Poor weather brought an early end to the Isle of Man TT, with the rescheduled Senior race abandoned after heavy rain forced organisers to stop further racing on Saturday. The four-lap Senior, which had already been moved from Friday, was interrupted after Erno Kostamo crashed at the 11th Milestone on the second lap. Because conditions did not improve and remaining operational windows were deemed unsuitable for safe racing, officials cancelled the rest of the day’s action, including the second Sportbike race.
The Senior race was then declared on first-lap positions, confirming Dean Harrison as the winner ahead of Peter Hickman and Josh Brookes. It marked another weather-hit edition of the event, after last year’s Senior race was also scrapped because of adverse conditions. This year’s schedule has been repeatedly disrupted, with the opening day of racing on May 30 postponed and several other sessions cancelled or shortened.
Clerk of the course Gary Thompson said this had been one of the most difficult TTs in recent years from a weather perspective. He noted that racing could potentially have taken place on nine days during the event, but rain affected seven of them. Thompson said low cloud, rain, standing water and changing conditions across different parts of the Mountain Course severely limited the available racing windows. He added that the challenges were part of an event held on 37.73 miles of public roads, where weather and course conditions can heavily influence what is possible. Thompson also thanked competitors, teams, marshals, volunteers, officials, medical staff, residents, partners and fans for their patience and support during a difficult week.
Organisers said Kostamo remained conscious, stable and talking while receiving treatment for leg and hip injuries following his crash. Jamie Cringle is also conscious, stable and talking after sustaining leg, chest and back injuries in Friday’s Supersport race crash. Michael Evans is reported to be conscious and stable with no serious injuries after coming off his bike at Braddan Oak during the Sportbike race.
The abandoned Senior race brought a frustrating close to a TT week dominated by rain, delays and limited track time, with safety concerns ultimately overriding hopes of completing more racing.
