TT stars reflect on race cancellation
Tuesday 19 August 2008
TT
More stars of the Isle of Man TT have been reflecting on the cancellation of the Ulster Grand Prix.
Organisers held on as long as possible before deciding there was no way racing could be held on Saturday because of torrential rain.
While thousands of fans, officials and racers were left disappointed, many leading riders have accepted the organisers had no choice but to cancel the racing.
TT superstar John McGuinness had been due to race for Padgett’s Honda in the Superbike and 250cc races at the 7.4-mile Dundrod circuit. In practice the 14-times TT winner and Mountain circuit outright lap record holder put his 250cc machine on the front row with a lap of 114.566mph and had secured ninth place on the starting grid for the Superbike class. McGuinness was hopeful of securing good results in the big bike races on the same Honda Fireblade he rode to victory in the Senior Race at the 2008 TT.
However, the Morecambe rider was unable to show what he was capable of when heavy rain hit the area and led to the event being cancelled.
McGuinness said:
'I’m really disappointed that we didn’t get to race, but it was definitely the right, and only, decision that could be made.’
‘The rain was terrible and if there’s one thing we can’t control it’s the weather. I really feel for everyone involved, especially the organisers and all of the fans who turned up, despite the horrible conditions.’
‘The bikes were working well during qualifying, but it wasn’t meant to be this year and I’ll have to wait another 12 months to see if I can grab my first Superbike win at Dundrod.’
Another TT winner, Ryan Farquhar, was equally disappointed, but also accepted the decision to call off racing.
Farquhar, who leads the 2008 Duke Road Race Rankings series, had hoped to add to his tally of four GP wins. In addition to riding his regular Harker Kawasaki, the Dungannon rider was due to compete on the JMF Millsport Yamahas in the Superbike and Supersport races.
During Thursday’s qualifying, Farquhar put the Harker machine into third place on the starting grid for the Superstock race with a lap of 128.475mph, just 0.767 of second off pole position.
In drying conditions he put the Yamaha R6 in ninth place on the grid for the Supersport class, but in the Superbike session, run in the wet, he made frequent visits to the pits for adjustments and could only manage 17th fastest time.
Hopes of scoring race successes were dashed when first Thursday’s Dundrod 150 Superbike race was cancelled and then, on Saturday afternoon, the Ulster GP was called off.
Farquhar said:
‘It’s really disappointing to have the meeting cancelled, especially as the organisers have put in so much work, but it’s just one of those things and there’s not a lot we can do about the weather – I’ve never seen floods like it.’
‘I was really looking forward to the Superstock and Supersport races as the bikes were working really well and I felt very confident that we would have been in contention for the wins so it’s a real shame.’
‘We were struggling with the set-up on the Superbike as we simply didn’t have enough time to make the changes we wanted, but, as it turned out, we never got the chance to race at all.’
Ryan, who is due to ride Roger Winfield’s Paton and Honda machines in the Senior and Junior Classic Manx Grand Prix races next week, added:
‘Like I say, there’s not a lot we can do about the weather so I’m looking forward now to the MGP. I’ve got some good machinery and I don’t think we’ll be too far away in either of the races so it should be good fun and ‘'m hopeful of grabbing some good results.’
Rising TT star Keith Amor was denied his final opportunity of claiming an International road race win in 2008 by the cancellation of the Ulster GP.
The Wilson Craig Honda rider managed to post some solid times in Thursday’s qualifying. He was fifth fastest in the Superbike class, seventh in Supersport and sixth in Superstock, despite only completing two laps due to a blown engine in the Honda Fireblade.
Hopes of converting strong qualifying performances to race results were dashed by the cancellation.
Amor said:
‘What a disaster – I’ve honestly never seen rain like it. There was no way in this world that racing was going to happen on Saturday and we’d have been better off getting the water skis out!’
‘It’s a real shame as the circuit is awesome and the club have worked so hard on the safety side of things. I really feel for them and for all the fans that turned, but the weather is something that is out of everybody’s control.’
‘What practice we had was quite fraught and with the engine blowing on the Superstock machine we were going to have to race with a standard engine from a road bike! The times were good in all of the classes and I was quite happy with getting on the second row in all of them.’
‘Sadly, that was end of the week in terms of getting out on the circuit so let’s hope the club can rebuild and we can come back next year and have another go.’
Phil Wain