The 2023 Manx Grand Prix so far – The good, and the bad…

2023 Manx Grand Prix
Report #1

The bad…

Gary Vines, 33, from Colchester, succumbed to injuries sustained in an accident during the first qualifying session of the 2023 Manx Grand Prix. The accident occurred at Ballagarey on his first lap of the session.

Gary was a regular competitor at the Manx, making his debut in 2015 where he took a highly-impressive victory in the Newcomers B Race.

Vines earned another podium in the 2018 Lightweight Race, and also secured top-ten finishes at the Classic TT. He competed in the Supersport Races at the 2022 and 2023 TT Races, posting his fastest ever lap of the TT Mountain Course this year at an average speed of 118.488mph.

The good…

The first qualifying session for the centenary running of the Manx Grand Prix had got underway on Sunday afternoon with good conditions around the Mountain Course.  Low cloud across the mountain on Monday though caused yesterday’s qualifying sessions to be cancelled.

Conditions were good around the course on Sunday save for a strong wind over the Mountain and some damp patches at Ramsey, the Nook and Governor’s Bridge and after the 20+ newcomers completed their speed controlled lap, the Classic Superbike and Senior session got underway with Michael Dunlop (Suzuki GSX-R750) leading the field away followed by Brian McCormack (Kawasaki ZX-R750) and David Johnson (Kawasaki ZX-R750).

Nathan Harrison (Honda RC45), 2022 winner Rob Hodson on a second Greenall Racing Kawasaki ZX-R750 and James Hillier were next to go, the latter taking over the KTS Racing powered by Steadplan Kawasaki from the injured Jamie Coward.

Michael Dunlop set a strong pace at the head of the field, and he was the quickest to Ramsey, almost eight-seconds quicker than Dean Harrison (Key Racing Ducati 916) with Craig Neve (Kawasaki ZX-R750), Hodson and Derek Sheils (Greenall Racing Kawasaki ZX-R750) next round the hairpin whilst Tom Robinson (Pete Stacey Kawasaki ZX-6R) was leading the way in the Senior class from Williams (NCE Racing Honda CBR600RR).

The session was then temporarily stopped due to the incident at Ballagarey involving Gary Vines.

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Much of the field completed their lap with Dunlop fastest at 121.877 mph followed by Dean Harrison (119.464 mph), Neve (119.329 mph), Hodson (118.097 mph). Sheils (117.238 mph) and McCormack (116.481 mph).

The session was restarted at 1520 with Dunlop again first down Glencrutchery Road, the 25-time TT winner quickly setting the pace from Dean Harrison. Indeed, Dunlop was the first to complete the lap at an increased speed of 123.984 mph.

Harrison was next across the line at 121.445 mph, despite only using five gears, closely followed by Johnson (121.217 mph), Hodson (121.137 mph), Sheils (120.320 mph) and Nathan Harrison (119.089 mph) whilst it was Williams now quickest in the Senior on the CBR600RR at 117.195 mph. That put him ahead of Victor Lopez (116.940 mph), Cook (116.354mph), Ingham (115.990 mph), Robinson (115.957 mph) and Samuel Mousley (115.202 mph).

Both Hodson and Sheils stopped on the following lap at Barregarrow and Ballacraine respectively, but Johnson went second quickest on the leaderboard at 122.002mph with team-mate Neve (121.192 mph), Julian Trummer (118.710 mph) and Michael Rutter (118.571 mph) all improving.

Williams remained at the top of the Senior timings courtesy of his earlier lap but Cook (ZX-6R – 117.051mph), Ingham (YZF-R6 – 116.526 mph), Reveley (YZF-R6 – 115.755 mph) and Mousley ( YZF-R6 – 115.607 mph) all went quicker with a superb lap coming from newcomer Joe Yeardsley (YZ-R6 – 114.984 mph) putting him eighth quickest. David Rigby (112.902 mph) and Marcus Simpson (111.222 mph) were other first timers going well.

At 1610, the second session got underway for the Junior, Classic Senior and Lightweight classes with Mike Browne, John McGuinness, Adam McLean, Alan Oversby, Jack Fowler and Marc Colvin amongst the early starters.

Dominic Herbertson (Davies Motorsport Yamaha) was first back to the Grandstand, lapping at 107.580 mph in the Senior Classic class, and that put him ahead of Dean Harrison (Craven Manx Norton) and Browne (Grantham Lodge Norton) at 104.071 mph and 103.221 mph respectively, Harrison taking over Jamie Coward’s ride.

In the Junior class it was Andrea Majola on a Paton S1R (113.277 mph) quickest followed by a Kawasaki ER650 mounted Marc Colvin (112.210 mph)

Classic Superbike

1. Michael Dunlop – Suzuki GSX-R750 – 123.984 mph
2. David Johnson – Kawasaki ZXR750 – 122.002 mph
3. Dean Harrison – Ducati 916 – 121.445 mph
4. Craig Neve – Kawasaki ZXR750 – 121.192 mph
5. Rob Hodson – Kawasaki ZXR750 – 121.137 mph
6. Derek Sheils – Kawasaki ZXR750 – 120.320 mph
7. Nathan Harrison – Honda RC45 – 119.089 mph
8. Brian McCormack – Kawasaki ZXR750 – 118.950 mph
9. Julian Trummer – Kawasaki ZXR750 – 118.710 mph
10. Michael Rutter – Suzuki XR69 – 118.571 mph

Classic Senior

1. John McGuinness – Paton A1-B22 – 108.472 mph
2. Dominic Herbertson – Yamaha 500 – 107.580 mph
3. Dean Harrison – MV Agusta 500 – 106.286 mph
4. Mike Browne – Norton 500 Manx – 103.221 mph
5. Alan Oversby – Honda CB500 – 102.458 mph
6. Michael Evans – Norton 500 Manx – 102.069 mph
7. Michael Russell – Norton 500 Manx – 101.677 mph
8. Derek Sheils – Honda CB500 – 98.898 mph
9. Andy Hornby – Honda CB500 – 97.141 mph
10. Hefyn Owen – Seeley G50 – 97.016 mph

Senior

1. Jamie Williams – Honda CBR600RR – 117.195 mph
2. Chris Cook – Kawasaki ZX-6R – 117.051 mph
3. Victor Lopez – Yamaha YZF-R6 – 116.940 mph
4. Daniel Ingham – Yamaha YZF-R6 – 116.526 mph
5. Tom Robinson – Kawasaki ZX-6R – 115.957 mph
6. James Reveley – Yamaha YZF-R6 – 115.755 mph
7. Samuel Mousley – Yamaha YZF-R6 – 115.607 mph
8. Joe Yeardsley – Yamaha YZF-R6 – 114.984 mph
9. Maurizio Bottalico – Honda CBR600RR – 114.177 mph
10. Michael Rees – Kawasaki ZX-6R – 114.139 mph

Lightweight

1. Ian Lougher – Yamaha TZ250 – 112.635 mph
2. Shaun Anderson – 112.198 mph
3. Paul Jordan – Yamaha FR450GP – 109.915 mph
4. Chris Moore – Yamaha TZ250 – 108.607 mph
5. Stuart Hall – Yamaha TZ250 – 107.641 mph
6. Gareth Arnold – Yamaha TZ250 – 107.491 mph
7. Dan Sayle – Honda RS250 – 103.686 mph
8. Lancelot Unissart – Kramer 690 – 102.696 mph
9. Ian Stanford – Honda RS250 – 102.630 mph
10. James Chawke – Honda NSF250 – 100.233 mph

Ultra Lightweight

1. Paul Cassidy – Kawasaki ZXR400 – 104.675 mph
2. Tom Snow – Honda NSF250 – 103.359 mph
3. Radley Hughes – Kawasaki ZXR400 – 102.935 mph
4. Leon Murphy – Kawasaki ZXR400 – 101.509 mph
5. Steven Moody – Honda CBR400 – 101.169 mph
6. Jonathan Perry – Honda CBR400 – 101.058 mph
7. Steven Price – Kawasaki ZXR400 – 99.551 mph
8. Pete Gibson – Honda RVF400 – 98.579 mph
9. Connor Wade – Kawasaki ZXR400 – 96.510 mph
10. Owen Monaghan – Kawasaki ZXR400 – 96.262 mph

Junior

1. Andrea Majola – Paton S1R – 113.277 mph
2. Marc Colvin – Kawasaki ER650 – 112.210 mph
3. Daniel Ingham – Aprilia RS660 – 111.469 mph
4. Maurizio Bottalico – Paton S1R – 111.210 mph
5. David Rigby – Kawasaki Z650 – 110.702 mph
6. Joe Yeardsley – Paton S1R – 110.330 mph
7. Marcus Simpson – Kawasaki ER-6 – 109.979 mph
8. Michael Rees – Paton S1R – 109.648 mph
9. Jack Fowler – Kawasaki ER-6 – 109.572 mph
10. Michael Mace – Kawasaki ER650 – 105.958 mph