Conditions deteriorated as the evening went on - Photo Credit: Isle of Man TT
The third qualifying session for the Isle of Man TT races was brought to an early end after mist rolled in at the Douglas section of the circuit. For the third day running, John McGuinness set the pace and the Honda TT Legends rider used the more favourable conditions early in the evening to clock the fastest time of the week.
McGuinness couldn't match his Tuesday benchmark first time around but his two nearest rivals in the overall classification could. Guy Martin, sitting third overnight, improved to 128.448mph while Cameron Donald went a fraction faster than he had been before, although his 129.075mph lap was still only good enough for second.
Martin kept up his upturn in form with a 128.866mph second lap to close in on the top two but McGuinness pulled further clear shortly afterwards, becoming the first man to break the 130mph in this year's TT, despite encountering traffic. The busy roads were becoming more of an issue as the session wore on but Bruce Anstey found enough space to clock a 129.566mph lap, snatching second in the closing stages.
| 2012 Isle of Man TT: Wednesday Round-Up | ||
|---|---|---|
| Superbike Classification (Top 3) | ||
| 1 |  J.McGuinness |
130.079mph |
| 2 |  B.Anstey |
129.566mph |
| 3 |  C.Donald |
129.075mph |
| Superstock Classification (Top 3) | ||
| 1 | J.Hillier |
127.811mph |
| 2 | D.Kneen |
127.376mph |
| 3 | W.Dunlop |
126.913mph |
| Supersport Classification (Top 3) | ||
| 1 | W.Dunlop |
126.184mph |
| 2 | M.Dunlop |
124.521mph |
| 3 | D.Kneen |
122.359mph |
The leadership in the Superstock class changed hands with the lap times tumbling since Tuesday evening. Previous pacesetter Bruce Anstey improved from 126.075mph to 126.856mph but incredibly, that would only prove good enough for fourth. William Dunlop, second to Anstey on Tuesday, edged ahead on Wednesday but he was outdone by Simon Andrews and James Hillier who both topped 127mph. Hillier's lap on the Pr1mo Bournemouth Kawasaki was three seconds faster than Andrews though and the 27 year old was in provisional pole when the mist brought a halt to proceedings.
The Dunlop domination of the Supersport class continued with William extending his lead over brother Michael. Dan Kneen was third fastest for Marks Bloom Racing but with the majority of the times down on Tuesday's running, Bruce Anstey remains third in the combined classification.
Due to the late mist, Sidecar qualifying was called off and the riders in that class will be keen to make up for lost time in tonight’s penultimate session.
