ryan to 1.7 seconds.

Lap five and the difference was down to 1 second, whilst Michael had also closed William down to 0.912 of a second.

Three quarters difference and Ryan had responded and increased the gap to 1.3 seconds and Michael was within half a second of William. The top ten positions remained unchanged!

Lap seven, and William has got to with 0.7 of a second of race leader Farquhar, with Michael still third.

At the chequered flag Ryan Farquhar took the victory by 0.8 of a second from William Dunlop, with Michael Dunlop third 0.4 of a second behind.

Ian Lougher was fourth 24 seconds down with Ivan Lintin and Dean Harrison filling the top six.

The final race of the day was the first leg of the National 400 class
which was red flagged on the second of the eight laps. The restart over six laps proved a start to finish victory for Daniel Frear, followed home by Chris Smith and Manx Grand Prix Newcomers B winner Gavin Lupton.

That concluded Saturdays racing.