Southern 100: Red flags lead to practice disruption on first day

The start of Monday's practice session was delayed by more then 30 minutes due to wet roads

Two red flag incidents and wet weather led to disruption to the opening evening of the Southern 100 road races.

The incidents involved Northumberland's David McConnachy and Stockport's Joshua Potts.

Both riders were said to be conscious and speaking to medics following the crashes.

That followed a 35-minute delay to road closures around the 4.25-mile Billown Circuit in the south of the Isle of Man due to standing water on the track.

The first incident came about an hour into the session in the Lightweight class and saw McConnachy involved in a crash at Ballawhetstone.

The red flag was brought out again when Potts came off at Church Bends at the end of the Supersport 600cc about 40 minutes later.

The newcomer later confirmed on social media he had suffered two broken legs in the crash, and appealed for anyone with footage of the incident to come forward.

Joshua Potts was one of two riders taken to hospital after crashes on the opening day of action

Disruption to the session meant Monday's planned sidecar practice on the Billown Circuit was cut short "due to the deteriorating light", organisers said.

Monday's laps saw Jamie Coward come out quickest in the Supersport class, followed by Michael Dunlop, Mike Browne and Dean Harrison.

In the Superbike class Marcus Stimpson set the fastest pace, followed by Michael Dunlop, Jamie Coward and Mike Browne.

A revised schedule for Tuesday evening's session is set to begin with practice laps for all classes, followed by the first Senior race at 20:46 BST, with the first Lightweight race being postponed.

A demonstration laps by Michael Rutter on his Honda RC213V-S MotoGP bike have been postponed until Wednesday and Thursday to accommodate the changes.

The event is due to run until Thursday.