Final practice for the week’s racing at the Isle of Man finished on Friday evening in slightly cooler weather and lower temperatures than earlier in the week. Both the solos and sidecars were out in the evening session getting as much information as possible to either finishing setting up their machines or check existing settings for the first
Isle of Man TT races due to take place today, Saturday.
Suzuki's Cameron Donald is now out of the 2009 Isle of Man TT after a practice crash dislocated his shoulder. The Australian had been the first man to break the 131-mph barrier.
Despite the relatively good weather and slightly slower speeds all was going well until the first bad news of the week. Australian
Cameron Donald - who had posted not only his, but the fastest ever time around the 37.75 mile course on his Relentless by TAS Suzuki the previous evening with a 131 mph plus average - came off at over 120 mph at Keppel Gate when he missed a gear on his first lap in the solo session, running wide onto the grass before finally crashing on the uneven surface.
Initial reports quickly confirmed that he was not to badly hurt, but as usual the excellent medical facilities sprung into action and he was quickly airlifted to Nobles hospital. A dislocated shoulder was diagnosed along with a few other minor injuries, but these were judged enough to prevent him from continuing in his attempts to increase his tally of two TT wins. Donald will now sit out the rest of the week and will not contest the five races in which he was entered.
This puts all the pressure on Relentless Suzuki teammate Bruce Anstey, who had actually decided to sit out the session, feeling happy with his machine and the general set-up. Mind you despite sitting this session out, he was still second-fastest overall in the final placings.
However, other fancied riders in with a chance of the podium were out, taking advantage of every opportunity to finally hone not only the bike, but also their own course knowledge. These included Conor Cummins, Michael Dunlop, Ian Lougher, Keith Amor, Ian Hutchinson, Steve Plater, Mark Parrett, Ryan Farquhar, Michael Rutter and Guy Martin.
Existing lap record holder John McGuinness was also out looking for a few extra seconds to maybe match Donald’s pace under race conditions. (Records are only set in the race and not practice, although this is, of course, a good guide as to who is going to be on race pace).
American and sometimes Motorcycle USA test rider, Jimmy Moore (seen here in 2007 Motorcycle USA-sponsored trim) is impressing, along with countryman Mark Miller. Moore's best practice runs have been in the Supersport class.
Americans Jimmy Moore and Mark Miller were also well to the fore, Miller now featuring quite high in this list of fastest men with a few 124mph average laps under his belt. Moore also makes 40th place in that list!
Guy Martin showed real pace on the Hydrex Honda with a lap of 129.013 while an on-form Steve Plater topped the Royal London 360 Superstock leader-board with a lap of 126.93. In the Relentless Supersport class it was William Dunlop (part of the legendary Dunlop dynasty) who was quickest with his best ever lap of the Mountain Course, a very impressive 123.34 mph.
The sidecars got the majority of the time in this final session with previous winners Dave Molyneux and Dan Sayle and Nick Crowe/Mark Cox, being amongst the first away. Former world champions Tim Reeves/Patrick Farrance and Klaus Klaffenbock/Darren Hope were also out in the evening sun. Despite some personal bests by the end of day it was the combination of Crowe and Cox who topped the final leader-board.
However, concerns were already being expressed about the likely weather conditions for the weekend and an announcement was posted that MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi, who was due to lap the course with fellow Grand Prix great Giacomo Agostini on Saturday morning ahead of the Dainese Superbike TT race, was delaying his visit until Monday due to uncertain weather conditions.
Dainese communications director Vittorio Cafaggi said: “Valentino is very much looking forward to visiting the Isle of Man and is keen to experience the races, which is why we have rescheduled his trip to make sure that he is able to enjoy a lap of the course and be certain of a full day’s racing.”
This should have started the alarm bells for those fans heading to pubs and their accommodation throughout the island. The promised storm clouds arrived overnight and most awoke to heavy rain and cloud. At 7:30 a.m. the organizers announced that racing for the day was cancelled and would be moved to Sunday and another announcement would be made at midday regarding times for this.
The Isle of Man TT crowds won't be seeing any racing this Saturday, as racing has been postponed until Monday due to the wet weather.
However, by 10:00 a.m. they further announced that no racing would take place until Monday when Saturday’s schedule would replace the Monday race card, which would be moved to Tuesday. (Racing only takes place on alternate days!)
With heavy rain falling to further dampen spirits fans have been left to occupy their time in some very wet conditions. Some, of course, have just donned wet weather riding kit and gone to either ride the mountain course or just generally explore shops and exhibitions. Given the winter-like conditions, any stalls with waterproof clothing, brollies and warm sweatshirts are currently doing the best business.
Just in case you are thinking why the race bikes just do not fit wets and go out and race anyway? It is due to the micro climate which can mean that some of the mountain sections are actually shrouded in mist with very little visibility, not mention be affected by heavy side winds, all of which would severely compromise rider safety!
Remember there are no run-offs, gravel traps, just brick walls inches from the riders shoulder and heads, not to mention street furniture, albeit protected by air bags and hay bales!
So with no racing taking up Sunday the traditional Mad Sunday will go ahead tomorrow. This is when the fans traditionally head out onto the TT course for their own ‘quick laps’, the mountain section being made one way on the grounds of safety. This is also the day when owners clubs arrange their meetings around the island and various other activities take place to entertain the fans. In an effort to keep the number of crashes down as riders try and emulate their TT heroes, often forgetting they are not on closed roads and traffic is often coming the other way. Not to mention their knowledge of the 200-plus bends may be sadly lacking!
As we enter Saturday afternoon here the wind is picking up and rain is subsiding so hopefully it will blow off leaving racing to start on Monday after Valentino has done his first lap of the TT course!
