Damp conditions for Tuesday's practice session
An hour before roads were set to close for Tuesday evening’s scheduled practice session - the second timed session of the 2008 Isle of Man TT - conditions were looking dismal.
With drizzle falling, overcast skies and the possibility of low cloud over the Mountain section of the world-famous TT course, it was uncertain whether the planned session would go ahead.
Rain stopped 25 minutes before the road closure, but there was still mist to contend with - albeit with reports the low-lying cloud was lifting.
With the session start approaching just one solo machine had appeared for scrutineering, a number of riders having already decided to take the night off because of the weather.
After the roads closed at 6pm, the Travelling Marshal set off for an inspection lap before a decision was taken on what would happen with the session.
By 6.30pm only a handful of solo machines had been through the technical check-in and Gary Johnson, whose machine had been brought to scrutineering, had decided against going out.
It was announced the solos would go out at 7pm for a single lap, then the sidecar outfits would be able to take to the track at 7.45pm.
Andy Laidlow’s outfit was the first sidecar to appear in the pit lane.
The depleted field of solos, missing stars like John McGuinness, left the TT Grandstand in Douglas promptly at 7pm.
Bud Jackson was the first of just six to set off, including the final 2008 newcomer who was having his first closed roads experience of the circuit behind experienced competitor John Barton.
At the Unisys speed trap in Sulby Dave Madsen-Mygdal reached 127.3mph, but the figures was raised to 134.5mph by Greg Lambert.
All six of the solo competitors arrived back at the Grandstand safely after their single circuit, with Jackson taking 26m 56.06s to complete his lap, an average speed of 87.290mph.
The first of the sidecars to leave was the outfit of Roy Hanks and Dave Wells, which was followed by reigning World Champions Tim Reeves and Patrick Farrance.
Hanks and Wels were first back and pulled in having done the lap at 88.748mph despite picking up a puncture on the way.
Reeves and Farrance lapped at an average speed of 89.6mph, and continued for a second circuit. This time the pair raised the average speed to 94.006mph.
Keith Walter and Alun Thomas also burst through the 90mph-plus mark, recording a flying lap at an average speed of 93.359mph.
After changing the punctured tyre, Hanks and Well went out for a second lap, which was completed at an average of 93.252mph.
The next practice session is schedule for Wednesday evening, but the weather forecast suggests conditions may, once again, be far from ideal.
Meanwhile, some users of the subscription service TT Live! experienced some problems during Tuesday evening’s session.
The service had suffered significant problems during Monday’s practice and the team behind TT Live! worked throughout the day to rectify the issues.
A spokesman said that work had improved the situation, but users were hit by further problems on Tuesday which were beyond the control of the TT Live! team.
The spokesman said:
'Following the problems of last night, we can assure you we had a serious and detailed look at how we could address a number of issues that occurred which were both inside and outside of our control.’
'We believe the service tonight was much improved. Unfortunately, the system is a complex one, which involves more than Duke Marketing, who are responsible for the running of the iomtt.com site.’
‘Tonight, we were unfortunate enough to experience issues with the communications from our supplier which were beyond our control. This includes a faulty timing loop at Ramsey Hairpin and a delay in receiving data from the TT Grandstand.’
‘I hope you can appreciate that we are very keen to address users’ concerns with regards our service level, but cannot directly affect issues beyond our immediate systems.’
If you are experiencing problems with TT Live! email ttlivehelp@iomtt.com and to find out more about TT Live! visit the TT Live! page.