PRACTICE/QUALIFYING REPORT
MEDIABOX
Close Battles and First 118mph Laps on Day 3 of MGP Qualifying, Red Flag ends session
MGP DAY 3
The third day of Manx Grand Prix qualifying got underway with a slight delay at 18:50, in very different conditions to the previous two sun-blessed days. Grey skies greeted the competitors, with a cold breeze along Glencrutchery Road; however, the forecast confirmed the evening would remain dry. Due to the delay and the dark, overcast conditions, the decision was made to set competitors off in pairs for the opening session, which was once again the Supersport/Senior MGP class.
First away on the road were two of the front-runners, Chris Cook and Jamie Williams, followed by Rad Hughes, Michael Mace, then Michael Rees and Craig Szczypek. By Ramsey, Jamie Williams was setting a slightly quicker pace than Cook, arriving just over four seconds faster with a time of 11:54.36, compared to Cook’s 11:58.53. Mace was third, with Michael Gahan in fourth. By the Bungalow, Cook had set the fastest sector between Ramsey and the Bungalow, clawing back two seconds on Williams, who was still on a personal best for the week.
The end of lap one saw the first 118mph laps of the week: Jamie Williams achieved 118.571mph (19:05.54), while Chris Cook was also in the 118s with 118.121mph (19:09.90). Michael Mace posted a 117mph lap in third, followed by Gahan, Farrell, and Harrison, all in the 116mph bracket.
Williams came in after one lap, while Cook went straight through for a second on his Supersport machine. On lap two, Cook failed to improve on his opening time; however, the standout performance came from 2024 MGP newcomer Toby Shann, who upped his pace to 117.130mph (19:19.63), almost 20 seconds faster than his previous lap. Local newcomer Grant Thomson continued his impressive start to MGP 2025 with a 115.694mph lap (19:34.02), making him the fastest newcomer of the week so far. Other strong local performances included eight-time TT winner and two-time MGP winner Dan Sayle, who finished seventh on the leaderboard with a 116mph lap. With light fading, the decision was taken to short-flag the Supersport session to allow the Supertwins to start earlier.
The Supertwin session got underway in pairs at 19:25, all machines requiring rain lights due to the low light conditions. Liam Chawke and Owen Monaghan were first away, followed by Lewis Arrowsmith and Jamie Williams. Chawke was fastest to Glen Helen, with Farrell and Williams close behind; however, by the end of lap one it was previous double MGP winner Andy Farrell who set the fastest Supertwin lap of the week so far, with 113.304mph (19:58.79). He was followed closely by Chawke, less than a second behind at 113.242mph (19:59.45), with Williams third on 113.135mph (20:00.58) and Shann also in the 113s with 113.071mph (20:01.26).
It’s incredibly close at the top of the Supertwin leaderboard, with less than three seconds covering the four fastest riders. Most competitors headed out for a second lap in the ever-darkening conditions.
After a challenging start to his Manx Grand Prix campaign, newcomer Luke Blevins, who had only managed the controlled newcomers’ lap due to electrical issues with his Aprilia RS660, finally completed his first full lap of the week in tonight’s session.
At 20:04 the session was brought to a conclusion due to a red flag, further information will be issued in due course..
Mediabox with photos and PDF results are available above, or you can view individual results from today on our 2025 RESULTS PAGE
END.
WORDS : Lee & Carol Bartram | Photos : lucas croydon
WORDS : Lee & Carol Bartram | Photos : lucas croydon