Death of John Goodall casts a pall over MGP
The tragic death of MGP stalwart John Goodall marred the first day's racing at MGP 2008. Brothers Ryan and Daniel kneen won the Newcomers' Races; Ryan Farquhar won his second consecutive Senior Classic Race.
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 After a wait of 6 hours and 15 minutes racing at the 2008 Manx Grand Prix started with the Newcomers’ A and C class races. The weather was still far from ideal with cloud scudding across the sky and intermittent light showers causing the rain flags to be displayed at many points around the course. Due to the delay in starting the organisers had to cut the race distance from 4 laps to 2. The honour of starting proceedings fell to Ivan Lintin and James Redpath; on their 750cc Suzukis. Next away were pre-race favourite Ryan Kneen 600c Suzuki and Kevin Fitzpatrick 750cc Suzuki. At the first commentary point at Glen Helen the leader on the road was Lintin; but on corrected time it was Kneen who led by 4.3s from Lintin; with Redpath third, a further 4.4 seconds in arrears. In the smaller capacity C race the leader at the popular vantage point at Glen Helen was Honda mounted Michael Sweeney; from Daniel Kneen (Honda) and James Redpath. At Ballaugh it was the Ryan Kneen’s Rizla Suzuki that led on the road from Lintin; on corrected time Kneen led by 11.8s. Third on the road and on corrected was Redpath, who seemed unfazed by the damp road and produced one of the best leaps of the day over the bridge. In the C class Sweeney’s lead was 5.9s as he jumped the famous bridge and charged through the village on towards Ballacrye. At Ramsey Hairpin, Kneen led by 16.2s as they started the mountain climb in fairly dismal conditions; with light rain falling and low cloud reducing visibility. Redpath remained in third 5 seconds down on Lintin. In Class C Michael Sweeney continued to lead; however it was not to be his day; he slid off at the Mountain Box; gifting the lead to Kneen and promoting Derek Costello to second. Sweeney escaped with a minor leg injury from his spill. Not so lucky were David Hockham who suffered rib, arm and back injuries when he crashed at Rhencullen and Les Vallender who injured ribs and a shoulder when he fell at Graham’s Memorial. In Class A, Lintin was quicker than Kneen over the mountain section; the lead was just 10.6s as they crossed the line to begin the second lap. Redpath remained in third some 18s down on Lintin. In class C, the elder of the Kneen brothers continued to lead from Costello. All that Ryan Kneen had to do was to stay ahead of, or close behind Lintin and the A race would be his on corrected time due to the 10s starting interval. At Glen Helen, Kneen led by 11.5s; whilst at Ballaugh it was 13.7s as they jumped the bridge on roads that were now almost completely dry. Redpath put in a spectacular leap and continued to hold third; 13.4s down on Lintin. In class C Daniel Kneen had a commanding lead; but it was from Ian Whitlow (Suzuki 650cc twin cylinder) who had overtaken Costello on the roads and led him by 34.3s on corrected time as they jumped the bridge at Ballaugh. Kneen led Class A by 11s at Ramsey but a quicker run over the mountain saw him take the chequered flag by 21s from Lintin; with Redpath completing the podium placings. History was duly made when Daniel Kneen crossed the line to win class C; the first time that brothers had won Newcomers’ Races in the same year. Ian Whitlow held onto second; but Colin Martin snatched 3rd place from Costello, who had problems on the final lap. The riders put on good show in what were very mixed conditions and not an ideal introduction to racing on the TT Course. With the number of entrants continuing to fall the future of the Newcomers’ Races must be in some doubt. Newcomers’ Class A 1. Ryan Kneen 600 Suzuki 103.973mph 2. Ivan Lintin 750 Suzuki 103.144mph 3. James Redpath 750 Suzuki 102.073mph 4. Kevin Fitzpatrick 750 Suzuki 101.059mph 5. James Shipley 600 Yamaha 97.366mph 6. Damien Gledhill 600 Kawasaki 97.201mph Newcomers’ Class C 1. Daniel Kneen 400 Honda 96.517mph 2. Ian Whitlow 650 Suzuki 91.911mph 3. Colin Martin 400 Honda 91.065mph The next race was the eagerly awaited Senior Classic Race for which a quality field of riders and machinery had been assembled. Italian exotica in the form of the gorgeous looking and sounding MV 3 of Gary Johnson and the twin cylinder Patons of last year’s winner Ryan Farquhar; the 2006 runner-up Steve Linsdell and Andy Reynolds were a major point of interest throughout practice. The cutting of the race distance to 3 laps meant that these machines should be able to complete the race distance without the need to re-fuel; something that they would have to do over the full 4 laps originally scheduled. Despite this, tough competition was expected from the Honda twins and the single cylinder British and Italian machinery. The race was barely minutes old when tragedy struck. John Goodall; winner of the first Senior Classic race in 1983; an ever present competitor since then and winner of 40 Manx Grand Prix replicas was involved in an accident at Ballacraine. He was taken to hospital by helicopter; but sadly he has succumbed to his injuries. An eloquent tribute has been paid to John by The Hon. David Cretney, formerly the IOM Tourism Minister; David highlighted just how good a rider John was and how much enjoyment John derived from competing. The Manx Grand Prix will be very much the poorer for John’s absence. We offer our deepest sympathy to John’s family and friends. The race proved to be very tough on machinery with several of the fancied riders being forced out of contention. With the roads drying quickly as the weather improved markedly, the riders still had to be watchful for damp patches under trees etc. Ryan Farquhar said that he was unsure of how his tyres would perform in the mixed conditions, so eased his way into the race. At the first commentary point it was Gary Johnson on the MV Agusta who had the lead on corrected time, by 6.3s from Ryan Farquhar, who in turn had an advantage of 9s over Norton mounted Alan Oversby. At Ballaugh our watch had Johnson 6.9s ahead of Farquhar, who made his normal nose first landing at the bridge. We had Tony Myers in 4th place on his Manx Norton; Steve Linsdell 5th and Alan Brew 6th. Mark Parrett was well down on corrected time; he was suffering machine problems that caused his retirement at the end of the lap. Another early retirement was Bill Swallow, whose Aermacchi failed to reach Glen Helen. The crowd at Ballaugh was treated to some excellent action as the riders negotiated the hump backed bridge and then accelerated away towards Sulby. The best leap was provided by newcomer Fernando Mendes on his BSA. At the head of events, Johnson continued to eke out his advantage on the mountain climb; a slide at the Gooseneck causing Farquhar to ease his pace a little. However; it was not to be Johnson’s day, a fuel problem caused him to park the MV in the pits. Steve Linsdell’s race was also over after just one lap, he too parked his machine in pit lane. This left Farquhar with a lead of 11s from Oversby; with Myers a further 37s behind. Farquhar stretched his advantage as the second lap progressed; at Glen Helen it was 26.3s and at Ballaugh it was 28.9s. Myers was missing at Ballaugh; this moved Roy Richardson (Honda) up to 3rd 58s down on Oversby and local man Alan Brew moved into 4th place just 6.8s behind Richardson on our watch. Myers was perfectly OK; machine problems had forced him out at Westwood. Another retirement was Chris McGahan (Honda); his foot came off the rest as he landed after jumping Ballaugh Bridge and he very nearly lost control. It appeared that he had oil on his boot; in any event he parked the machine on the exit to the village. With a led of 33s at Ramsey, Farquhar was able to ease his pace over the mountain and conserve fuel. At the end of the lap he led Oversby by 27s. Alan Brew had taken 3rd place, just 2.1s ahead of Roy Richardson. Richardson was beginning to encounter machine problems and subsequently retired at Glen Darragh; leaving Brew comfortably placed. Farquhar rode to his boards on the final lap keeping his lead fairly constant; it was 23.9s at Ballaugh; but he eased over the mountain and finished in company with Oversby; but 20.4s ahead on corrected time. Brew maintained his 3rd place; his advantage over Wattie Brown was 34.1s as they leapt the bridge for the final time. A fine ride gave Andy Reynolds 5th place; with Bob Price the second of the Seeley G50 finishers in 6th. Chris Swallow had an eventful day; he slid off at the Bungalow; remounted only to be black flagged at the pits. Initially he was told that he would not be allowed to continue; but after a check up with a doctor he was given permission to continue. After being credited with the time lost, he secured 8th place on his Ducati. The first 10 finishers secured a coveted replica. Senior Classic Race 1. Ryan Farquhar Paton 102.385mph 2. Alan Oversby Norton 101.863mph 3. Alan Brew Seeley 99.367mph 4. Wattie Brown Norton 98.118mph 5. Andy Reynolds Paton 97.152mph 6. Bob Price Seeley 96.890mph 7. Ken Davis Norton 95.948mph 8. Chris Swallow Ducati 95.664mph 9. Mark Herbertson Seeley 95.272mph 10 Dave Madsen-Mygdal Honda 95.209mph
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