Opening race in Manx Grand Prix postponed due to bad weather

Michael Dunlop set the fastest lap in qualifying with a speed of 125.537mph

Hill fog and wet roads have led to a delay to the start of racing at the 2022 Manx Grand Prix (MGP).

The MGP Lightweight race, due to set off at 14:40 BST, has been postponed.

A shortened two-lap race will now be held on Saturday at 12:45, followed by the four-lap Junior MGP race and a truncated three-lap Senior Classic.

A qualifying session also set to take place on Friday afternoon before the Lightweight race has also been called off.

Organisers confirmed a contingency session will not be used to allow the riders laps around the Isle of Man's Mountain Course on Friday evening due to the continuing poor conditions.

It marks the second time this week that a session has had to be scrapped due to the weather after Monday evening's qualifying was cancelled.

It is the first time the races have been held on the 37.75-mile circuit since 2019, after Covid led to the cancellation of all road racing on the island two years in a row.

Qualifying for this year's event got underway on Sunday in the revamped event, which has been cut from a fortnight to nine days.

Northern Ireland's Michael Dunlop has so far set the fastest lap of the 2022 event, hitting an average speed on 125.537mph in the Classic Superbike class on Wednesday evening.

Fellow TT champion Morecambe's John McGuinness did the same in the Senior Classic class on Sunday, circumnavigating the course at an average speed of 109.680mph.

In the Lightweight class it was Lincolnshire's James Hind who led the pace with a speed of 117.488mph on his 250cc machine.

And Italy's Francesco Curinga and Liverpool's Stephen Smith topped the leader boards in the Junior and Senior MGP classes respectively, at speeds of 114.974mph and 119.956mph.