2024 Manx Grand Prix: Dominic Herbertson fastest in Friday afternoon practice as race schedule revised

Dominic Herbertson led the way in Friday afternoon’s delayed practice for the 2024 Manx Grand Prix on his Kawasaki in the Classic Superbike class.

Poor weather has forced heavy disruption to the 2024 Manx GP schedule, with Thursday evening’s practice cancelled.

While conditions have been better on Friday, the timetable was still delayed by several hours to allow for the 37.75-mile Isle of Man course to dry.

Herbertson was fastest of all aboard his Kawasaki ZX750 in the Classic Superbike class.

He completed two laps on the bike and managed a 122.6mph effort to top the standings, though this was a bit off the pace Mike Browne set on Thursday afternoon at 123.225mph.

Browne didn’t complete any laps on his Ducati 916 in the Classic Superbike session.

Derek Shiels was second on his Kawasaki with a 120.574mph lap, while Craig Neve guided his ZX750 to a 119.976mph lap to finish third.

Brian McCormack and Michael Rutter completed the top five, while Rob Hodson once again encountered dramas with his Kawasaki after pulling up at Ramsey on his first lap on the bike.

Michael Dunlop once again didn’t put a lap on his Ducati 916, but did manage to complete his first tour of the event in the earlier Lightweight session.

The 29-time Isle of Man TT winner was second on his Honda RS250 at 108.945mph, with Stuart Hall fastest in class on his Yamaha TZ250 with a lap of 111.535mph.

Michael Evans was third in the Lightweight class at 108.87mph.

In the Classic Junior class, Paul Jordan set the pace on his Honda CB350K4 with a best of 101.22mph set on his second lap on the bike.

Evans was second at 99.337mph, while Dan Sayle completed the top three. John McGuinness was fifth on his Honda at 96.141mph.

The 23-time TT winner was second in the Classic Senior class on his Paton BIC 500 with 107.921mph, while Shaun Anderson led the way on 108.41mph.

Browne was third in class at 106.436mph, with Friday afternoon’s overall pacesetter Herbertson fifth.

In the Senior Manx GP class, Chris Cook set the best lap of the day so far with a 115.615mph on a Kawasaki ZX600RF. Michael Gahan and Sayle completed the top three.

Andrea Majola continued to set the pace in the Junior Manx GP class, as he guided his Paton S1-R to a 112.50mph. Maurizio Bottalico and Daniel Ingham trailed him on the leaderboard.

Practice is due to continue this evening at 6:30pm local time.

The Clerk of the Course announced after Friday afternoon's session that the racing schedule has been revised to due to bad weather in the forecast on Sunday.

Three races will now take place on Saturday and three on Monday, with Sunday's contingency sessions now scrapped.

Picture credit: Manx Grand Prix Press