Fans lap up the nostalgia at Barry Sheene Classic on Saturday before rain wipes out Sunday action

The scene was set for a stunning race weekend mixed with parades and displays of expensive and special classic bikes from across the country, and although the assembled fans saw plenty of racing action and nostalgia on Saturday, heavy rain and fog called off Sunday’s action.

The paddock filled on Friday under a cloud of grey and spotted showers.

Saturday morning saw bikes on track as scheduled for 9am with warm-ups and qualifying.

Oliver’s Mount Racing’s Andy Hayes said “It’s great to see classic bikes and sidecars at the Mount again, in the mix with the usual array of modern bikes too.

"The classic bikes represent the great two and three-wheeled action that has taken place at Oliver’s Mount since 1946, but it’s also great to see the modern bikes in close racing action too.”

With practice complete, qualifying was soon completed with pole positions for: Gary McCoy (SuperTwins & SuperSport); Kelly Carruthers (400cc); Liam McPherson (CB500); Will Pickering (SuperMono); Tony Flinton (Classic 2-Stroke); Rob Hodson (Classic 4-Stroke); Don Gilbert (Classic Superbike); Dave Molyneux (F2 Sidecar) and Adam Pope (Classic Sidecar).

Hayes added: "We were straight into racing after the lunch break with the SuperTwins first race of the day Gary McCoy led start to finish with a best lap of 2:06.342 took his first win of the weekend ahead of Toby Shann and Kevin Barsby with Tommy Downes unable to hold onto his third place starting position."

Classics and Lightweights were next on track Kelly Carruthers took the win, Liam McPherson maintained his second place round the five laps with Ricky Martin taking third.

Next up on track was the public bike parade which was the perfect opportunity to make some amazing memories riding around this iconic track under closed conditions with full marshal and medical cover.

Race Three of the day was the SuperSport and Gary McCoy's second win of the day, followed closely by Mike Norbury and Don Gilbert.

The sidecars were up next for their first race of Saturday, Dave Molyneux took the win from Carl Fenwick and The Ramsden pairing.

The Classic Superbikes race duly followed where Norbury of Team York Suzuki pipped Gilbert for the win with a best lap time of 2:00.381. Reigning Classic Manx GP winner Rob Hodson rounded out the top three.

Unfortunately due to less-than-ideal conditions for such unique pieces of history the decision was taken to postpone the classic bike parade with the plan of them making it on track during Sunday's racing.

SuperTwins were on track next for their second race of the day, which allowed Gary McCoy to repeat his win of earlier in the day, in front of Toby Shann and Tommy Downes.

The Classics and Lightweights were back out next and Don Gilbert took his first win of the weekend after a second and third earlier in the day. Kelly Carruthers had to settle for second ahead of Ricky Martin.

The RST SuperSport bikes were out with Norbury on a flyer to take the win from McCoy with the fastest lap time of 1:56.109, Don Gilbert took the third spot.

It was a repeat of race four in race nine as Molyneux took the win again ahead of Fenwick and the Ramsdens.

The final race of the day was the Classic Superbikes and another chance for Mike Norbury to shine this time ahead of Gilbert and Joe Yeardsley with the fastest lap time of 1:59.229 in less-than-ideal conditions.

This weekend saw the continuation of the rider chat shows, this time with living legends Steve Parrish, Trevor Nation and Ian Simpson all sharing stories of their own racing experiences along with discussing helicopter flights with Barry Sheene and cross country riding. Dave Dearden also chatted about the upcoming SuperMoto event at Oliver’s Mount over August Bank Holiday weekend. This led into an evening of live music for a packed-out tent from Halo and Fiery Biscuits.

Sadly Sunday was not meant to be, as the wet weather had its effect on the Oliver’s Mount meeting.

Organisers delayed the final decision as long as possible, but with the heavy rain and fog showing no signs of letting up, the decision was reluctantly taken at 1.40pm to call the remainder of the meeting off on rider safety grounds, following a series of circuit inspections throughout the day.

Oliver’s Mount Racing director Andy Hayes said: “We are deeply disappointed to bring the weekend to a premature end, but the weather has been very unlike July and has been against us all weekend.

"We are very sorry that the riders and spectators won’t get to enjoy all the great things we had lined up for them this weekend, but our thanks and gratitude goes out to all that endured the unseasonable conditions, especially the marshals that remained on post for much of the day in very challenging conditions in the hope we could all get something from the day.

"We hope for much better weather for our upcoming events in August and September.”