Formula 1 Classic TT: Thrilling battle at the top, Julian Trummer in 6th place

As several practice sessions had already had to be cancelled, the organisers of the Classic TT and the Manx Grand Prix granted the participants an additional session on Thursday lunchtime. With near-perfect weather conditions, the riders didn’t need to be asked twice and, in some cases, significantly improved on their times from the previous day.

In the Formula 1 Classic TT class, local hero Nathan Harrison beat the best time set by Northern Irishman Shaun Anderson by a clear margin. However, with a time of 18:09.057 minutes, he was less than four-tenths of a second ahead of the Briton Jamie Coward, who in turn was just over a second faster than the Australian David Johnson. Northern Irish favourite Michael Dunlop finished in fourth place.

Behind the Briton Dominic Herbertson, Julian Trummer – who had struggled the previous day with a slippery fuel tank and a glove that was too loose – put in a strong performance to finish sixth. Riding the TC Racing Kawasaki, the Austrian lost only around 0.2 seconds per kilometre to 36-time TT winner Dunlop on the course, which is over 60 kilometres long. In doing so, he left experienced riders such as local rider Conor Cummins behind him.

The German-speaking riders also showed a marked improvement in practice for the Manx Grand Prix. In the Supersport class, the Austrian Thomas Altendorfer lapped the Snaefell Mountain Course over 15 seconds faster than on Wednesday. He completed his first lap of the circuit at an average speed of over 110 miles per hour. For the German Moritz Klaus, practice ended after just one lap.

The Germans Lorenz Rothärmel and Chris Meyer also managed a significant improvement on their times from the previous day in the Sportbike class. Meyer, who won the Irish Road Racing Championship in the Moto3/125GP category last year, is also slowly finding his rhythm on the Ultra Lightweight machines.

On Thursday evening, the riders will have another opportunity to fine-tune their bikes and gradually push themselves to their limits.