Monday April 13, 2015 at 9:54am
A heavy shower greeted officials, competitors and early morning fans at the Spring National Road Races on Saturday although by the time practice started it had stopped raining and the Mount was beginning to dry out.
A practice incident mid-morning curtailed the session and an early lunch was taken.
When practice resumed the sun was shining and although breezy, conditions were much improved and with practice and qualifying completed the first race, the Junior A Final 1st leg got underway at 2.45pm.
Dean Harrison had pole position, although it was Lee Johnston who took the hole shot into Mere Hairpin and at the end of the opening lap of six it was Ivan Lintin, Dean Harrison and Lee Johnston who headed the field with just a second separating all three.
The end of the second lap Johnston had taken the lead by 0.255 of a second from Lintin and Harrison now third.
Lintin was back in the lead a lap later and by lap four the gap was .0300 of a second and at the flag it was Ivan Linton 0.487 of a second ahead of Lee Johnston and Dean Harrison, followed by James Cowton, Daley Mathison and Mick Goodings.
The Junior B Final 1st leg was next, with Darren Cooper taking the lead after one lap of six, followed by Chris Cook and Seamus Elliott, the leader’s advantage being 1.714 seconds.
Lap two Elliott had moved into second and was just 0.344 of a second adrift of race leader Cooper. Frank Gallagher slotted into third.
Half-distance and it was Seamus Elliott in front by 2.066 seconds from Cooper with Gallagher still third.
Lap four and the advantage between Elliott and Cooper had increased to 3.966 seconds and at the flag the advantage was Seamus Elliott, five seconds ahead of Darren Cooper and Frank Gallagher, followed by Chris Cook, Adrian Harrison and Andy McPherson.
Race three was the first leg of the Super Lightweights, with Ivan Lintin taking the hole-shot into Mere Hairpin and led at the end of lap one, one-third of a second ahead of James Cowton with Ryan Farquhar over one-second behind in third.
Lap two and Cowton had taken over at the front and held three-quarters of a second lead over Lintin with Farquhar still third.
Lap three and positions remained the same although Lintin had brought the gap down to 0.3 of a second.
Throughout the final three laps Cowton pulled away to take the chequered flag by 6.5 seconds, with Farquhar third.
Next up was the first leg of the F2 Sidecars. Conrad Harrison got the hole shot into Mere Hairpin but it was Dave Molyneux who headed the pack, with Steve Ramsden third. The lead had extended to 2.8 seconds after the second lap as positions remained the same. At half distance it was up to 6.7 seconds and at the flag it was 16.541 seconds from Conrad Harrison and Steve Ramsden.
Race 5 the 1st leg A Final of the Spring Cup with Guy Martin pole position. Lee Johnston however got the hole-shot into Mere, but it was Ryan Farquhar who lead from Guy Martin by half-a-seconds, with Dean Harrison third, followed by Lee Johnston, Ivan Lintin and James Cowton.
Lap two and Guy was in front half a second ahead of Ryan with Dean third, with no change in fourth to sixth.
Lap three, and Guy was still half a second ahead, but Lee Johnston was third as Dean Harrison headed to the paddock to retire. The top six were completed by Lintin, Cowton and Steve Mercer.
Lap four and the gap between the two leaders was now 0.707 of a second, as Lee Johnston made his way to the pits, so it was Martin, Farquhar, Lintin, Cowton, Mercer and Mark Goodings.
Lap five and Guy had increased the lead to 2.2 seconds.
At the flag it was Guy Martin 3.496 seconds from Ryan Farquhar, Ivan Lintin, James Cowton, Steve Mercer and Mark Goodings.
Race six the Spring Cup B Final 1st leg with Davy Morgan getting the hole-shot and held the lead by 1.39 seconds from Alan Bonner and Jay Bellers-Smith in third a similar distance behind.
Lap two and the lead was down to 0.602 of a second. At half distance the gap was back up to 1.119 seconds.
At the conclusion of the penultimate lap the distance was down to 0.694 of a second, with Paul Gartland moving into third.
At the chequered flag it was Davy Morgan by 1.698 of a second from Alan Bonner and Paul Gartland third.
The second leg of the F2 Sidecars followed with Moly taking the lead and staying front until the fourth lap when it was red flagged and a results declared at the end of the third lap. Molyneux, Harrison and Ramsden
The Lightweights 1st leg was next, Alistair Haworth was declared the winner after two red flags. Seamus Elliott was second and Paul Owen third.
The penultimate race of the days was the Classic F1 & F2 1st leg. Jamie Coward was first into the Mere Hairpin followed by Ryan Farquhar. At the end of the lap it was David Bell from Ryan Farquhar and Peter Boast.
By the end of the second lap Farquhar was leading by 2.5 seconds from Bell and Boast.
Jamie Coward moved into third on the half-distance lap and at the conclusion of the penultimate lap he was up to second 6.4 seconds behind the race leader Ryan Farquhar with Bell still in third.
At the flag, it was Ryan, James and David, the gap between the top three 6.666 seconds and 9.440 seconds.
The final race of the day the first leg of the Senior class had Guy Martin in pole. Once again it was Lee Johnston who got the hole-shot from Guy Martin, but it was Dean Harrison who had 1.5 seconds advantage over Guy Martin with Lee Johnston another half-second down. Ivan Lintin, Ryan Farquhar and James Cowton completed the top six.
Lap two and the lead had increased by another one second. At half distance another second had been added to the lead.
By lap five the leaders advantage had been reduced to 3.101 seconds with Lee Johnston in front of Ivan Lintin demoting the latter to third.
Dean Harrison took the race victory by 2.533 seconds, with Lee Johnston third another second down. Ivan Lintin, Ryan Farquhar and James Cowton completed the top six.