2011 Isle of Man TT race winner Michael Dunlop made his return to the mountain circuit with his first appearance of the Manx Grand Prix Festival. The Northern Irishman, who took victory in this year's Superstock TT, was out on track aboard the classic 1981 Suzuki XR69, finishing the day second quickest behind Mark Buckley.
Dunlop's Suzuki machine was the same that took him to victory at last year's festival but Buckley, running a similar bike, was in a league of his own with a lap of 114.385mph, his fastest of the day, with Dunlop back on 110.655mph.
Fellow TT star Ryan Farquhar was also in action and topped the timesheets among the Classic 500cc runners, clocking 103.498mph on his 1972 Paton while Chris Palmer was the fastest man in the 350/250cc class at 100.097mph, the only man to reach three figures for an average lap speed.
First out on track were the Juniors but caution was advised with a lack of adhesion from Black Dub to Glen Helen, at Ramsey hairpin and at Governors Dip. That didn't seem to bother Jamie Coward who dominated the session.
The Hebden Bridge rider completed a pair of laps that were both quick enough to top the timesheets. His quickest of all was a 114.971mph with Dan Sayle his nearest challenger on 113.553mph with Michael Sweeney third at 113.320mph.
Meanwhile, Andrew Brady led the way in the Senior class while Wayne Hamilton also had reason to be pleased with his evening's work after finishing as the quickest newcomer.
