Rain stops play on Tuesday

Mickey D fastest in opening session

After a day of pretty rough weather, Tuesday’s second qualifying for the 2024 Isle of Man TT Races was called off at the last minute – despite looking like it was a goer for a while.

The heavy rain eased off at lunchtime and by mid afternoon the sun was out and drying the roads. It was looking likely that an evening practice session could be held, albeit not in perfect conditions, and riders were suited up and ready to go when the roads closed at 6pm. However some unexpected squally showers around the 37.73-mile course meant that a decision was made to cancel the session on safety grounds. While disappointing, the good news is that the weather forecast looks favourable for the remainder of practice week, as well as for the opening race weekend.

Monday had seen free practice and first qualifying sessions take place, with Michael Dunlop fastest overall on his Hawk Racing Honda, with an average lap speed of 129.590mph. The 25-time TT winner is looking to equal, and possibly surpass, his uncle Joey as the winningest TT racer of all time at TT’24. Yer Maun racked up 26 TT wins in his extraordinary career but, with Michael entered in eight races this year, there’s a good chance the record will go next week.

The rider most likely to stop him is Peter Hickman, the current lap record holder and last year’s Senior TT winner. Hicky topped the timesheets in the superstock and supertwins class, the latter in particular being something of a surprise. Hickman may have won last year’s second Supertwin TT, but it was an attritional race.

The big man doesn’t have the frame of a natural ‘twin rider, nor was his Yamaha the preferred mount in 2023. His PHR Performance outfit appears to have made big strides in unlocking the performance of the R7, which is now wrapped in the distinctive livery of match making company Swan. His results at the recent North West 200 races suggest he will be among the favourites in all eight of the races he is entering too.

Fastest in Supersport was Davey Todd, debuting the Ducati Panigale V2 at the TT. The races now embrace the ‘next-generation’ supersport rules, which match up machines like the 955cc two-cylinder Ducati with the 600cc four-cylinders which traditionally populated the class. The 29-year-old is in great form on the short circuits this year and has a good shot at a first TT podium next week, with a win definitely not out of the question.

Top dogs in the sidecar class were local stars Ryan and Callum Crowe, who were quickest at 116.699mph. Last year’s winner Ben Birchall took new passenger Kevin Rousseau around at 115.882mph, while TT rookies (but world champions on the short circuits) Todd Ellis and Emmanuelle Clement were ninth fastest in their very first session around the Mountain course.