Jurby Airfield - Easter Weekend, 19th & 20th April 2003

The three weeks prior to this event involved some serious running around trying to get the Yamaha R6 up and going again……… It was pretty badly damaged (and then some) after the practise crash at round one. Had given the bike, (or what was left of it) to top bike builder Slick Bass, as we had wanted it checked, and built back up again properly…. With no corners cut and nothing missed……

It never took Slick long to strip the bike and he gave me a (huge) list of what was needed…… He said he couldn't see anything wrong with the frame or the swing arm, but couldn't be sure till we put some straight forks and yokes into the chassis to see if the wheels would line up, and until we did this we wouldn't know if we needed these items as well. Spent a couple of days phoning around trying to source bits etc etc…… I don't really like buying stuff that I haven't seen, and I've heard of a few stories, and had the odd occasion myself when wrong bits have come or they haven't at all…… also the condition of the bits that were required could be a tad dodgy if you weren't there first to view them…… so me and my team Manager Chris, decided that the best option was to buy another complete bike…… We thought about getting a standard road going R6, but the down side of that option was that a lot of the bits wouldn't be fettled in race trim, and the bits that we didn't use would be harder to sell than race bits…… so the decision was taken that another race R6 would be the best, quickest and hopefully (in the long run) cheapest option……

I approached local sponsor Martin Bullock about buying the bike that local lad Paul Corrin had been using (ex Britton and Milky Quayle bike) and he had done a 114 mph lap on at last years Manx Grand Prix, so it went alright, and he did me favour by dropping the price on it so that I was able to buy it…… Thanks again Martin. Also got to say a massive thanks to my Team Manager, Team Co-Owner, Entrant and all round top Dude, Chris Preston for stumping up for half of the bike…… Usually when I've fallen off, Chris's half is the half that doesn't get damaged (lucky that eh?!)…… but this time round there wasn't a half left!

As it was only the running gear I required, everything else that wasn't needed would be for sale, and everything that we sold would help bring the cost of the crash down. My good mate Stuey Bainborough wanted first dibs on the Tony Scott Engine and a few other bits and bought them off us, then we sold a few other bits which clawed a few needed quid back. Slick put the forks and yokes into my chassis and found that the wheels wouldn't line up right, which indicated that either the frame or the swing arm was twisted…… Then we swapped swing arms over and found out it was still the same so that indicated that my frame was out of line, so had to use the complete ex Corrin chassis in the end…… (after a lot more f*cking about than it sounds) also had to order other bits to try and bring the bike back to as close to as it was, with other parts from FibreOne Tech and Laser, a couple of good deeds done to me there too……… and asked Slick to use as many parts from my old bike as practically possible, also while the engine was out Slick re-did the Cylinder Head. All this took time, cash and effort, but got the call from Slick on Thursday 17th April that the bike was up and running, so met him at his workshop to finish it off and lash it on the dyno, which was really pleasing to see it put out the same power as before, although the stink from the new Laser exhaust was nearly as bad as Slick's arse!

Took the bike away and fettled the it ready in my garage and had it all finished on Easter Friday night, which was not cutting it close at all, oh no…… Also serviced both bikes and put a new ignition casing, screen and crash mushroom onto the big Suzuki…… then loaded both bikes into the van and all the kit ready for tomorrow…… was pretty knackered after all that to tell you the truth………… ZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzz

Saturday 19th April -
Rounds 3 & 4 - Clockwise

My main spanner man, The Wad, couldn't make it today, but he was ably deputized by my other lifelong friend, 'Dr Gell, BSc' or 'Gella' as he is affectionately known, if you're ever on 'Who wants to be a Millionaire' and you have to phone a friend, give Gella a bell…… Picked him up an headed off to Jurby where again, we were going to be sharing Stuey's Awning, as it is big enough for four bikes…… got there just as Stuey and his mate Titch were struggling to put it up after the wind had caught it and ripped the roof…… typical windy Jurby, when it was lovely everywhere else. After it was all up an that, me and Gella put both bikes through scrutineering, where the Suzuki failed again, because it never had a lower rear chain guard…… I said it did, but on looking it must have broken off when I slid off it at the last round……never even noticed that it was missing…… by pure fluke, I had a spare, but we had a bit of a problem fitting it as it had ripped one of the threads out where it bolts in…… but Dr Gell to the rescue. Stuey also debuted his big truck, and it was all kitted out an that, a bit old with intergalactic miles, but better than a poke up the arse with a rusty stick, and everything still worked, so it was egg and bacon butties all round……yum yum…… fantastic.

There was a huge problem with lack of Marshals, and practising was delayed for an hour while some were sought…… which gave me tyre warmers longer to get the slick tyres I was running on the Suzuki up to temperature…… this was the first time on slicks for me.
The longer the day went on the better the weather became and we were eventually called for practise…… I went out in all four and they were pretty much uneventful, the slick tyres on the Suzuki felt like it you were riding it on a tightrope and it wasn't as good as I had hoped it would be, it was also moving about a lot under hard braking which worried me more as I knew it would be worse in the race when I was trying harder…… and was extra cautious when I was out on the R6…… after the Suzuki it felt sluggish, but more rev happy, and I was a lot more familiar with it, but more probably because I was going slower.

Race 1 was called, Round 3 of the Centre Championship, 10 laps, and after 2 warm up laps I settled on the second row, on the front row were Current Centre Champion Chris Heath, who was on his new 2003 kitted R6 Yamaha, Big H who had problems in practise on his Gixer Thou, so was out on his Honda 600, Rob Sells, Paul Dedman and Nigel Beattie…… when the flag dropped, I didn't think my start was that great, but I hit the front into the first chicane, tipped it left then right and braked hard for the hairpin, the back wheel jumped around a bit and then I got the power down and went around the Perimeter section and on to the back straight…… at this point I decided that I didn't want to be leading so rolled the throttle to let somebody come past, and Beattie did on his R1 Yamaha, that was better somebody to gauge myself on, so opened it back up and chased him round Snuffies and up to the Bus Stop Chicane…… braked hard, which seemed to bottom out the forks, lifted the back wheel off the deck and the arse end slapped all over t'shop and I had to take the safe option and overshoot, better that than going onto the grass, let Nige come back past, and tailed him again……still in second…… was having major problems at every heavy braking point, the bike felt like it had a hinge in the middle and the second time into the Bus Stop had to overshoot again…… Big H told me afterwards he was pissing himself laughing behind me…… the twat…… wasn't liking this much, Big H soon got past me and then Heath, but re-passed the latter man down the back straight but he got back past me pretty soon after that……… The bike was feeling more in control of me than I was of it, and the last thing I needed was to jump off the bastard again and spend the next three weeks like I had the last three, so tried to settle down and just kept the blokes in front in view and managed to drag it home in fourth pace with only about 3 seconds covering the four of us…… was pretty disappointed the way the bike was handling, but couldn't really understand how it was bottoming out, when Jefferies used to ride it, and he eats a lot more pies than me…… had also put more oil in the forks which I had hoped would have cured the problem, but apparently not. Most of my laps were around the 60 second flat area, with a fastest lap in the 59's which is pretty crap, need to be going at least a second or so quicker than that to be challenging, but I felt if I had tried much harder to get down to that time I wouldn't have stayed on it for long the way it was handling…… so 4th place would have to do……… for now.

Next race up was the Formula 600, 8 laps, and I was put on the front row…… the flag dropped and I got a really crap start and so did Rob Sells right alongside me when it might have seemed to some we were trying to out wheelie each other to the first corner, so wasn't too upset to see the red flag come out when I was lying in about 7th or 8th. Re-start faired no better and had to pass a couple before I got to Sellsy, took me 2 or 3 laps to get past him and when I managed it, I had no chance of catching the others, they were too far ahead and I brought the re-vamped R6 home in 5th. My lap timer indicated my fastest lap was a 1' 01.21…… no wonder I was 5th……… I was going quicker than that 2 years ago in the restricted class! Next time I'll take me van round. I knew I was trying too hard which was making me go backwards, but that big yee-ha last time around has definitely affected my form…… also this time last year I had a lot more bike miles under my belt…… this was the first time I had really ridden this R6 in 6 months…… but no excuses are needed……… I need to get my finger out…… getting back into training will also help, but its pretty disheartening when you're limping around for weeks. Hadn't enjoyed it so far, but needed the practise if nothing else.

Was out again in the second 10 lap Centre Championship event, back on the second row for this one an basically went through the motions in it…… Milky Quayle came past me on his borrowed 750 Suzuki and he buggered off into the distance as I couldn't hold on to him…… was looking at the broader picture to tell you the truth, wasn't going jump off this bike by trying too hard when it wasn't handling properly when the TT is just around the corner…… and it already felt like the bike was just looking for an excuse to have me off……… near the end of the race saw that both Big H and Chris Heath had dropped out which promoted me to 4th place…… fastest lap in this one was a 1' 00.4…… crap again…… but it was all racing miles at the end of the day…… just wish I knew more about setting a bike up, there are that many different combinations on suspension settings, it puts your head in a spin. Had a word on Nige (Beattie) and he said he was having a hard time jumping from the big bike to the 600 and I knew what he meant…… maybe it would be better to just concentrate on the one…… but hoped I would go better tomorrow, because I prefer the course in the Anti-Clockwise direction…… but I knew the area's where I was slow and I knew why as well, so it was all something I could improve on……

Last race of the day for me was the Round 4 of the Formula 600, 6 laps this time, and I was put on the second row, didn't surprise me as I had missed the first two events and am lying nowhere in the championship, flag dropped and after another average start and after being blocked a bit for the first lap settled down a bit…… took me another two laps to get past young Sean Murphy who was going well and seems to be Stuey's main challenger in the restricted class along with Scotty Stewart and Oatsey, after I got past him and managed to close the gap on Sellsy, Nige and Chris Palmer in front, but was never going to catch them before the end……got to the flag in this one in 7th place, which was pretty embarrassing and another crap fastest lap of 1' 00.6…… still, got to use this as a learning curve…… The only result I got today was staying on, although there were others who hadn't, and I feel for them…… both bodies and bike don't bounce very well…… I know.

Cleaned both bikes and fettled them as best as poss for tomorrow, then packed everything up in the van…… there were times today when I felt I wanted to pack in and go home, cos it wasn't happening for me, but after it was all finished I was semi looking forward to tomorrow.

Sunday 20th April -
Rounds 5 & 6 - Anti-Clockwise

Arrived at Jurby a bit later than yesterday and Stuey almost had the Awning up, The Wad had replaced Gella as Chief spanner man…… and it didn't take long to get the bikes scrutineered and ready for the off……… It was a lot colder today and the wind was a tad stronger and rain had been forecast, but I'd hoped that we'd be lucky and it would wait till we had finished…… fingers crossed anyway.

Had four practise sessions again today and went pretty steady in all of them, but had a bit of a fright in the second one when I was out on the R6 when Big H wiped my nose into the first crossover chicane and I had to brake really hard to avoid him, which put me off the track, but thankfully not on the grass…… still, the last thing I needed……… didn't take it personally, because he does it to everybody!……and if he wasn't such a big bastard you might go over and give him a bollocking!

Everything seemed to be running bang on time today, so it wasn't long when Race 1 was called…… Round 5 of the 1300 Centre Championship, again a ten lapper, and back onto the second row…… got another crap start, the clutch on the Suzuki doesn't bite till the very end of the lever, while it's the total opposite on the Yamaha, and its hard to get your head round……… into the first corner I tipped in, in about 7th spot watched as Paul (Dedman) tried to go underneath Big H, who surprise surprise shut the door on him, which nearly had him off, then he just managed to avoid a couple of cones then came straight across in front of me, which was a bloody close one…… tailed him around Snuffies and passed him down the back straight, then caught Sellsy on his 600 and got past him as well…… then caught Milky, thought that he must have had a good start, but it was hard to get past him…… he was telling me before that the borrowed Suzuki 750 he was on was still had standard suspension, and it looked like it following him, when he was drifting a tad wide on all the corners and right on the edge of the grass on a few occasions ……… I was losing sheds load of time out of the chicane onto the start/finish straight, the exact spot where I had highsided at the last round, where my right hand just wouldn't twist the throttle, (Mental Blocksville Arizona) and anyone in front pulled at least a hundred yards on me, but reeled them back in at the next chicane and Nans…… after only the second or third lap my visor started to steam up badly, got that bad a few laps later that I was gonna pull in cos I couldn't see a thing, but decided on opening it a bit to see if it would make any difference, just at that moment Sellsy came underneath me into the Bus Stop Chicane…… let him through and tailed him…… the visor got better, although a tad windy, but then started to suffer badly from arm pump……… bollocks…… what next…… into the last lap I was still behind Sellsy with Milky just ahead of us both……… rounding Nans for the last time, Milky lost the rear end big style and nearly collected Sellsy, he went flying and so did the bike, which bounced quite a few times, Milky looked to get up, but by this time I was going past….. hoped he was okay, I definitely thought that they were going to red flag it and slowed, but it never came out……… Sellsy had got away a bit, so just finished the lap and took the chequered flag in 5th spot. On checking my lap timer, the last 4 laps were 2 seconds or more slower than the first six…… what a difference arm pump makes…… gonna have to get fit soon…… this breathing through me arse is making me go backwards. Although nobody was setting the place alight with fast lap times, to be expected at this time of year though when the track temperature is not as good…… on the cool down lap, stopped to see if Milky was ok, he was still lying on the track…… the Marshal just nodded and said he was……… headed off back to the paddock…… saw his bike getting unloaded and it looked as bad as mine did at the last round…… the last thing he needed as well……

Next race up for me was the 5th round of the 600 Championship, 8 laps, and I was on the second row, lined myself up behind Heathy and Big H…… flag dropped and I got my best start of the day…… pulled in between said two and went to snick up another gear and it didn't go in, went in at about the third attempt, but by this time I had lost loads of places…… made my way past a few, but was still having gear selector problems, had it bouncing off the rev limiter every time I missed a gear cos it wouldn't go in…… bollocks again…… eventually caught up with young Conor Cummins on the ex Peter Baker Superclub CBR600 Honda……he certainly got to grips with that…… had a few bites at him but every time I tried to go past the gears wouldn't go in…… was getting well fed up with it, not to mention screaming the bike more than I would have liked and a blister on my toe because it was taking that much effort …… was also getting a tad worried, as there was obviously some reason for it…… Stayed behind young Conor for the remainder of the race, and came home in 8th place……… Disaster. Decided not to use the bike in the next 600 race…… want to find out why its not changing up properly, although it was fine going down the gears…… maybe after I crashed it, its knocked a selector fork loose of something…… whatever it is, I hope its an easy fix.

Last race of the day for me was the last open race Round 6 of the 1300 Open Centre Championship, 10 laps, and again on the second row…… Got an average start in this one, better than a crap one I suppose, and was lying fifth for the first few laps……… the top 4 consisted of Heath, Dedman, Hunt and Beattie with me not too far behind…… on about the fifth lap into Nans, saw Heathy go in between the cones….. don't know why but it was a rare mistake all the same…… he set off in pursuit of the top 3 still followed by me, but he was quicker and caught the others back up, while the gap between me and them stayed the same…… was still going pretty handy, but at a pace where I thought that I would stay on it and on the last lap was still in 5th place going into Nans again and Beattie did the same as Heath did a few laps earlier, he came back on right in front of me and we nearly collided and went into the Bus Stop Chicane side by side…… if my bike handled better than it did, would have had a go on closing the door on him, but I thought if it starts wobbling all over the shop it might have us both off, so let him through with no fuss…… chased him round Snuffies and caught him and hoped to take him on the brakes into the Perimeter section, and knew I wouldn't get him if I didn't here, but fair play he went in there pretty hot so there was no move on, and onto the start/finish straight he was quicker than me out of the chicane (no surprise there) and got to the line half a second ahead in 4th spot with me in 5th…… Heath went onto win the race, which was impressive seeing as how he had gone off…… but had ridden well all weekend.

That was it for me this weekend, best result was…… no crashes, which was a huge bonus, but will have to get the handling on the big bike sorted and the gearbox on the 600 looked at……… back up to Slicks it is then……… Was pretty glad to get it all over with and hadn't really enjoyed it if the truth be known, like I've said before only enjoy something if I do well, but sometimes you have to take a step backwards before you can go forward …… Will get better the more I do it that's for sure…… so hopefully will be raring to go by the time the next one comes around, as it's the Jurby South Road course next, followed by my first TT the following week. Then the Post TT Steam Racket Races, the Dundrod 150 (which I may not do as my finances have taken a huge hit), then Jurby again followed by the Southern 100…… So, a potential five road races out of the next 6 events………… coooool.

Watched Stuey in his last race of the day and he came from a bad start to finish second, in the Restricted race, he would have won it for sure if he had gotten off the line…… but I'm guilty of that myself……… Packed everything up and headed off for home……

So, tune in for another very exciting, riding like an old woman, Milky dodging, episode of ………………………… Tommy Clucas Racing.