Manx Grand Prix: Michael Dunlop unveils emotive livery used by his late father Robert | Brian McCormack tops Classic Superbike times on Greenhall Kawasaki

Dunlop was second fastest in the opening Lightweight qualifying session at the Manx Grand Prix after completing a single lap in the red and yellow livery of Crossan Motorcycles – the same colours used by his legendary late father Robert when Michael was starting out in his racing career.

The 33-year-old’s standing start lap was 112.611mph, with James Hind – third in the race in 2019 behind Bruce Anstey and Davey Todd – setting the pace at 114.137mph after three laps.

Veteran Ian Lougher was third on the Lay-Law Yamaha ahead of team-mate Mike Browne.

Northern Ireland’s Adam McLean, who was also due to ride a TZ250 Yamaha for the Lay-Law team, is a non-starter.

Dunlop, now a 21-time TT winner following his Supersport double in June, said: “It was a steady first lap and the bike hasn’t been run in about 10 or 12 years.

“We knew we would be quite a bit off with it first time out, and it was over-geared and over-jetted, but it was running okay.

“I just wanted to get a lap under my belt on it and use this as a test run.”

Dunlop, though, was out of luck in the opening Classic Superbike session on the Team Classic Suzuki GSX-R750 SRAD, retiring on his first lap at Greeba Castle.

He will now be looking for a trouble-free run on the machine on Monday evening, when practice is scheduled to continue from 6.20pm.

“It’s Steve Wheatman’s bike and it’s a new project with the Suzuki SRAD,” Dunlop said.

“I had a run on it a few weeks ago at Bishopscourt and it should be a bit more nimble than the XR69.”

Waterford’s Brian McCormack topped the Classic Superbike times at 120.164mph by only one second from his Greenall Racing Kawasaki team-mate Rob Hodson, who lapped at 120.06mph from a standing start.

Hodson was on course for another fast lap when he was forced to stop with a broken exhaust bracket.

McCormack was called into the Greenall team as a late replacement for Derek Sheils, who was unable to take part due to family commitments.

“I’m happy to be here and unfortunately Derek Sheils had to pull out,” McCormack said.

“I was supposed to be doing the British Superbike round at Cadwell Park but I couldn’t say no to an opportunity like this.

“I had a bit of a disaster at the TT so I wanted to come back here.”

Lee Johnston ran into clutch trouble with the Ashcourt Honda RC45, while Paul Jordan was fourth fastest on the Mistral Kawasaki behind Craig Neve (Alasdair Cowan Kawasaki).

David Johnson – the winner in 2019 – was fifth quickest, also riding a Kawasaki for Alasdair Cowan.

John McGuinness (Paton) topped the Senior Classic times at 109.637mph, while Stephen Smith (118.871mph) and Chris Moore (112.778mph) led the way in the Senior and Junior MGP classes respectively.

The session was halted for approximately 40 minutes when a rider crashed on the approach to Union Mills, resulting in a red flag.