Bournemouth Kawasaki's James Hillier was first to leave the line in Tuesday evening's practice session but only got as far as Braddan Bridge before having to pull off the course due to the radiator cap coming loose and spraying him with water. A spectator loaned him a CT125 road bike and he rode back to the pits, via the Douglas promenade, before resuming the session on his Superstock bike.

Newcomer Jimmy Storrar was another to experience problems. After putting in two laps on the DP Coldplaning Superstock Honda, the second at a very impressive 115.75mph, he went out on the Supersport machine but a broken chain left him stuck out at Glen Helen for the remainder of the evening.

When Ian Hutchinson struck one of the huge seagulls that circle the Grandstand at close to 170mph on Monday evening, everyone assumed the bird would have been obliterated. However, it turned out to be very much alive although with one wing severely damaged, it was unable to fly. One of the TT events team scooped the seagull up, put it in a box and promptly took it to nearest RSPCA unit.

John Holden/Andy Winkle failed to complete a lap on both Saturday and Monday due to overheating problems with their new LCR Kawasaki. They made it round on Tuesday at just under 109mph to go 4th fastest.

After two night's practice on the GSXR600 Suzuki, Michael Dunlop switched to a new R6 for Tuesday night. Supplied by former sponsor Gary Ryan, the bike features some parts from his 2011 machine, and he was immediately on the pace lapping at 124.65mph, only fractions behind brother William who did 124.77mph.

The Tyco Suzuki riders, Guy Martin and Conor Cummins, have yet to go out on their Supersport machines and whilst their rivals put in two laps yesterday evening on their 600cc mounts, the team packed up and went back to the hotel.

Last year's second race winner Gary Johnson did go out on his 600cc Honda but handling problems kept him down the leaderboard.