Heavy rain brought proceedings for the Ulster Grand Prix to an early end today and with torrential rain falling, and showing no signs of easing up, it also meant the Dundrod 150 races have had to be abandonedy.

The rain started falling around 2.20pm during the early stages of the final qualifying session - for the Superstock class - where speeds plummeted almost immediately. Dean Harrison managed a lap of 110.929mph on the RC Express Racing Kawasaki but the speeds for the second and third quickest riders - Guy Martin at 100.458 and Fabrice Miguet at 93.888 - were indicative of the worsening conditions and the session was soon red flagged with the hope the rain would pass.

Sadly, the opposite occurred and the next two hours saw torrential rain fall and mist on the hills form. Visibility was significantly reduced whilst standing water lay all around the 7.4-mile course and with the weather forecast predicting further rainfall over the next few hours, organisers had little option but to cancel the remainder of the schedule.

Everyone will now be keeping their fingers crossed for the 6-race Ulster GP schedule on Saturday where roads are due to close at 9.30am. The weather forecast does not look promising though.......