Jurby South Road Races - Saturday, 12th July 2003

Tipped up to Jurby in the M.Benz in glorious sunshine, and parked next to my trusty spannerman, Stuey, who was already there…… instead of erecting the awning, we positioned the vans to act as a wind break and it did the job…… fantastic.

Got the bikes through scrutineering, and had all the necessary done and the numbers changed back to my club number, which was No3…… Had 3 races today, two on the big Suzuki (races 1 & 4) and just the one on the Yamaha 600 (race 6)…… Had altered the gearing on both bikes to something I hadn't tried before, as I felt that I wanted more speed and not just holding it on the rev limiter most of the way down the big straight, it was a gamble, but we could always change it back.

Again, there was a major problem with lack of Marshals which was a surprise with the weather being as good as it was and lots of people about, but unfortunately, not everybody is keen to do it…… The practicing was an hour late because of this and two very brief practise sessions ensued which only included one flying lap on each bike…… bollocks…… found that the gearing on the Suzuki was adequate, but on the 600 it wasn't so Stuey set about changing this and we went another 2 teeth lower on the rear sprocket, so it wouldn't rev out as quick…… really felt like we could have done with trying it as it may be tooth too much. Had the lap timer on both bikes and surprisingly I went a second quicker on the 600 than I did on the big Suzuki…… that 600 just seems to suit me more…… but this definitely being a big bike track, it just wouldn't be able to keep up…… Just wish the bigger machine was more like the 600 and less of a handful…… I'm pretty sure if I persevered with it I could get it somewhere close, but after this event I'll be changing the front forks back to my own ones that I've just had back from K-Tech Suspension, and it will alter everything again. Went down 3 clicks on the steering damper to see if it would take some of the 'wallow' out of the bike.

The first 6 lap race of the 4.25 mile Jurby south road race was called and I was put on the front row of the grid along with Carswell and Hunt…… the flag dropped and there were about 5 of us approaching the first corner together with me at the back after another average start, but I managed to get to Ballavarran and out braked two to go up to third…… could see that it was 'H' leading followed by Gary Carswell then me……

Had two laps behind Gary and I glanced at the lap timer to see that I had just gone 7 seconds quicker than I had in practise with a 2' 20.1 ……… next lap round was within a quarter of a second and could see H starting to pull a gap, and then watched as Gary started to pull away from me…… started to struggle again with trying to hold on to it and down the big long straight Paul Duckett came past me…… he reckoned his bike is slower than mine, but it didn't look like it from where I was sitting…… managed to pass him back, only for him to re-pass me and I followed him out onto the coast road…… must confess he pulled an impressive wheelie while banked over on the second left hander and it was awesome to watch…… glad to see him back 'on it'……… really suffered again and everytime I popped a wheelie I was hoping I wasn't going to come off the back of the bike as I couldn't grip the bars very tight……… Had a few wobbles through the Pill Box section and skidded the front tyre a couple of times into Jurby West Corner and I watched the lap timer record laps about 3 seconds slower than I had been doing…… there was no chance I was going to reel Duckett back in and passing Chris saw that I was well clear in 4th on my pit board, so I settled for that…… was pretty disappointed as I really had hoped to be up there with Big H and Gary…… took the flag in 4th place and was glad it was over…… don't enjoy the big bike at all, though love the power of the thing…… its too much like hard work…… I'm okay for the first couple of laps it seems and then I just get wore out. H went onto win from Gary…… H getting the race record with Gary nabbing the lap record…… good pace them boys had going, the existing records had stood for 9 years.

Was going to miss the next big bike race and give my pumped arms a longer rest, but saw it as a good opportunity to test the gearing on the 600…… so decided to go out for a couple of laps to try it……

Next Race was called and again on the front row the same guys…… H saw me on the 600 and gave me the 'wanker' sign, and when the flag dropped, the bike just bogged down and I was lucky not to get hit from behind…… bastard…… the gearing was well low, but it bogged down more than I thought it ever could…… there were bikes passing me everywhere, aome of them nearly in the hedge, and from being on the front row, I was down in about 12- 15th place…… picked up enough speed to pass a few, had to weave in and out of a couple as they were taking up the whole road, passed Goose nearly in the gutter and then passed a few more before I got to Ballavarran Corner…… saw that next up it was trio of riders which included Mike Crellin and Pete Hounsell on their 1000 Suzuki's and Derran Slous on the ZX9 Kawasaki…… the gearing felt better on the long straight, but still lost loads of ground to the bigger capacity bikes……… knew though that on the right hander after the long straight I'd be taking it absolutely flat out in top, and I knew that the guys in front would not…… true enough, I flew around the outside of Crellin and was on Pete's tail…… had no opportunities to get Pete, so decided on doing the same move to him next time round, but wasn't as close, but still managed to out brake him into Ballavarran, and unfortunately, myself, and had to turn round…… decided on calling it a day, and was happy enough with the bike, so pulled in at Jurby West Corner and went back to the Paddock…… Got there and Stuey told me that I was dicing for 4th place with Derran, Pete and Mike……… oops…… had no idea…… hadn't really been looking at my pit board, because I was watching the guys in front as I was really close behind them…… Lost a few quid there then…… would have been confident of getting up to 4th. What a difference 400cc makes, because the 600 hadn't tired me out, and I really enjoyed riding it. Stuey also said that there was no other 600 near me, so as Carswell hasn't got one, barring any mishaps it was going to be between me and Big H for the 600 race win. Big H set new lap and race records again in this race, and there is no doubt he's as fast as he's ever been, and I could see the lap record of 2' 20.8 that Milky set, going in the 600 race as well, just hoped that it was me that got it……

Race 6 was called and this time on the front row with Big H and Sellsy…… thought I'd got a good start, but the bike bogged again, slipped the clutch to get it going but was still back in 4th or 5th…… Had to roll the throttle when behind Sellsy and Mike Crellin into the fast right hander, didn't want either of us ending up in the hedge, and got them both before Ballavarran Corner…… watched as Goose overshot big time…… good job I wasn't tipping in then…… H had pulled a bit of a gap by this time so had to get my head down and try and reel him in…… but wasn't making any impression on him…… seemed to reel him in a little on the anchors into Ballavarran, but he pulled it back again through the Pill Box, where I had a wobble more than once by being in the wrong line over the jumps…… my own fault for not concentrating. I reckoned that H had about a 4 or 5 second lead starting the third lap……… was telling myself to get my finger out and get the Pill box section right this time around…… going flat out in top around the fast right hander towards Ballavarran Corner, Big H stuck his hand in the air…… just caught sight of the Marshal to my left with the flag out…… because I had only just seen it, I thought that they had red flagged the race…… so toured in behind H…… I was nearly stopped when I saw Chris 'Chili' Palmer standing watching, jump to the edge of the pavement and give me the hurry up…… had a look behind and the race was still on…… oops!…… the guys behind had caught me right up…… 'H' had only broken down! Couldn't believe the size of the schoolboy error I had just made…… so got my head down and got going again…… the bike was fairing really well, and I was pulling 3 or 4 seconds a lap back out and had a very comfortable ride with no moments…… I was really enjoying it and noticed via the lap timer that I was only 1 .4 seconds away from the Milky's lap record…… (only two seconds slower on the 600 than I was on the 1000) but didn't feel that it was necessary to up the pace any more than I was doing, was hoisting the front wheel over the jumps, and felt like this is what racing should be like, nice and comfortable, safe, controlled, and a right larf…… started to short shift the gears on the last lap just to make sure I didn't break down and crossing the line popped a wheelie…… my first road race win. Wasn't as excited about it as I thought that I would be, maybe because I thought that I was gifted it when H broke down…… took the shine of it for me a bit…… but still, loads of people have won TT's with other riders misfortunes, but will beat the big bugger on the roads some time soon. Like I said to him afterwards though, there ain't no substitute for experience. Scotty Stewart pulled up alongside me while touring back to the paddock, and he indicated that he got second place…… he was well made up.

Packed everything up and headed off to the Jurby 'Hilton' hotel for the presentation, collected my trphy and a few quid prize money which is always nice…… helps pay for the tyres at least.

Got nothing planned up until the Manx Grand Prix in 5 weeks time, where I'll be a starting at No 9 in both the Junior and Senior Races…… so looking forward to that…… hope to be in with a shout there……

So, tune in next time for another very exciting, sun shining, trophy grabbing money winning episode of ………………………… Tommy Clucas Racing.