The bad weather has finally granted a small respite on the Isle of Man, allowing the organizers of the Manx Grand Prix to complete the substantial program of races scheduled for this Monday at the end of August. A day in which there was no shortage of postponements, unexpected events, and twists. Starting with the assignment of the victory of the Junior race to Andrea Majola, author of a fantastic one-two with Maurizio Bottalico. Let’s see what happened in the various classes.
Ingham dominates Senior, Bottalico KO in 1st lap
The Senior class race of the Manx GP, which took place over two laps, ended with Daniel Ingham as the winner. Dominating from start to finish, the English rider created a gap on the Castings Technology Yamaha YZF-R6, concluding the opening lap with a 23.1” advantage over the Kawasaki ZX-600-RF of Chris Cook, the first of his pursuers. A gap that Ingham consolidated in the following lap, concluded at an average speed of 118.868 mph, going on to take his first victory in the category (after having collected a second and a third place in the last two years), with a 35.4” margin over Cook and Sam Johnson who completed the podium.
Maurizio Bottalico’s race, on the other hand, lasted less than 5 km, forced to retire at Greeba Bridge due to an engine problem on the Kawasaki ZX-600-RF of the Motozoo team. Luck does not seem to want to assist the reigning European Hill Climb Champion in the Superbike class in the Senior class, where last year he was forced to surrender due to a problem with the braking system of his Honda. Again at the start of the first lap of the race.
Dunlop Trouble, Lougher Wins Lightweight With Bonetti 6th Overall
It was supposed to be the race of redemption for Michael Dunlop after his retirement last year, but instead the Lightweight class was once again a cursed race for “The Bull”. Having taken the lead immediately, in a heat shortened to just one lap to allow the Classic Senior to take place despite worsening weather conditions, Dunlop seemed to be cruising undisturbed towards victory, progressively widening his margin over Ian Lougher, the first of the pursuers.
But everything changed soon after Ramsey, when a problem with his MD Racing Honda RS250 visibly slowed the pace of the most successful TT rider ever, who crossed the line in 15th place. With another star in last year’s winner Mike Browne out near Quarter Bridge, it was his team-mate Lougher who gave the Laycock Racing team the win by triumphing in the 250cc two-stroke race, 22.2 seconds ahead of Lee Johnston, second placed ahead of Stuart Hall.
Fourth place for Rhys Hardisty, followed by the KTM RC390 of the Faraldo Racing team ridden by Michael Evans, fifth overall and first in the Ultra-Lightweight class with less than 5” of advantage over an excellent Stefano Bonetti, classified in 6th place overall and second in the category, with the Kawasaki ZX-4RR Trophy of the Speed Shadows Racing Team, prepared by the Prodina team. Bottalico instead closed at the foot of the Top 10, in 11th position with the Kawasaki ZX-4RR of Svalvolati Racing and MCR Squadra Corse.
Browne redeems himself by winning in Classic Superbike
Mike Brown quickly recovered from his disappointment at retiring in the Lightweight. The Irish rider took victory in the Classic Superbike, the final race of this action-packed day, beating the two Greenall Racing Kawasaki riders Rob Hodson and Derek Sheils, riding the Bike Specialist & Key Racing Ducati 916.
A success that was never in doubt for Browne, who triumphed with a 13”9 advantage over the first of his pursuers, in a heat that ended after the first of the two scheduled laps, due to the reduced visibility on the Mountain section. Fourth place for Craig Neve, followed by Dominic Herbertson and Ian Hutchinson, while Bonetti finished the race in 14th position with the Bimota YB4 of the Speed Shadows Racing Team.
Michael Dunlop and Jamie Coward did not take part in the race, while Lee Johnston, James Hind and Shaun Anderson retired during the first and only lap of the race.
Anderson edges McGuinness in Senior Classic
The Senior Classic and Junior Classic classes shared the grid in the first race of the day. A one-lap Sprint in which Shaun Anderson managed to take his first Manx GP win, beating John McGuinness by just 163 thousandths.
Starting ahead of everyone, “McPint” seemed to have the win in the bag until the Ramsey hairpin, where he arrived with a 4.7” advantage over Anderson’s twin Paton BIC 500. But his rival managed to gradually recover ground in the final stretch of the track, beating the 23-time TT winner “in a sprint”. It was instead Adam Mclean who completed the podium aboard the #9 Royal Enfield 500, beating Mike Brown’s Norton ES2 by less than a second.
With most of the favourites choosing to race in the Senior, it was newcomer Harley Rushton, 13th overall, who took the Classic Junior, triumphing by a margin of 48.9 seconds over Glen English. Bronze medal for Mark Johnson, who finished the race in third place.
Photo credit: Manx Grand Prix e Speed Shadows Racing Team
