Manx Grand Prix: Paul Jordan says weather disruption worse for non-TT riders and Mountain Course newcomers

After the opening day of practice on Sunday, inclement conditions including rain and gales have wiped out the schedule on three consecutive days.

The organisers are now aiming to run contingency qualifying sessions after a revised schedule was announced on Wednesday by Clerk of the Course Gary Thompson.

Afternoon and evening practice sessions are planned on Thursday, while Friday’s Classic Junior and Lightweight races have been moved to Sunday, with a full day of qualifying scheduled instead.

Racing is now set to get under way on Saturday with the Classic Senior and Junior Manx Grand Prix races, with practice sessions also pencilled in.

Monday’s Bank Holiday schedule remains unchanged so far and includes the Senior MGP and Classic Superbike races.

Magherafelt man Jordan, who is entered in the Classic Junior, Senior and Superbike races, said: “I haven’t even finished a lap yet. I was talking to a newcomer and he hasn’t managed one yet either.

“I’m riding the 750 Mistral Kawasaki, a [Davies Motorsport Honda] 350 and a [Davies Motorsport Yamaha] 500.

“I went out on the 750 in the first practice session before the [first] red flag and I got to Signpost and was stopped there.

“I made my way back and went out on the 500 and had a problem, so I had to pull off.

“I went out again but stopped at the top of Barregarrow, so I had to get a lift back to the paddock. By the time I got back I was late getting away again and I got stopped at Guthrie’s [because of the second red flag],” he added.

“It’s quite hard with the timescale because it’s only held over a week and a bit with three days of racing.

“The regular Manx competitors are getting it hard because they’ve put so much time and effort into it and they’re maybe only going to get three days riding around here, whereas us TT riders have two weeks.

“I’m not sure how they will try to move forward, whether they will look at going back to having it over two weeks or not.

“If it doesn’t go tomorrow [Thursday] then it’s going to be even more difficult.

“For us TT riders it’s not so bad because we know our way around but it’s a big problem for the newcomers here.”

Rain on Thursday is expected to clear early in the morning with dry and sunny spells developing, although more wet weather is expected in the evening with winds increasing to gale force once more.

Roads are set to close from 12:30 BST to 16:30 BST for the afternoon practice sessions and will be closed from 18:00 BST for evening qualifying.