Tuesday July 21, 2015 at 12:56pm
Practice commenced on time at 9.00am in overcast and wet conditions which caused the action to be held up for an hour due to standing water.
On resumption at 11.15am roads were drying as the skies cleared and the sun came out for qualifying.
The first race of the programme for SuperTwins got underway at 12.40pm over eight laps.
At the end of the opening lap James Cowton held the lead by 1.2 seconds from Ivan Lintin with James Coward in third. At the end of the second Lap the lead had been reduced to less than half-a-second as Lintin closed up on Cowton with Coward still third 3.5 seconds down.
By the end of the third lap Lintin was leading the field by over two seconds and at the end of the half-distance lap the gap was up to five and a half seconds which increased to 24.249 seconds with Jamie Coward third.
Race 2 was the opening leg of the Superbikes, again over eight laps. Ivan Linton led at the end of the first lap by half a second from Dean Harrison and Daley Mathison, with Lee Johnston a close fourth. Lap 2 and positions were the same with Harrison having shaved a tenth of the second off Lintin’s lead.
Lap three saw Lintin and Harrison pulling away from third and four place men Mathison & Johnston with nearly seven seconds the gaps.
At half distance Harrison was in the lead by just over half a second.
Lap 5 and a second had been added to Harrison’s advantage and at the three-quarter mark the gap was up to 3.7 seconds, with Johnston in a lonely third, 13 seconds back.
At the chequered flag Harrison took the win by 5.463 seconds with Lee Johnston third.
Race 3 was for Classic F1 machines which saw David Bell leading at the end of the first lap of eight followed by Jamie Coward and Peter Boast. Lap two and Coward was in the lead by 0.6 of a second from Bell with Rhys Hardisty now third. Lap three and the gap was up to 2 seconds. Half distance and the gap had increased to over six seconds as positions remained static. A lap later the lead was up to 12 second and at the chequered flag Jamie Coward enjoyed a 33.076 second advantage over David Bell, with Paul Owen taking the final podium place on the final lap.
Race 4, the first leg of the Junior (Supersport) 600cc class. Daley Mathison got the hole-shot, but it was Dean Harrison who had the lead at the end of the opening lap of six, half a second ahead of Ivan Lintin, with Mathison slotting into third, followed by Lee Johnston, James Cowton and Tom Weeden.
A lap later Lee Johnston was up to third, as James Cowton slipped off without injury.
Lap three and the lead had increased to 0.792 of a second with no change in the top four.
Lap four and it was a full half second lead for Harrison, with Johnston also pulling half a second back from second placeman Lintin.
Lap five, saw positions remain the same, with Dean Harrison taking the chequered flag at the end of the sixth lap 6.429 seconds ahead of Lee Johnston, with Tom Weeden third. Fourth was Daley Mathison followed by Dave Hewson and Mick Goodings. Ivan Lintin slid off at Mountside Hairpin on the final lap, fortunately OK.
Race 5 Sidecars, 1st leg over 6 laps. The Bells got the hole-shot into Mere Hairpin and held the lead at the end of the opening lap with a 3.6 second advantage over Conrad Harrison and the Ramsden brothers.
The lead had doubled by the end of the second lap with positions unchanged.
Half-distance saw another two seconds added to the leader’s advantage.
Ian and Carl Bell’s lead at the chequered flag was 15.112 seconds from Conrad Harrison and Lee Patterson with Dean Lindley and Robert Bell taking third on the final lap.
Due to a massive oil spill at Farm Bends which covered 90% of that section of the course, the Clerk of the Course after consultation with the riders abandoned the remainder of the meeting due to safety reasons.