Isle of Man TT: Wednesday practice scrapped due to weather
Wednesday evening's practice sessions for the 2019 Isle of Man TT have been cancelled due to severe weather conditions on the Island.
Conor Cummins, 1000 Honda, Milenco by Padgetts Motorcycles Honda
Dave Kneen
Weather has interfered with three nights of running so far, with Saturday and Monday's practices having also been postponed by a day due to poor conditions.
Wednesday's action was due to get underway at 1820 local time with a combined Superbike/Superstock/
The running scheduled for tonight has now been pencilled in for 1300 on Thursday, with Sidecars getting a session at 1500. A second SBK/STK/SSP/Newcomers session is set for 1820, with additional Sidecar running set for 1955.
A brief Twitter statement from Clerk of the Course Gary Thompson read: “This evening's qualifying session has been cancelled due to poor conditions on the TT Mountain Course.
“Lots of rain and low cloud and mist [are the reasons]. Dependent on weather conditions tomorrow, we will have a qualifying session on Thursday afternoon as per the schedule.”
Tuesday's sessions were run in perfect conditions, with Silicone Engineering rider Dean Harrison fastest of all after a lap of 17m38.610s at 129.53mph on his Kawasaki SBK.
The double TT winner also led the STK classification with a 17m30.197s effort at 129.34mph, while outright lap record holder Peter Hickman was fastest in the SSP class.
The loss of Wednesday's running will come as a big blow for Hickman's preparations, as he suffered technical issues on his Smiths Racing SBK and STK BMWs, completing just on lap on the latter bike.
Honda's Ian Hutchinson also lost out on valuable track time on his SBK after crashing at the 11th milestone. His team confirmed via social media he came away just “a bit battered and bruised”.
The Sidecars got their first laps in on Tuesday, with John Holden and passenger Lee Cain leading the way with an impressive effort of 19m41.234s at 114.99mph on their Barnes Racing outfit.
Reigning Sidecar TT champions Ben and Tom Birchall were a low-key sixth, while 15-time winner Dave Molyneux and passenger Harry Payne failed to complete a lap due to mechanical issues.
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