With Thursday night practice fogged off for the first time in many years, times from Tuesday’s damp and misty conditions determined the grid which saw ‘yer maun’ circulate at an average of 114.7mph on his debut for both the Paul Bird team and on a vee twin four stroke machine.

"It’s disappointing for everyone but there’s no way we could race tonight" said Joey. "Hopefully it will be OK for Saturday but I’m happy enough to be in Pole" continued Dunlop, who will also ride the same bike at the TT next month.

Dunlop has not won a race at his home circuit for twelve years and a win for the famous yellow helmet would send the anticipated 150,000 crowd absolutely wild.

Sixth fastest on his Superbike debut was 26 year old Morecambe rider, John McGuinness who despite problems with undergearing was reasonably happy with his progress.

"Conditions on Tuesday were far from ideal so I had a few things to try tonight. It’s a steep learning curve and we could have done without tonight’s practice being cancelled but we’ll sort it and I hope to be there or thereabouts come the races" said McGuinness.

Indeed, McGuinness is one of the favourites for the 250cc race and is hoping to claim his first win on the Portrush/Portstewart/Coleraine triangle but problems in practice hindered his progress on Tuesday as he explained.

"The engine just lost power and then it seized. I can’t understand it because we thought we were safe with the jetting. It shouldn’t be a problem but again a few laps tonight would have been good so we may have to test it somewhere tomorrow now" said the reigning 250cc British Champion.

Team Boss Paul Bird jetted in for the practice session and was disappointed for his team.

"The mechanics have been flat out working on the bikes and it’s difficult for them at times like this. We’ll try to get it sorted tomorrow but it’s excellent for Honda and all our sponsors, Joey on pole is just fantastic" said the Penrith businessman.