Clear blue skies and sunshine on Monday evening meant the 2014 Isle of Man TT Races, fuelled by Monster Energy, got underway at last and Bruce Anstey set the pace at 127.473mph just edging out fellow Honda rider John McGuinness whose best lap was 126.355mph.

Action around the Mountain Course commenced at 18.25 with the newcomers completing their controlled laps after the cancellation of Saturday’s session. Richard Quayle led the first group of three away, Peter Hickman, Laurent Hoffmann and Martin Jessopp, followed by the recently retired Ian Lougher with Phil Crowe, Vick de Cooremeter and Alan Bonner, and finally John Barton with Danny Webb, Dan Kruger and Callum Laidlaw for company.

Shortly before 7pm it was the turn of the ‘big boys’ with William and Michael Dunlop leading the field away followed by Michael Rutter and Guy Martin, Dan Kneen and James Hillier, Ian Mackman and Josh Brookes, David Johnson and Steve Mercer and Lee Johnston and Ian Hutchinson. All were on their Superbike machines with the exception of William Dunlop and Mackman  who opted for their Superstock mounts.

McGuinness left the line in the 11th pairing but two men who ran into trouble on their opening laps were Martin who was soon back in the pits and going out on his Superstock machine and Dan Stewart who wasn’t so fortunate, being stuck out at Douglas Road Corner, Kirk Michael for the session.

Michael Dunlop was the first man to complete a lap at 125.265 followed by brother William (122.461), Rutter (122.789) and Kneen (123.580). McGuinness was on the pace at 123.641 as was Gary Johnson, who left the line mid-pack, at 124.513.

Second time around and McGuinness and Anstey went top of the timesheets at 126.355 and 126.299, the duo circulating in close formation, with Johnson also going quicker than his opening lap at 125.686. The newcomers were also picking up their speed on their second official laps, Jessopp on 109.674 and Hickman 109.039.

With conditions remaining perfect, save for a few reported damp patches at Stella Maris and Ramsey Hairpin, the riders were taking full advantage and getting in their full quota of laps.  Anstey made the most of the opportunity, increasing his pace slightly to 126.513mph on his third lap before putting in a late flyer of 127.473mph to go comfortably clear on the opening night

McGuinness remained second on the leaderboard followed by Johnson, William Dunlop (125.400), Michael Dunlop (125.335) and Rutter (124.740). Impressive laps continued to be posted by the newcomers, none more so than Hickman whose lap of 115.103 was the quickest ever by a debutante on their opening night of practice. Fellow BSB rider Jessopp wasn’t too far behind on 113.293 but sandwiched in between was Belgian Hoffmann on 113.354.

The Dunlop brothers topped the Superstock times, Michael’s lap of 123.239 seeing him seven seconds clear of William at 122.461. Aussie David Johnson and Austrian Horst Saiger made it an International top four while Gary Johnson was quickest in the Supersport class after a late lap of 122.619mph, a solid start for the Smiths Triumph concern.

The solo session finished at 20.05 and, with their newcomer laps safely completed at the beginning of the evening, the Formula Two Sidecars first official session was soon up and running with Dave Molyneux/Patrick Farrance, Ben and Tom Birchall and John Holden/Andy Winkle first away.

Molyneux was first back, and comfortably quickest, at 112.278 followed by the Birchalls (108.690), Karl Bennett/Lee Cain (107.452), Frank Lelias/Paul Knapton (107.035), Gary Bryan/Jamie Winn (105.835) and Conrad Harrison/Mike Aylott (105.366). Tim Reeves, on a DMR outfit for the first time and with Frenchman Gregory Cluze for the first time since 2012, had a steady opening lap of 103.766.

Molyneux and Farrance really upped the pace on their second lap with a speed of 114.350, their quickest opening night speed ever, whilst the Birchalls quickened their tempo also with a 110mph+ lap. Equally impressive was the lap by the father and son pairing of Ian and Carl Bell, a speed of 107.254mph placing them fourth on the leaderboard while Carl Fenwick/Phil Knapton (106.532) slotted into sixth behind Lelias.

Tony Thirkell/Nigel Barlow were reported to have had an incident at Sulby Bridge and while Thirkell was unhurt, Barlow was taken by airmed to Nobles Hospital with reported ankle injuries.

Despite the earlier optimistic predictions of the meteorological centre, TT Races Clerk of the Course Gary Thompson was forced to cancel tonight's first scheduled practice for the 2014 Isle of Man TT Races fuelled by Monster Energy at 18.25 shortly after it was due to start due to heavy rain on the Isle of Man.

This means that Monday's schedule has been amended to accommodate the solo and sidecar newcomer's laps. 

The revised schedule will see the solo newcomers speed controlled untimed laps away at 18.15 with the sidecar newcomers starting their first lap at 18.30.

Monday's session will then run as planned from 18.45 with a full solo session for Superbike, Superstock and Supersport machines and a sidecar qualifying session from 19.55.

Clerk of the Course Gary Thompson said: "It's unfortunate but the conditions were not conducive to any laps on the course this evening so the only sensible course of action was to cancel the session.  I'm conscious that the Lightweight machines have lost time at this stage and I'll be looking to make it up ahead of their race on Friday week."     

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The 2014 Isle of Man TT Races fuelled by Monster Energy gets underway this evening (Saturday 24th) and as is now a well-established practice the newcomers are first away for their speed-controlled lap.

High profile riders to look out for include Danny Webb, Martin Jessopp and Peter Hickman who are scheduled to get their first closed road lap of the course shortly after 18.20 (GMT). Sidecar newcomers will also get their first Mountain Course laps in when their speed controlled lap gets away at 18.35. Experienced ex-competitor Ian Lougher, a ten time TT race winner, and TT rider liaison officers John Barton and Richard 'Milky' Quayle are due to show the riders round.

Tonight's timed session is due to start at 18.50 with the Lightweight class. Interest is undoubtedly growing in the SuperTwin class, which was introduced in 2012. The returning Keith Amor and Ryan Farquhar, representing Farquhar's SGS International/KMR Kawasaki outfit get their first Mountain Course laps for three and two years respectively, while the newcomers across all classes will also get their first chance of an officially timed lap in the same session.

James Hillier, Michael Rutter, Gary Johnson, Guy Martin, Dean Harrison, Lee Johnson, Michael Dunlop and Ivan Lintin, who has the honour of carrying the number 1 plate in the Lightweight class, are all expected to be race win contenders and will be looking to get some quality laps under their belts.

The sidecar qualifying session will then begin at 19.55 and it will be the first chance to see how the change back to open regulations is going to affect the lap times. Sixteen time race winner Dave Molyneux and his passenger Patrick Farrance are the pre- race favourites but last year's winners Tim Reeves, with passenger Greg Cluze and the Birchalls will be keen to establish their credentials although there'll be missing from tonight's action due to contesting the World Championship round at Donington Park.

John Holden and Andy Winkle, popular winners in 2011, the returning 2003 champion Ian Bell, racing with son Carl, and Conrad Harrison/Mike Aylott are also expected to feature high up on the qualifying leader board.

Monday's session, again due to start at 18.20, will feature the Supersport, Superstock and Superbikes for the first time of the 2014 festival and attention will undoubtedly be focused on the appearances of Michael Dunlop on his factory backed BMW and the start of his head to head with Honda Racing rider John McGuinness, the latter eager to prove his fitness after his recent wrist injury. The leading pair will both be looking to put down early markers in the Superbike class after their respective Dainese Superbike and PokerStars Senior TT wins last year.

Other contenders due out for their first laps on Monday include Milwaukee Yamaha rider Ian Hutchinson, who returns to the Mountain Course after missing the 2013 meeting, Tyco Suzuki's William Dunlop, fresh from his Superbike race win at the North West 200, Bruce Anstey and McGuinness's Honda Racing teammate Conor Cummins.

You can keep up to date with all the on track action via the iomtt.com's live timing service or via the TT App and you can also listen live worldwide via Manx Radio TT's on-line commentary.

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Spanish rider Javier Orellana won today’s fourth-round Pata European Junior Cup race at Donington Park in the UK today, winning his first race of the season after another epic battle on board Honda’s CBR500R machine.

Orellana beat Belgian Angelo Licciardi to the chequered flag by 0.719s after 10 laps of the 4.023km Donington Park circuit in a support race to the fifth round of the World Superbike championship.

Another Spaniard, Augusto Fernandez, finished third today, just one tenth of a second behind Licciardi, but retaining his championship lead thanks to victories in the last two rounds at Assen in the Netherlands and Imola in Italy.

Local rider Josh Harland took pole position for today’s race but crashed out of contention on lap two. The 19-year-old was taken for a precautionary medical check but expects to be fit for round five in four weeks’ time.

There were no fewer than four riders who crossed the line in the lead at various stages of today’s race, but there were plenty of other lead changes too. Swedish rider Jesper Hubner was among the leading group until he crashed out of the race with just four laps to go.

“It was another fantastic race on the CBR500Rs,” said Orellana after the race, “and I am very happy to take my first win after finishing second in two races already this season. Now we are halfway through the championship so I must work hard to stay at the front for the second half of the season.”

The 2014 Pata European Junior Cup powered by Honda will re-assemble at Misano in Italy for round five of the series on 20-22 June.

Pata European Junior Cup, powered by Honda Racing – round four

Donington Park, United Kingdom – result (ten laps):

1 Javier Orellana (ESP)

2 Angelo Licciardi (BEL)

3 Augusto Fernandez (ESP)

4 Illan Fernandez (ESP)

5 Mike Perez (ESP)

6 Marc Miralles (ESP)

7 Jamie van Sikkeleru (NED)

8 Connor London (NZL)

9 Alex Wisdom (USA)

10 Carmen Geissler (SUI)

Championship points after four of eight rounds:

1 A Fernandez 79, 2 Orellana 73, 3 Miralles 63, 4 Hubner 40, 5 Licciardi 34, 6 I Fernandez 34, 7 Perez 33, 8 Harland 27, 9 Grassia 27, 10 London 26

Next round: Misano, Italy – 20-22 June

MELANDRI, FOURTH IN RACE 1, CRASHES DUE TO CONTACT IN RACE 2 WHILST BATTLING IN THE TOP POSITIONS.

Donington (UK), 25 May 2014 – A nice third place for Sylvain Guintoli closes out the weekend for Aprilia Racing at Donington in the English round of World Superbike. With this result the Frenchman stays in the top part of the championship standings at 11 points from second place and 37 from the leader. It was a shame that during the first race while duelling with Baz he ran straight on and was relegated to a seventh place finish.

Sylvain Guintoli: "Race 1 did not go as I had hoped. I started off well, pushing hard, but then I wasn’t able to keep the pace and I was really struggling. Then the team did a great job for Race 2. The bike changed a lot and my pace improved compared to the first race. I pushed hard to get away from Davide Giugliano but I wasn’t able to keep up with the two front runners. Anyway, this podium, on a track that is certainly not one of my favourites, tastes like victory to me".

Marco Melandri, after finishing Race 1 in fourth place, seemed better in the second race and even able to battle for one of the top positions. A good start (from the third spot on the front row of the grid) had him duelling for first place with team mate Guintoli. However, in the fourth lap contact with Lowes, who came from behind and bumped him full on, forced him into a crash, taking him out of play. Marco courageously made up positions but only after a long stop which relegated him to the bottom of the final standings.

Marco Melandri: "I can’t help but be disappointed. In Race 1 I struggled to go fast, but in Race 2 I’m sure I could have taken a spot on the podium because with the changes we made the conditions were a lot better. Unfortunately things didn’t go well and it wasn’t my fault. On the positive side we collected some important information about how to adapt the bike to my riding style. Now I just want to take things one race at a time, trying to improve constantly so I can get the good results that I know I am capable of".