Weather Forecast

A little rain may linger for a short time on Wednesday morning but this will soon give way to sunny intervals and only isolated showers.
Winds will be moderate to fresh south or south-westerly with temperatures reaching 17 Celsius.


.

.

Farquhar wins 500 Classic Race and Madsen-Mygdal takes Formula Classic Race

Ryan Farquhar added to his nine MGP titles with a win in the opening race of today’s Manx Grand Prix, the 500cc Classic Grand Prix, when he powered his Paton to first place.

Riders were advised of the threat of isolated showers throughout the day and to look out for damp patches around the course ahead of Wednesday’s third race day at the 2012 Manx Grand Prix.

The race day started shortly after the scheduled start time at around 10.20, with the concurrent 500cc Classic Grand Prix and Formula Classic. Alan Oversby on a Matchless was the first rider away from the startline but it was pre-race favourite Ryan Farquhar, on the Paton, second on the grid on Glencrutchery Rd, who quickly took control of the race, putting the frustrations of yesterday’s gearbox problems in the 350cc Classic race behind him.

Farquhar had established a lead of almost 20 seconds ahead of Olie Linsdell by the first timing point at Glen Helen on the opening lap of the race, with Chris Palmer on the Matchless a further second back in third.

Palmer moved past Linsdell by Ballaugh but at the front of the field the Northern Irishman was imperious and by the end of the first lap had built a commanding lead with an opening lap of 21:21.25 (106.012mph), with Linsdell, wbo clocked 22:39.61 on the Royal Enfield moving ahead of Palmer. Palmer’s opening lap was timed at 22:41.58, which kept him in the final podium position a couple of seconds behind Linsdell.

Farquhar pulled into the pits on the opening lap with a lead of a minute and twelve seconds and returned to consolidate his lead with an estimated lead of forty-one seconds from Linsdell after exiting the pits, which he had increased to 44 seconds by Glen Helen on the second lap. Meanwhile Roy Richardson retired at the Hawthorne on his second lap when running in 6th place on the Aermacchi and Alan Oversby stopped at Ballaugh Bridge, also on the second lap.

That remained the top three at the end of the second lap but with Linsdell reported as retiring on the Mountain Box on the third lap, Palmer moved up into second place with Chris Swallow coming into the top three, following his podium in the 350cc Classic yesterday.

Farquhar backed off on the final lap to get his Paton home and duly took the honours with a final lap of 22:09.06 and an overall race time of 1:27.10.91 – 102.198mph. However, there was excitement on the last lap with Chris Palmer reported as pushing in from Governors Dip under an escort from the marshals after running out of fuel. Swallow was duly able to take the runners up place with 1:32.18.17 (98.103mph) but Chris Palmer with 1:32.48.37 (97.571mph,) at least took the final podium position.


In the Formula Classic race that ran concurrently Dave Madsen Mygdal on the Triumph was first to Glen Helen from Mark Parrett on a BSA with Alec Whitwell riding a Honda in third. Madsen-Mygdal posted an opening lap of 23:05.39 (98.043) to lead by twenty seconds from Mark Parrett (23:25.36-96.650mph) with Alec Whitwell a further thirty seconds back (23:57.32-94.501mph) in third and Barry Davidson on the BSA in fourth.

Formula Classic Davie Morgan, who was running fifth, quit in the pits and Adam Ward, in sixth, also had problems but was able to rejoin the race after a lengthy pit stop which allowed Geoff Bates, on a Honda, to move ahead of Ward.

That remained the top three on the last lap but with Alec Whitwell reported as off at Ramsey and taken by airmed to Nobles for a check up, Adam Ward moved up into third. Madsen-Mygdal took the race victory with 1:31.21.84 – (99.111mph) – from Mark Parrett who clocked 1:32.37.04 and Ward with an overall race time of 1:49.51.32 duly held the final podium position with Geoff Bates finishing fourth.

Despite the fact that Madsen-Mygdal has the most starts and finishes in the Manx Grand Prix and TT, it was his first race victory around the mountain course.

Race Results

Pics by ManxPhotosOnline


.

SuperTwin and Lightweight

Nigel Moore won his first race at the Manx Grand Prix, taking the honours in today’s SuperTwin Race while Ross Johnson held of a late challenge from Tim Sayers to take the Lightweight title.

There was drama at the start of the SuperTwin race when one of the pre-race favourites Phil McGurk, who was due to start in third place, broke a gear lever in Parc Ferme ahead of the race and had to start from the back of the grid.

McGurk was actually the leader at the first timing point, Glen Helen, but by the end of the first lap Nigel Moore with 20:29.11 (110.509mph) had a seventeen second lead over Trevor Ferguson (20:46.41 – 108.975mph) with Michael Sweeney a further seven seconds back in third.

McGurk came into the pits in fifth place for repairs to the gear lever at the end of lap 1 but quit in the pits leaving Moore to build on his lead on lap 2 with Brian Mateer moving up into third by Ballaugh.

That remained the top three approaching the end of the second lap, with all three leading riders due into the pits at the end of the second lap. A good pit stop by Moore’s team saw him consolidate his lead at Glen Helen.

An incident at the Nook on the second lap saw Sweeney move into second and Brian Mateer take third at the end of the second lap although Rab Davie moved ahead of Mateer by Glen Helen on the third lap.

At the end of the third lap, Moore still led by a commanding 1 minute 25 seconds from Sweeney but Mateer moved back into the final podium position easing ahead of Davie with Andrew Dudgeon, winner of the Newcomer B SuperTwins race last Saturday, holding a credible fifth place.

The top three retained their positions at the end of the fourth lap with Nigel Moore taking the MGP SuperTwin title with 1:22.09.61 – (110.214mph) from Michael Sweeney (1:24.00.73 – 107.784mph) with Brian Mateer finishing third 1:24.28.55 – (107.193mph).


In the concurrent Lightweight race, Alistair Haworth established a lead of almost thirteen seconds from Ross Johnson after an opening lap of 21:29.84 (105.306) with Colin Martin on a 400cc Honda in third, Adam Jones holding fourth and Gavin Lupton completing the top five.

However, race leader Alistair Haworth retired at the Bungalow on lap 2 leaving Ross Johnson to move into the lead and by the end of lap 2, when he pitted, he had built up a lead of half a minute from Tim Sayers, and was a minute and a half ahead of Dave Corlett in third with Adam Jones fourth and Stephen Harper fifth. Dave Lupton, who elected to go straight through, moved into third place by Glen Helen.

Lupton pitted at the end of the third lap, which dropped him out of the top three, but at the front of the race, Tim Sayers cut Johnson’s lead to two seconds at Ramsey on the last lap. Johnson duly finished in an overall race time of 1:27.44.87 but had a tense wait of almost five minutes before Sayers finished in 1:27.47.09 for his victory to be confirmed on corrected time. Adam Jones with 1:29.43.59 – (100.920) took the final podium place.

Race Results

.