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Special lap by lap report from Pete Devine of Double D Freelance of the
Senior Manx GP
After the terrible weather on Friday, today it's perfect for racing with blue skys all around the course. There are damp patches around the sheltered parts of the 37.74 mile TT course, but these should dry as the bikes dry out the racing line.
Bad news is that after flying in the Junior Race until his fall at Brandywell, Newcomer Mike Skeene will not be riding as he's still a little sore from the spill. But look out for Mike next year, he's a future TT Star who posted a first ever lap of the TT Course at over 106mph!
And they are off!
No 1 Alistair Howarth leads the field away on his betinternet.com 600 Martin Bullock Honda at 1pm exactly. No problems to report from the start as the last rider gets away.
Over to Glen Helen.....
And first on the road through the twisty Glen Helen section is No 1 Howarth followed closely by Paul Ducket on his 750 Kawasaki and No 7 Keith Townsend on the Allway Superbike 995 Ducati is flying having already caught No 5 Phillip Murden on his Pidcock 600 Honda. But Ryan Farquhar is also flying and is leading the race at this point with No 27 Phillip Gilder in second place followed by Howarth in third. So after nine and a half miles the whole field is changing fast.
Over to Ramsey Hairpin.....
We await the bikes to come through the tight left hander at Ramsey. First on the road at this point is No 1 Howarth followed by No 4 Paul Ducket and then No 7 Townsend and here's Farqhuar close behind. It looks like the placings have stayed the same, with No 12 Farqhuar in first place followed by No 14 Pattinson in second and No 7 in third with Howarth in 4th and Ducket in 5th.
As they start the climb over the Mountain Section we go back to the Grandstand to await the changes in positions......
Over to the Grandstand.......
The lights are on at Signpost Corner, as we await the first rider on the road, and here comes No 1 followed by No 4 at 115.2mph as the timing lights on the Start / Finish line show, and there's Farqhuar and No 7 Townsend with No 8 and No 5 going through with No 14 Pattinson close behind. But Farqhuar is flying with a lap of 19m 18.8s at a speed of 117.21mph which is .2 of a
second off the lap record. Places at this time are:
1. No 12 Farqhuar
2. No 1 Howarth
3. No 7 Townsend
4. No 4 Duckett
5. No 14 Pattinson
6. No 28 Alan Jackson
Over to Glen Helen........
At Glen Helen on the Second lap it's No 12 Farqhuar in the lead by 29 seconds in first place with No 1 Howarth in second followed by No 7 Townsend in third with No 4 Duckett in close contact with the top three. These boys are flying and I expect the lap record to go to Farqhuar on the
flying last lap.
Over to Ramsey......
At Ramsey Hairpin on the second lap it's Farqhuar first on the road!!!
Followed by 4 Duckett. And we've just heard that Howarth fell at Lambfell
and has been taken to Nobles Hospital with leg injuries.
So at this time it's now:
1. No 12 Farqhuar
2. No 14 Pattinson
3. No's 4 & 7 in joint place.
At the end of this lap pit stops are due, and these can make or break a race. We will see in a few minutes as it quiet here in gasoline ally at the moment. The light is on at Signpost Corner for number 12, Farqhuar, and here he comes. Has he already broken the course record? No, he's 2 seconds off.
Places after pit stops are:
1. No 12
2. No 4
3. No 14
4. No 7
So Duckett has pulled a small lead out over Townsend, but Farqhuar is miles ahead by something like 40 odd seconds. And Alan Jackson takes the whole of pit lane to get started, and he can't get it started! Eventually it fires up but has cost him a lot of time, and a worn out mechanic who is slowly walking back towards the pits after all that pushing.
Over to Glen Helen......
Third time through Glen Helen and here comes Farquhar first on the road followed by Duckett and then Townsend! Townsend has made up some time here, where has Pattinson gone? And here he is, so he's lost a lot of time on that pit stop and first part of the course.
Farqhuar is now 51 seconds in the lead.
1. No 12
2. No 7
3. No 14
4. No 4
Townsend has indeed made up ground. But Farquhar is really flying at Glen Helen as the pace hots up.
Over to Ramsey Hairpin.....
The problem now is that at the end of this lap times will change as several riders are using big tanks and are doing three laps before their pit stops. We shall see at the next report from the Grandstand.
Meanwhile here at Ramsey it's Farquhar first of course, and he's got his head down as he heads off to Waterworks. And here's Duckett and Townsend having a battle with Pattison following.
Positions at Ramsey after the third lap:
1. No 12
2. No 7
3. No 14
4. No 4
5. No 8
6. No 24
So lets see what happens at the end of this lap.
Back to the Grandstand...
Whose going straight through and whose pitting? It's still hectic in the pits as the late starters come in for their pit stop, and here come's Farquhar, the machine sounds really on song and he has his head down past the start / finish line. He has a 49 second advantage!
Farquhar is well ahead with Townsend holding on to second place now with Duckett in third followed by Pattinson in forth. And No 27, Gilder who tried three laps on one tank has run out of fuel!
Over to Glen Helen......
And that was close because there goes Farquhar, followed by Duckett and Townsend catching up with the backmarkers, and there's Pattinson, taking a very tight line.So it looks like nothing has changed position wise, with Farqhuar in the lead, Townsend in second and Pattinson in third, although there is only 3.5 seconds seperating him and Duckett who has pulled the strings out on this last lap.
Over to Ramsey.......
It's quiet, very quiet here at the Hairpin. And it's just been announced that Howarth has a broken leg after being taken to Nobles Hospital. We wish him a speedy recovery. Will Farqhuar break the lap record on this final and flying lap? We will see, and here is Farqhuar, going and sounding strong on the McAdoo 750 Kawasaki. But here is Townsend on the Allway Superbike Team 996 Ducati and Duckett on the 750 Kawasaki, very close behind as they head off over the
Mountain for the fourth and final time. Pattinson on his 750 Martin Bullock Kawasaki breaks late and runs wide but just scrapes around the Hairpin.
Positions are:
1. No 12
2. No 7
3. No 14
4. No 4
So it looks like Ryan Farquhar has got the win, but anything can happen over the Mountain Section of the TT Course.
Back to the Grandstand for the last and final time of the Manx GP....
And it's all eyes on the lights at the Grandstand, the Mountain Section is a place to gain time up, but unless Farqhuar retires it looks like he's won.
And the light for No 12, Farquhar is on! He's going to take the win....
And he's done it, he's broken the lap record with an average race speed of 115.51mph.
Here he is, and he's out of the seat in sheer delight, No 7 Keith Townsend gets second followed by No 14 Pattinson in third. Farquhar said after the race: "I just took it easy on the last lap as I knew I was far enough ahead to win and I wanted to save the engine. Now I'm looking forward to the TT"
Townsend in second place said: "I'm so pleased with the way the Allway Superbike 996 Ducati went. It's my first time on the Ducati and I'd like to thank Steve and Chris Caffyn for sponsoring me at the Manx. I'm really pleased with 2nd place. The bike was running superb and I had no problems at all with it. What poeple may not realise is that we get maybe 800 race miles
out of one 995 engine, so we had a new race engine run in ready for this race. After my win in the Junior race on Wednesday that mean's that I'm now going to have to have a go at the TT, if we can afford it" he laughed.
Third place went to Paul Duckett who said: "Keith just nipped past me and I tucked in behind. I guess I got a tow but I knew it was close between me and Ian Pattinson so I went for it, and it worked"
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