Dramatic Junior Manx Grand Prix Race sees Lawson triumph
Scotland’s Andy Lawson won a dramatic Mylchreests Motors Junior Manx Grand Prix Race after Rob Hodson experienced a problem in the pits when holding a commanding lead. Lawson took advantage of the Wigan man’s misfortune to win by twelve seconds from Manx newcomer Billy Redmayne with Ireland’s Andrew Farrell taking the final podium place.
Clerk of the Course Phil Taubman describe conditions as excellent on the Isle of Man with dry roads around the Mountain Course ahead of today’s IMGold Manx Grand Prix Race day, although he warned riders to be careful of the winds on the Mountain section.
Anthony Redmond was first away on Glencrutchery Road at the scheduled 10.15am start. Rob Hodson, from the Wigan racing dynasty, starting from 9th on the grid, led from James Neesom at Glen Helen with Michael Moulai third. Dean Roberts and Scotland’s Andy Lawson completed the top five.
Hodson extended his lead over Neesom to 3.6 seconds by Ballaugh Bridge although there was only a second between Neesom and the chasing pair Lawson and Moulai. With Hodson powering away at the front, Andy Lawson moved into second place at Ramsey with Andrew Farrell on the Martin Bullock Manxsport backed Kawasaki Bungalow in third.
Hodson continued to dominate at the front of the field from Neesom but behind him there was a real battle for third place with Moulai moving back into the top three ahead of Farrell at the Bungalow.
Lawson (117.919) was the first to cross the line ahead of Michael Moulai (117.680) but Rob Hodson’s opening lap of 118.665 saw him take a 7 second lead from Lawson with Andrew Farrell (117.703) moving back into the top three ahead of Moulai and James Neesom (117.297) completing the top five.
Last night’s IMGold Newcomer A Race winner Billy Redmayne was also having a great race with an opening lap of 117.135, his fastest Mountain Course lap beating the time he set in last night’s race, which put him into sixth place.
Hodson extended his lead at the end of his second lap (119.029) to 12.16 seconds but there was drama in the pit lane when Hodson pit crew had their hands on the wrong fuel pump costing him the lead. Hodson’s pit time of 1 minute and 53 seconds saw him drop to 8th at Glen Helen on the third lap while a lengthy pit from Andy Farrell also saw the Irish racer drop out of the top three.
New race leader Andy Lawson’s third lap 112.954 gave him a commanding lead of eighteen seconds over Billy Redmayne, who moved ahead of Moulai on the third lap, with the Manx newcomer having a sensational run.
With Moulai reported as retiring at the Crosby Hotel on the last lap, Andy Farrell again moved back into the top three and that remained the race order at the chequered flag with Lawson (116.907/ 1:17.27.384) taking victory by twelve seconds from Redmayne (116.605/ 1:17.39.412) with Farrell (116.018/1:18.03011) in third
Redmayne’s last lap of 119.062 was both his fastest and the fastest lap of the race. Hodson finished fourth, nine seconds off a podium place, with Andrew Soar completing the top five.
Neesom wins incident packed Supertwins race at Manx Grand Prix – Jordan takes lightweight
For the second time in the day, Rob Hodson was left rueing his luck when leading a race at the IMGold Manx Grand Prix. After his pit lane problems earlier in the Junior MGP Race, he ran out of fuel in the day’s second race, the Manx Grand Prix Supporters Club SuperTwin and Lightweight Race.
In an incident packed race, Gary Gittins was leading the SuperTwin Race but came off on his final lap at Ballagarey leaving James Neesom to take the chequered flag. In the concurrent lightweight Race, race leader Dave Taylor received a 30 second pit lane penalty when leading the race, which saw Mick Jordan come through on the last lap to take the honours.
Conditions remained good around the Mountain Course for the second race of the day, although Clerk of the Course Phil Taubman warned riders that the high winds were blowing debris onto the course.
Rob Hodson was first away and the Wigan rider was clearly hoping to put his earlier problems behind him. With Phil McGurk a late withdrawal, Stuart Garton was second away twenty seconds behind Hodson.
James Neesom, who retired at Sulby with cramp in the earlier Junior Race, led Andrew Farrell, fresh from his Junior podium, by half a second at the first checkpoint at Glen Helen with Gary Gittins, and Hodson just over a second behind the leading pair.
That remained the top four at Ballaugh although Hodson moved up to second with Ben Rea, the 2013 Newcomer C Race winner, holding fifth and that was the top five at the end of the first lap. Gittins’s 111.402 gave him a lead of less than a second from Hodson (111.336) with Farrell (111.135), Rea (110.057) and Gittins, riding the quirkily named ‘family and friends’ Suzuki (110.000), completing the top five at the Grandstand.
Hodson moved into the lead by Glen Helen on the second lap and had built a 6 second lead from Neesom by the Bungalow but with everyone at the Grandstand preparing for a likely pit stop, news came through that Hodson had retired at Hillberry having run out of fuel.
Gittins elected to go straight through on the second lap which put him forty nine seconds head of James Neesom at Glen Helen who was in turn fourteen seconds ahead of Farrell in third with Ben Rea fourth and 2014 MGP Newcomer B Race winner Dean Osborne in fifth.
Gittins came into the pits at the end of the third lap with a 27 second lead but then news came through that he had come off at Ballagarey on his final lap. He was reported as conscious and treated by the medical team at the scene.
Gittins’ accident left James Neesom with a commanding lead of over 20 seconds at the front of the field and the Hunmanby man duly came home with a final lap of 110.118 for an overall 1:22.34.608/ 109.658mph from second placed Andrew Farrell (1;23.03.484/ 109.023). Callum Collister, the 2013 Newcomer B Race winner, secured the final podium place with 1:23.36.128/ 108.313.
In the concurrent Lightweight Race, Dave Corlett was in front by 1.6 seconds from Mick Jordan with Gavin Lupton third at Glen Helen but at the end of the opening lap Jordan (105.105) had moved into the lead from Lupton (104.423) with Rikki McGovern (103.334) in third ahead of Corlett (103.138) who dropped to fourth.
Jordan came into the pits at the end of the second lap with a six second lead after his second lap of 106.635 from Lupton (106.862) with Dan Hobson ((106.382) in third a further seventeen seconds back in third. Dave Taylor, who was fourth, elected to go straight through and therefore hit the front with a lead of twelve seconds over Jordan at Glen Helen. Taylor duly pitted at the end of his third lap but any chance of a podium finish was ruined with a 30 second pit lane speeding penalty.
Meanwhile at the front of the field a battle royal for the race win was developing between Lupton and Jordan with the former leading by 0.4 seconds at Glen Helen on the last lap. However Jordan was on a charge and moved into the lead by Ballaugh, eventually taking the chequered flag ten seconds ahead of Lupton with Hobson retaining third place.
