There was further disappointment for riders competing in this year’s Isle of Man TT this evening as their qualifying session was brought to a premature end due to bad weather conditions.
Following the cancelation of Monday’s session, weather continued to play havoc with the event and it was announced that the sessions this evening would be untimed.
With session scheduled for all classes it was the 1000cc machines that entered the Mountain Course for the first time, albeit with strong winds forecast. Michael Dunlop and Michael Rutter were first out onto the course, quickly followed by PBM Kawasaki’s Ian Hutchinson and Tyco BMW’s Guy Martin.
Hutchinson was the first to complete a lap, just ahead of Dunlop, Rutter and Martin, before pulling back into the pits and switching to the Superstock machine.
There was trouble for Gary Johnson on the GBmoto Kawasaki machine, as he suffered from technical issues at Balllaugh.
Riders soon began to report issues around the circuit, with Connor Cummins reporting high winds at Windy Corner and Ryan Farquhar stating that their were numerous damp patches on the tarmac.
The session was brought to an end at 19:05, with only a few riders managing to complete more than two laps.
As the Supersport and Lightweights prepared to enter the circuit there were reports of rain on the west coast of the island.
Martin Jessopp was first away on his Lightweight machine but the majority of the field were Supersport-mounted including Jamie Hamilton, William Dunlop and Ivan Lintin.
Just as the riders were half-way through their opening laps the rain increased and temperatures dropped around the island, leaving Clerk of the Course, Gary Thompson, with no alternative but to cancel the remainder of the session.
The weather did not improve after this session, causing the F2 Sidecar qualifying to be cancelled to ensure the safety of the competitors.
In total there were three reported incidents in today’s solo’s session; American Brandon Cretu and Philip Crowe were reported off at Kerrowmoar and Laurel Bank, but were both reported OK by the travelling marshals while Mark Herbertson was airlifted to Nobles with a reported shoulder injury after coming off at Mountain Box.
The weather reports for the remainder of the week look more encouraging and there is hope that the riders will have some good, clear practice sessions ahead of the first day of racing on Saturday.
Tomorrow’s qualifying session is due to see Superbikes, Superstocks and Supersports out at 18.20 with Sidecars due out at 20.00.
