Hot foot from the Dutch Grand Prix at Assen the previous weekend, Harry Payne and Mark Wilkes lined up at Jurby the Sunday before last.

It could well have been a star-filled grid for the Andreas Racing Association sidecar class as originally the Crowe brothers and Dave Molyneux were also set to appear.

Moly and new passenger Daryl Gibson had an issue with their 890 KTM twin on the Dyno, while Ryan and Callum - having also completed the previous day’s track session - decided not to risk their new LCR 600 Honda in the damp conditions.

Payne and Wilkes were surprisingly turned away at scrutineering because their contracted Bilmola crash helmets - provided by a French supplier - did not carry the necessary ACU-approved Gold sticker. [They required written permission from the French authorities to use them in an ACU event].

While they also pondered over whether to race or not after persistent rain earlier in the day, conditions suddenly cleared and vapour rose from the main runway as the track swiftly dried out during the dinner break.

Wearing their spare Arai helmets, they fired the Yamaha up and completed the two warm-up laps.

They were initially led by Mike Jackson and teenager Jake Roberts for a couple of laps of the race until Payne became confident enough with the adhesion to let rip.

They ultimately won what was former world champion Wilkes’s first race on the 1.7-mile track. It was a good bedding-in session for the pair on the short-wheel based DAO1886 outfit they will campaign in the TT.

Later, they upped their pace significantly to also win race two from Jackson and Roberts, this time by a margin of 21s.

Craig Melvin and Stuart Christian finished third in race one on a borrowed outfit, while Dave Quirk and Karl Schofield were third in race two.

While the sidecar races were interesting to say the least, for once the number of finishers surpassed those of the solos in both Centre championship events.

Ryan Cringle, who had earlier ridden the opening race of the motocross meeting at nearby Ballagarraghyn, won both at a canter from Rory Parker. Marc Colvin was third in race one, with reigning champion Jamie Cringle fourth on his 600cc Honda after a problematic start when Illy Quayle’s 959cc Ducati v-twin suffered an electrical defect, boxing him in.

Problem sorted, Quayle finished second in race two, narrowly ahead of Colvin.

Riding his sibling’s 675cc Triumph, Ryan Cringle won both 600 events - the opening one from Quayle. Jamie Cringle followed his brother home in the other, three seconds down, with Colvin, Matt Mylchreest and restricted licence holder Matt Davies completing the top five.

Quayle and Colvin won a race apiece in events one and eight, for Singles, Twins and Triples, the latter in the Post-Classic category on the ZXR750 Kawasaki belonging to Dale Fordham that he will ride in the forthcoming Pre-TT Classic.

The opening novice/clubman race was a cracker with several leaders and a very close call for the runner-up spot between Mark Raine and Matt Davies.

Race one winner Taylor Shipton of Onchan was removed from the results in race two for an infringement of the ACU Handbook. He was second across the line behind Davies, elevating Luke Blevins up one place.

Brian Moffitt scored a double over veteran campaigner Norman Kneen in the popular new addition for 500cc four-strokes.

Kneen took the early jump in race one, but Moffitt bided his time patiently to nip past with a couple of corners to go.

Paul Cassidy scored a double success in the pre-Injection 600cc class on his Greens Racing Steelie, beating the Kawasaki 650 twins of Colvin and Dave Moffitt in each instance.

Paul Metcalfe was the leading 250cc stroker on his high-pitched 250cc Aprilia.