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| TT News Scene - Lightweight / Ultra Lightweight & Senior race news |
| Lightweight / Ultra Lightweight & Senior race news | Submitted by: Bill Snelling Aug 29, 2002
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2002 MANX GRAND PRIX LIGHTWEIGHT, ULTRA-LIGHTWEIGHT AND SENIOR RACE PREVIEWS
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Three four-lap races are on the agenda for Friday's final day of racing in the
2002 Manx Grand Prix. They are the 250cc Lightweight and the 125/400cc
Ultra-Lightweight to be run concurrently starting at 10.15am and the Senior starting at 1.15pm.
In practising for the Lightweight, Davy Morgan from Saintfield (Honda) was
fastest. He lapped in 20 minutes 07.5 seconds, an average speed of 112.49mph. Nigel Beattie from Laxey (Honda) was second at 111.15mph and Norman Gordon from Ballymena (Yamaha) third at 111.04mph.
Morgan finished second to Mick Skene in the Junior race on Wednesday, with
Beattie sixth. They both rode 600cc four-cylinder four-stroke machines then,
but today switch to 250cc twin-cylinder two-strokes - Morgan and Beattie on
Hondas, Gordon on a Yamaha. Kirk Michael's Norman Kneen (Honda) was the best 250cc rider in the Junior, with a fastest lap of 112.05mph, which must put him in with a very strong chance if repeated today.
In practising for the Ultra-Lightweight, Paul Corrin from Onchan (400
Kawasaki) was fastest. He lapped in 21 minutes 39.2 seconds, an average speed of
104.55mph. Keith Taylor from Co. Durham (400 Yamaha) was second at 104.43mph and Andy Russell from Tonbridge (400 Yamaha) third at 104.48mph. The best 125cc machine was back in eighth place, so it looks as if the race
will almost certainly be won by a 400cc bike.
The big question for the Senior race is whether a 600cc machine can win
against the bigger-engined bikes. Fastest in practice was Mark Parrett from
Midhurst (750 Kawasaki). He lapped in 19 minutes 31.8 seconds, an average
speed of 115.91mph. Second was Ian Pattinson from Weardale (750 Kawasaki)
at 114.90mph and third Steve Rathbone from Poulton-le-Fylde (998 Ducati) at
114.81mph.
But the 600cc machines ridden by Pattinson and Parrett were faster in practice and in the Junior race (116.65mph and 117.57mph respectively) while Junior winner Mick Skene from Laurencekirk sticks to the same 600cc Suzuki for Friday's race, having set the fastest ever lap in the Manx Grand Prix at
119.09mph. Rathbone did 115.08mph in the Junior, again demonstrating that the smaller-engined machines have the capacity to out-perform their bigger
cousins.
Given good weather, there should be no stopping Skene from doing the
double and breaking the 19 minute barrier and maybe approach the 120mph
lap if pushed.
At the conclusion of the Senior, the Vintage Motor Cycle Club's 30th Manx
Rally participants will ride on closed roads from Ramsey to the Grandstand.
The Presentation of awards for the Ultra-Lightweight, Lightweight, Junior and
Senior races will take place at Summerland, starting at nine o'clock.
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