By Charlie Lambert
It was a real test for the newcomers yesterday - having to cope with three delays and then battle around a damp, windy and misty Mountain Course: what a baptism! So it was a privilege to be able to describe the victories of three riders who will never forget what they were doing yesterday: Kamil Holan, Andy Dudgeon and James Cowton. Those riders took a combination of mental and physical fortitude and reliable machinery. And the same goes for all the finishers yesterday. Riding the Mountain Course is not just about the podium. Completing the course represents a victory in itself.
Throughout the day the prospects of racing looked on the low side of nil. The rain persisted till 3pm and the cloud was low over the mountain. The best decision that clerk of the course Phil Taubman made was to un-decide to make a binding decision at 6pm. By then we'd had two postponements and Phil had declared he'd make a final decision at 6. Just before 6 we could see from the commentary box that the cloud was beginning to lift, both via the webcams and the naked eye, and Phil rightly thought that onemore delay might just give the race the chance to get going. So it proved.
Had a good chat to Ryan Farquhar later in the evening, while celebrating the wedding of Manx Radio's sports editor Tim Glover. The King of the Supertwins is making a fantastic contribution to the MGP by entering the two bikes that have been making such an impact on road racing this season. Ryan's own bike, the one on which he won the Supertwin TT this year, will be ridden by Trevor Ferguson, Ryan's uncle, in Wednesday's MGP race, and Nigel Moore will be aboard the bike which has been campaigned all summer by Ryan's protege Jamie Hamilton.
Meanwhile Ryan himself is among the favourites for the Junior Classic tomorrow. We're on air at 9.45 building up to the 10.15 start and if the weather is as good as it is right now in Douglas, we'll be in for a good day.