MotoGP stars from past and present provided the entertainment at the 2011 Isle of Man TT on Wednesday as rain caused the scheduled races to be postponed.
The second Supersport race was due to be followed by the SES TT Zero race but the red flags brought an end to proceedings with less than two laps of the opening race completed.
Conditions were already tricky with the Supersport event starting two hours later than originally planned, and damp patches were making life difficult for the riders.
Michael Dunlop led in the early stages, with Gary Johnson and his brother William chasing him hard. Shortly after completing the first lap though, the siblings found themselves with a 1-2 after Johnson's Honda was sidelined with electrical problems.
The field was pretty spread out behind them with Cameron Donald running third, Guy Martin in fourth and Dan Kneen in fifth ahead of John McGuinness and Keith Amor. Trouble was lying ahead at Union Mills as the damp track caused real problems. Donald and Martin both came close to losing it but Amor wasn't so lucky and crashed out as the riders came over the bridge, thankfully escaping injury.
The Dunlop brothers maintained their positions up to Glen Helen but Kneen had taken advantage of the chaos in front of him to move up to third. This would prove to be academic as the rain began to fall with greater intensity and regularity, leaving the race directors with no option but to suspend racing.
Conditions failed to improve sufficiently and racing was called off for the day, with today's races now scheduled for Thursday. The updated timetable is at the bottom of this page.
Earlier in the day the spectators were treated to the Arai Parade Lap with stars from the Global and British scenes all getting a taste of the mountain course.
British MotoGP star Cal Crutchlow was joined by former World Champions Nicky Hayden and Mick Doohan. Five-time TT 2010 winner Ian Hutchinson was sadly prevented from racing this year due to injury but he also had a chance to take to the roads, as did BSB racer Josh Brookes.
Five time MotoGP champion Doohan ranked the day among his greatest experiences on a motorcycle while Ducati star Hayden added that he had huge respect for the riders that risk their lives at the event.
Weather permitting, racing will resume tomorrow and the schedule for Thursday is as follows:
12:15 – Monster Energy Supersport 2 (4 laps)
14:15 – Sure Sidecar TT Race 2 (3 laps)
15:50 – Senior practice
16:30 – Subaru demonstration lap
17:15 – SES TT Zero Emissions Race
Live Radio TT commentary and live timing of all 2011 Isle of Man TT Races will be available at www.iomtt.com.
