Rain pushes Classic TT road closures to evening

Wednesday's planned schedule includes three races

Road closures around the Isle of Man for the start of Classic TT racing have been pushed back to the evening contingency session due to rain, organisers have said.

The Mountain Course had been due to close at 09:30 BST, but will now remain open until 18:00 BST.

Race organisers said the weather had failed "improve as quickly as had been anticipated" so there was "low confidence" the course conditions would be suitable for afternoon racing.

Roads are set to reopen no later than 21:00.

Ronaldsway Met Office had predicted the rain would give way to sunny intervals from early afternoon.

The revised schedule now sees the restaging of the postponed Lightweight Classic TT race, truncated from three to two laps, along with a combined solo and sidecar parade lap.

Wednesday's schedule

18:30 - Lightweight Classic TT (2 laps)

19:40 - TT Rewind: The 80s & 90s Parade Lap & Classic Sidecar Parade Lap

Organisers said the amount of available daylight in the contingency session meant there was not enough time for two races to be run so a parade lap would be included instead, as that took a shorter time period to stage.

A bid was made to bring the race programme forward to run the Lightweight race on Monday, however a crash on the opening lap led to it being red-flagged.

Friday's final day of racing is now due to include the rescheduled Historic Junior, Historic Senior and Senior Classic TT races.

A a result of the disruption, the Formula One Classic TT had now been cancelled, organisers said.

However, all qualified competitors would feature in the Senior Classic, and any remaining grid places would be awarded to the fastest Lightweight competitors.

Friday's schedule

10:15 - Historic Junior Classic TT Race (2 laps)

12:00 - Historic Senior Classic TT (2 laps)

13:45 - Senior Classic TT (4 laps)

15:50 - Michael Dunlop: Joey Dunlop F1 Tribute Lap

The island's marshals organisation earlier put out a call for more volunteers to come forward to cover the remaining sessions.

Racing in the MGP saw the Supertwin and Supersport races completed on Saturday, with the Junior and Senior classes held on Monday.