Thursday August 24, 2017 at 10:34am
Competitors enjoyed the best conditions of the week so far for the third Manx Grand Prix qualifying session, which was reflected in a noticeable improvement in times as riders became dialled into the Mountain Course.
The MGP Senior and Junior session got underway on time at 6.20pm and local riders Glenn Harrison and Jamie Williams on their Junior machines showed the advantage of home knowledge and were quickly on the pace with a pair of opening 116mph laps with Harrison marginally quicker (116.90) to Williams’ 116.86 which translated to a gap of less than half a second around the 37 ¾ mile Mountain Course.
The pair both went quicker on their second laps with Harrison’s 117.55 topping the board on the night from Williams who clocked 117.23. Michael Evans, electing to go out on his Junior machine after focusing on his Senior machine earlier in the week, ensured an Isle of Man top three qualifying board with a pair of 116’s – the second just over four seconds behind Williams.
However it already looks like a battle royale for Wednesday’s Junior race, even after only three qualifying sessions, with the top fifteen riders all posting laps in excess of 115mph.
The newcomers enjoyed their first laps mixed in with the rest of the field, allowing them to experience better light with earlier access to the course and they didn’t waste the opportunity with Northern Ireland’s Daryl Tweed (112.855) pipping Cumbrian Stephen Parsons (112.819) by less than half a second to top the Newcomer A leaderboard. Manchester’s Mike Norbury, who was the fastest in Tuesday’s session was only a couple of seconds back with his lap of 112.640, which he posted on the first lap.
Jamie Williams continued his good form into the Lightweight class with a lap of 112mph from Darren Cooper (111.498) and Richard Charlton (111.232) while in the Newcomers B category David Quine was again the fastest with the only 100mph+ lap (102.513).
Newcomer Steve Tobin was reported to have sustained an ankle injury after an accident at Ballig Bridge while Jonathan Perry on his Senior machine sustained a leg injury at the 26th milestone. Newcomer David Glover was reported to be unhurt after an incident at the Gooseneck.