Manx GP roars into life as Limavady rider impresses in practice

Belfast Telegraph

11 hours ago

Gahan, from Limavady, put down an early marker around the infamous 37.73-mile Mountain Course, recording his fastest lap on the opening day of the festival at 111.85mph on the Scott Racing Aprilia machine.
He was around six tenths of a second faster than the returning Jamie Williams, who missed his home meeting last summer after suffering injuries in a crash on the first day of qualifying.
Williams, one of the big favourites, did 111.794mph on the NCE Racing Aprilia as he eased himself back into the groove.
Republic of Ireland rider Liam Chawke was fourth fastest on a KMR Kawasaki for Ryan Farquhar behind Lewis Arrowsmith on the time sheets, while Caomhan Canny from Donegal put his injury woes behind him to end the first day in fifth position.
Canny, riding an Aprilia Supertwin, sustained multiple injuries in a red-flag spill at the Tandragee 100 seven weeks ago but has been cleared to race at the Manx meeting.
'When we came last year, we knew the machinery might not be competitive but all we wanted to do was finish races on the Isle of Man circuit,' Canny said.
'The machinery this year is a lot better, so hopefully we'll see how we go all week, and we'll just take it as it comes.'
Last year's Manx Grand Prix was hit by unprecedented weather disruption due to Storm Lilian, with six races crammed into the final day.
However, yesterday's fine summer weather was in stark contrast and Canny was eager to make the most of the dry conditions.
'To put it into context, after this evening I'll have [completed] as many laps as I did all of last year [on the Mountain Course],' he said.
'That's a massive thing because it takes years and years of learning; this is somewhere you don't want to push too quick because unfortunately things can happen, and we just want to take our time, be smooth and we feel very comfortable with the times we're doing, so let's just hope we can keep progressing as the week goes on.'
In the Senior class, Scotland's Chris Cook set the fastest lap of the day at 117.731mph on his Kawasaki ZX6R.
Cook was seven seconds faster than Williams in second on the NCE Racing Honda (116.959mph), with Andy Farrell in third on his Yamaha.
Southern Irish rider Farrell is back at the event after an absence of a few years and was quickly up to speed.
Gahan was fourth fastest on his Yamaha R6 at 115.226mph ahead of Ryan Whitehall, with Canny in 12th following a lap of 114.197mph on his Suzuki 750.
Practice for the Manx Grand Prix will continue on Monday, with roads closed from 6pm.
Top TT riders including Michael Dunlop, Davey Todd, Dean Harrison and John McGuinness will be in action on Wednesday, when the opening Classic TT qualifying sessions are held.
The Classic TT is running in tandem with the Manx GP this year for the first time since 2019.
At the weekend, record-breaking 33-time TT winner Dunlop unveiled a replica of Joey Dunlop's Formula 1-winning Honda SP1 machine from 2000 that he will ride in a special parade lap.
Dunlop built the machine to participate in the Joey Dunlop F1 Tribute Lap, when he will ride the legendary Honda around the Mountain Course on Friday, August 29 as the festival comes to a close.
Ulster sporting great Joey won the Formula 1 race for the final time 25 years ago at the TT as part of a famous hat-trick, just weeks before he was killed in a racing crash in Estonia.