By The 2012 senior Manx Grand Prix began in reasonable conditions all round. It was Wayne Kirwan on the Crossan motorcycles backed R6 Yamaha who hit the front early on and from there maintained a solid pace over his challengers for race lead.
But as the final lap of the race approached conditions deteriorated greatly with rain getting heavier as the final lap went on. This meant that Kirwan’s lead out front was not as secure as it seemed previously, Dennis Booth who has competed at the Manx Grand Prix for many years produced a charge on lap 4 to take the lead.
Dennis was pulling away but then he fell out of contention, this meant that Wayne Kirwan was still in contention for doing the double junior Manx Grand Prix/senior Manx Grand Prix wins. John Simpson on the Splitlath Redmond motorsport backed 675 Daytona Triumph was getting closer and closer to the front and soon was in the lead of the race, the third different leader on lap 4.
Runner up in the newcomers A race Andrew Soar was also on a charge and was soon battling over a position in the top three. As the closing stages of the final lap entered its conclusion it was John Simpson still out front but Andrew Soar was fast reeling him in as both riders where nearing the end of lap 4.
As John Simpson crossed the line he had to wait to see if he had being victorious in this dramatic senior Manx Grand Prix race for 2012, Andrew Soar produced a lap speed of over 103 mph in difficult conditions as he crossed the line but it was not enough as he just lost out on victory by two seconds.
John Simpson was amazed to have the 2012 senior Manx Grand Prix, made even more remarkable this result given this was John’s first year of competing at the Manx. Andrew Soar despite missing out on victory showcased his huge potential with a fine ride to second place, the first two positions in the race where both occupied by Manx Grand Prix newcomers.
Wayne Kirwan finished in third place to round off a top week of racing for him which saw him take a brilliant junior Manx Grand Prix win, Ross Johnson finished in a good fourth place, Andy Lovett was fifth, Paul Smyth sixth, Stephen Harper seventh, Carl Roberts eighth, Andy Lawson ninth and Alan Jackson competing on a Moriwaki was tenth.
In a race which saw the newcomers to the Manx Grand Prix in 2012 star there was many stand out performances throughout including Darren French finishing in 13th position and Adrian Harrison finishing in 19th position on the Printing roller services backed CBR 600 Honda. Overall a quite incredible race which will long live in the memory as seeing one of the most dramatic final laps of a senior Manx Grand Prix race in recent years.
