Real world rides, real world riders

Fulton awarded Junior race win after red flag incident at Manx GP

Wayne Kirwan and David Lumsden were scheduled away first but misfortune hit David Lumsden when he failed to leave the start line. However he was later able to start his machine.

Kirwan was first on the roads to Glen Helen but Jules Croft and Dan Sayle both went quicker to the first checkpoint and by Ballaugh Dan Sayle hit the front, opening up a four second lead from Simon Fulton with Kirwan third.

Sayle was involved in an accident at Signpost Corner and was reported as conscious and taken by ambulance to Nobles Hospital and was later discharged. This left Simon Fulton to take the lead with an opening lap of 119.516 from Michael Sweeney (118.812). Newcomer A race winner Tim Venables was reported to be off at Greeba Castle and taken by airmed to Nobles hospital.

Fulton became the first rider since Seamus Greene in 2005 to break 120-plus-mph ‘Tommy Club’ on the second lap with 120.329mph, breaking Tommy Clucas’ 2004 mark, to extend his lead to 16 seconds from Wayne Kirwan with Michael Sweeney third.

However, a red flag incident at Alpine Cottage meant that the race was stopped with eight riders having completed the second lap. The regulations advise that a race is valid if more than half has been completed so Fulton was awarded a win by virtue of being fastest on the opening lap with Sweeney second and Kirwan third.

Fulton’s second lap meant that he briefly joined Allan Jackson, Ian Pattinson, Davy Morgan and Seamus Greene in the ‘Tommy Club’ for riders to achieve 120mph laps at the Manx Grand Prix, in memory of Tommy Clucas who first achieved the feat in the Junior Manx Grand Prix in 2004. They were the first riders since Tommy in 2004 to achieve it on a 600 machine. However as the race was determined on the first completed lap, his record lap does not stand.