Gorgeous sun and blue sky met the competitors for Wednesday evening’s practice session and conditions were perfect for the third night of the 2010 Isle of Man TT Races. Indeed, the biggest problem was going to be the ever present Manx population of flies who were again out in force!

Riders were warned of a few damp patches at Quarry Bends and Governor’s Bridge but with close to ideal conditions, it was almost inevitable that the 130mph would be broken and so it was but, surprisingly, only by John McGuinness on his second lap.

It was William Dunlop and Bruce Anstey who got the session underway promptly at 6.20pm, the Northern Irishman on his 600cc machine and the Kiwi on his Superbike. Following them were John McGuinness and Michael Dunlop, Ian Lougher and Cameron Donald, Keith Amor and Daniel Kneen and Adrian Archibald and Carl Rennie, all Superbike mounted with the exception of Kneen who was out on his 600.

McGuinness was the first to complete a lap at 129.265mph with Anstey and Donald not too far behind at 127.915mph and 128.011mph respectively. Michael Dunlop, Lougher, Amor and Archibald were all above 126mph but Guy Martin was close to McGuinness’ pace at 129.145mph, Ian Hutchinson also going well at 128.018mph.

Second time around and McGuinness really showed his class with a lap of 130.242mph, Hutchinson increasing his speed to 128.735mph and Archibald to 128.618mph. Martin had called in to the pits at the end of his first lap but got no further than Quarter Bridge on his second before pulling off, eventually going back out on his Superstock bike. Davy Morgan was also in trouble retiring at Sulby Bridge.

McGuinness and Hutchinson both swapped to their 600cc Supersport bikes, the latter going second quickest on the night with a lap just over 125mph. It was that man Michael Dunlop who was quickest here and he was marginally faster than Hutchinson at 125.087mph. Meanwhile, Amor posted an impressive time on his BMW Superstock bike at 127.525mph.

Most of the riders were able to get back out for a fifth lap and Hutchinson went back out on his Superbike recording a lap of 129.164mph to go second quickest on the night. Amor was close to 128mph on the HM Plant Honda but Ryan Farquhar was flying on his Superstock Kawasaki and a lap of 128.076mph saw him go quickest, that speed also the Northern Irishman’s fastest ever lap of the Mountain Course, albeit unofficially.

Conor Cummins posted a late lap of 127.010mph with Gary Johnson also having a better run after problems earlier in the week, the AIM Racing rider lapping at 126.488mph, just quicker than Dan Stewart, who also recorded his fastest ever lap.

The newcomers again continued to make good progress and this time it was Stephen Thompson who was quickest at 115.114mph. Herve Ganther and James Hurrell both lapped in excess of 111mph with Clinton Pienaar also over 110mph for the first timer whilst former British 125cc Champion Dan Cooper impressed on the 600cc Suzuki at 111.026mph.

In the sidecars it was Dave Molyneux and Patrick Farrance who again led the field away from John Holden/Andy Winkle and Klaus Klaffenbock/Dan Sayle but Tim Reeves and Dipash Chauhan were again in trouble on the opening lap, stopping at Kirk Michael to make adjustments. Molyneux’s first lap was 113.917mph but went quicker second time around at 114.748mph whilst Klaffenbock’s impressive week continued with a best lap of 113.576mph, another, unofficial, personal best. Holden and Simon Neary were again above 112mph with Reeves able to get going to lap at 109.028mph on his second lap. Gary Bryan and Roy Hanks were two more retirements.

Brian McCormack, Scott Wilson and Paul Shoesmith were all involved in an incident at Waterworks but were reported as OK, Jenny Tinmouth’s bike ended up in a hedge at Sulby Bridge, Takahiro Itami came off at Braddan Oak, Brendan Cretu at Nook and Steven McIlvenna at Governors Bridge but all were reported as OK. In the Carl Fenwick’s passenger Keir Pedley sustained leg injuries at Cruickshanks and was taken by airmed to hospital.

Provisional Times:

Poker Stars Superbike TT
1 John McGuinness (1000 HM Plant Honda) – 130.242mph
2 Ian Hutchinson (1000 Padgetts Honda) – 129.164mph
3 Guy Martin (1000 Wilson Craig Honda) – 129.145mph
4 Adrian Archibald (1000 AMA Racing Suzuki) – 128.618mph
5 Cameron Donald (1000 Relentless by TAS Suzuki) – 128.011mph
6 Keith Amor (1000 HM Plant Honda) – 127.925mph

Monster Energy Supersport TT
1 Michael Dunlop (600 Street Sweep/Hardship Racing Yamaha) – 125.087mph
2 Ian Hutchinson (600 Padgetts Honda) – 125.020mph
3 John McGuinness (600 Padgetts Honda) – 123.128mph
4 William Dunlop (600 CD Racing Yamaha) – 122.639mph
5 Conor Cummins (600 McAdoo Kawasaki) – 122.554mph
6 Adrian Archibald (600 AMA Racing Yamaha) – 122.300mph

Royal London 360? Superstock TT
1 Ryan Farquhar (1000 KMR Kawasaki) – 128.076mph
2 Keith Amor (1000 WA Corless/Jackson Racing BMW) – 127.525mph
3 Guy Martin (1000 Wilson Craig Honda) – 127.503mph
4 Ian Lougher (1000 Blackhorse Kawasaki) – 126.216mph
5 Cameron Donald (1000 Relentless by TAS Suzuki) – 126.012mph
6 Michael Rutter (1000 HM Plant Honda) – 125.495mph

With the experimental scheme which allows motorcycles to use bus lanes in London due to end on July 5th, the Motor Cycle Industry Association (MCI) has today called on the Mayor and Transport for London to make the initiative a permanent feature on London's roads.

Allowing motorcycles to use bus lanes helps commuters gain easier access to areas of London without the need to mix with other traffic on certain key routes. This helps to reduce rider vulnerability on the overall road space and improve their visibility. The scheme has led to an increase in motorcycle usage in London, with more miles travelled in 2009 compared to other years. An interim report on the initiative (Nov 2009) noted that the scheme did not impact negatively on bicycle safety and against the expectations of cycle lobbyists, a majority of cyclists were happy to share bus lanes with their motorcycling brethren.

However, motorcyclists need to be aware that they are still vulnerable to cars and other traffic pulling across bus lanes from side roads and MCI is today calling for Transport for London to put greater efforts into publicity and education aimed at making car drivers aware of motorcyclists in bus lanes - in the same way that they do for cycling. Motorcyclists also need to be aware that their speed is important when using bus lanes - too fast and avoiding a car that pulls out becomes more difficult. This is where enforcement and the police-led 'Bikesafe' has a key role to play.

Steve Kenward, MCI's Acting CEO said: "Given that the July deadline is now quite close, we are surprised that the Mayor has been silent about the future of the initiative. We feel that it is important to point out that allowing motorcycles to use bus lanes is a positive step towards improving transport accessibility for London citizens and in demonstrating the positive effect that motorcycling has in reducing traffic congestion and Co2 levels.

"Industry is also saying that TfL has a duty of care to ensure motorcycle safety. In this case, duty of care policy needs to be applied in the same way that it is towards cycling. This means putting more effort into educating both car and motorcycle users about safety and bus lanes. Precisely the same issues affect cyclists in bus lanes and on other London roads... as witnessed by the noticeable increase in cycling casualties (up nearly 8% in 2008) which has occurred since efforts were made to promote cycling in London, but cycles continue to be allowed into bus lanes in recognition of their role as an important transport mode.

"Given that it is clear that cycling has been shown coexist in a safe way with motorcycling in bus lanes, we consider it to be paramount that the positive thinking that is applied to reducing cycling vulnerabilities in bus lanes is also applied to motorcyclists. Safety must not be used once again as an excuse to deny motorcycling equal treatment with cycling. Such a policy would be unbalanced and would actually sustain poor motorcycle safety records and deny Londoners transport choice.

"it is clear that allowing motorcycles to use bus lanes has been a positive step for motorcycling as a whole and a positive step for London, with increases in motorcycle use demonstrating this. However, it is now down to the Mayor and TfL to demonstrate that they are willing to apply a fair hand in how they regard the future of the scheme and focus on motorcycle safety education, awareness and positive 'bill board' publicity in the same way that they do for cycling - anything else would be both grossly unfair and demonstrate unjustifiable bias against motorcycling."