Steam Packet Company National Road Races - 8th June 2003

Billown Circuit

As the Senior TT was delayed till Saturday the 7th, the Steam Packet Races on the Billown Circuit in Castletown was postponed till the Sunday...... the Southern 100 Club had played a blinder here by obtaining the extra roads closure order needed, as they had learnt from a couple of years ago when the whole meeting had to be cancelled because of a postponed Senior TT..... Left Peel with my Brother Don, on the last day of his holiday, in the M.Benz with rain lashing off the windscreen....... wasn't looking forward to it much...... although the weather forecast had it clearing up...... but I wasn't holding my breath. The Wad had other duties to attend to, but thankfully I had Stuey wielding the spanners....... and again, top help he turned out to be too...... Although, I had the usual suspects turning up to cheer me on, wipe the flies of the bike and feed me with 7 UP etc etc….

There was only three races scheduled for today....... the 600/250 Race, followed by the 125/400 Race, and the day would be rounded off with the Open race..... I had entered the first and the last..... but this time I was using my tuned Team P.C Racing V&M R6 Yamaha. Had two practise sessions on both the bikes, the R6 had already had the intermediate tyres fitted, and as I only had the choice of Inters or Supercorsa's on the big Suzuki... we decided to put the Inters on it......

Stuey had already parked his big truck in the Paddock on the Friday night and we erected his awning alongside it, as it was still raining..... The paddock was a bit shit, wet long grass, with mud track as a roadway.... not a good combination..... don't like going out on a roads course with that sort of shite on my tyres, but hoped that the wet roads would wash it off...... We did all the usual necessary jobs that you have to do, signed on and went to the briefing, then the team put the R6 through scrutineering first and had it lined up ready in the holding area..... Had really hoped for a dry day, as the only target I had today was to join the elusive 'Ton Up Club'....... which is for riders who have lapped at 100mph or more, and I can assure you its not an easy club to join........ The Southern 100 Club, give a comemerative Badge and Certificate to those that do....... I was only one second away from joining it last year on my circuit debut....... but the way the weather was, I didn't think that I would get near it today.

The weather started to clear up a lot when we went out in the first practise session, with the races being postponed, the depth of competitors was a lot lower than it should have been, but there was still a lot of quality, with Jason Griffiths, Ryan Farquhar, Paul Hunt, Mark Parrett, Chris Palmer, Gary Carswell and Paul Duckett to name but a few, so it was gonna be tough that was for sure..... and most of these guys had been here a lot more than me...... there was the added incentive of money up for grabs for the top 6, but as much as I would liked some of it, it wasn't the reason why I had turned up, if I got in the top 6 it would be a bonus........ had been too busy to notice that the practise had started, and when I rushed over I forgot my earplugs..... don't like riding without them....... Went out and there was steam coming off the roads, but they were still wet saturated, most notably at Billown Dip, The Iron Gate and Cross Four Ways....... wobbled round trying to remember which lines to take, but I suppose it was handy that because of the rain, you just had to go steady....... They stuck out the timed session board at the Start Line to signal the start of timed laps to determine your grid positions..... but didn't feel like I had gone particularly well, but neither did anyone else I suppose, but could definitely feel the difference between a tuned 600 to the Production 600 I had just ridden at the TT, but altering the gearing made a huge difference too, but this V&M R6 was popping wheelies everywhere........ returned to the paddock with the bike absolutely covered in muck, shite, grime etc.... and after I had spent all bloody Thursday cleaning the bugger too........ bollocks.

Went out in the next practise session on the Gixer Thou....... this time round I went 3 clicks harder on the compression damping on the front forks, and although still a handful, especially in the conditions, it was manageable..... chased Gary Carswell for a while till he pulled in at Ballabeg Hairpin, don't know why, but I convinced myself it was because I was hounding him too much.... Har Har........ My lap timer recorded a lap of 2mins 35secs..... which was only two seconds away from the 'Ton Up Club' and I had only been going steady......... so it was looking good for my target......

For the last two timed practises, the weather was drying rapidly, and I went out on the R6 still with its Intermediate tyres on, but lap by lap all the damp patches were disappearing, and my lap timer recorded a time of 2 min 35 secs again....... had to roll the throttle when it was revving out on the long straight, found this a tad weird when I used the same gearing at last years Southern 100 event and it wasn't doing it then....?? my time in practise, as it turned out, was good enough for 2nd on the grid......... Fantastic.......... Jason Griffiths was on pole, with Parrett completing the front row....... coooooool. Went out on the Suzuki and Stuey had changed to a Supercorsa rear, but still with an intermediate front, was planning on using slick tyres but decided against it, as that would be another two hundred odd quid spent, I remembered Gary Carswell telling me last year as I watched this event, that he still had the tyres on that he had completed 6 laps at the Senior TT on and he went well, so as mine had only done the 1000 Production TT 3 lapper, at a slower pace than Gary..... I reckoned that they would last the distance...... Had a steady few laps and got my head down and was well chuffed to see my lap timer indicate a 2min 29.32 sec lap.... which was over 102mph.......... yeeeee haaarrrrrrr....... Joined the 'Ton Up Club', confirmed by my Team Manager, Chris, who thought that he had made a mistake when he had me down for the same.............. could have packed up, gone home and been well happy with that, but as it turned, it qualified me on the front row with Farquhar and Parrett......... Had Chris Palmer, Big H and Carswell and Griffiths behind me........... Having Big H behind me, had me slightly worried......... cos I've had him barge past before in places you can't fit his huge arse....... Oh well.......... not much I could do except try and stay out of his way…… I knew it was gonna be on the brakes somewhere…… cos he is awesome on the anchors……

As the weather had dried up completely, we had to change the wheels on both bikes back to SuperCorsa's, or dry tyres if you prefer....... also changed the geariing on the R6, going down a tooth on the rear sprocket.... hoped that would give me full throttle for a little longer....... Because of all the adjustments we had to make, I was last out of the holding area, and they were all lined up on the dummy grid before going out on the warm up lap..........oops...... lashed my gear on and joined them there, taking up my spot in the middle of the front row, samwiched between Griffiths and Parrett......... Chris Kinley interviewed me live on air, and I said sommat like I was surprised but happy to be where I was on the grid........... stayed in formation for the warm up lap, and then took our positions on the proper grid on the start line, for this 6 lap race.... all the races had been reduced from 9 laps because the roads had to be opened before sommat like 6pm........... After all the good starts I had been having at the TT, I was hoping to get to the corner first....... The lights turned from red to green and I popped a wheelie, then it bogged down........ BOLLOCKS........... Griffiths got off to a flier, so did Chris Palmer on his 250 Honda, Parrett didn't have a much better start than me........ Into Ballkeighan Corner, I was in 4th spot, but managed to pass Parrett on the straight down to the Iron Gate....... up to third and right up Palmers Chuff as we headed to Ballabeg Hairpin.......... Don't really remember what actually happened, but I think I went the inside of Palmer to go 2nd and the front tucked because of the tight line I had taken.......... tried to save it, but couldn't, and down it went as if it were in slow motion..... Parrett was too close behind me to avoid me and must have touched his front brake and down he went too............. everyone else managed to get past and there we both were picking the bikes back up....... slapped Mark on the arm and asked if he was akay and then said 'sorry mate'.... the Marshals helped us pick our bikes up.... then we had to point them in the right direction..... started her back up after a quick look, headed off again...... hadn't straightened the bike up enough as I took off and nearly collected a hay bale on my way, down to second from last, with Parrett dead last behind me.......... could feel that there was sommat wrong with the footpeg as it wasn't as comfortable as before....... so had a few looks every chance I got to check it was okay, and saw that it was bent....... forgot to check if I still had a front brake lever, which was a major schoolboy error, cos I could have entered Cross Four Ways and ended up in Ballasalla!...... Got my head down and rode as hard as I thought was safe, and must admit it felt comfortable....... caught sight of those ahead on the second or third lap..... can't remember who I passed, but on about the third lap I caught Dave Madsen Mygdal and Alan 'Bud' Jackson......... Passed Bud and then on the approach to Cross Four Ways tried to go around the outside of Mygdal, but he pulled right across me and it was a close call between the pavement and his back wheel.......... outbraked him into Cross Four Ways, but went a tad wide and he got back past me....... then he held me up till I got back past him into Great Meadow and got my head down again...... didn't notice my pit board till Chris swung it out coming out of Castletown Corner and it said P3 +5.......... couldn't believe I had got back up to third....... on the last lap I caught sight of Palmer and was definitely gaining on him before the finish......... crossed the line in 3rd spot........ another 3 laps and I reckon I would have got him....... but not a bad end to what was a bad start...... and in the prize money too...... cool. Was ushered into the winners enclosure to be told I was 2nd, as 'Chilli' Palmer was on a 250, he was in a different class...... so it never mattered that I didn't pass him..... cool.... Parrett also was ushered into the winners enclosure and I went straight over and apologised again, was well happy that he hadn't run into me..... although he said he had tried to....... Both of us were interviewed by Chris Kinley, again live on the radio, and I was glad that we were both laughing about it......... Got on the podium and had loads of piccies taken......... Felt the blister on my gear change foot raise its ugly head again, which I must confess was really uncomfortable, so took my boot off back in the paddock and bandaged it......... And amazingly enough...... I hadn't suffered from arm pump all day........ (so far anyway).

Next race up was the last race of the day, which was the Open Race..... and I lined up on the dummy grid on the front row in 3rd spot.......... Farquhar on pole.... then Parrett, and directly behind us were, Carswell, Hunt and Palmer......... Must admit it felt good being ahead of them.... just had to do it in the race....... Didn't think that in this company, that I would manage a top 6 position, but I felt reasonably confident at doing it now...... Had the warm up lap and lined up on the front row...... the lights changed to green and I couldn't believe it when I went to change up a gear and missed it......... Jesus H Christ.... was down to about 7th at the first corner, Griffiths was riding his 600cc mount as he wasn't happy with his R1 Yamaha and he came underneath me here, but I managed to get back past on the power and made my way up to 5th by Ballabeg……… but was demoted back to 6th when Big H, again, squeezed his lardy arse in between me and the pavement……… a manic move if you ask me, especially as the arse end of my bike was fish tailing on the brakes…….. there would have been nowt I could do if he got it wrong…. But fortunately he didn't……… made me 'take stock' for a moment and got my head down as soon as he was out of the way……… Jason managed to get me again at Cross four ways, but I kept powering past him on the straights……… I think I might have given him a bit of a fright when I went underneath him at Great Meadow and he had top sit up, which put him closer to the wall than I think he had ever been…… My fault really, as I thought he had the line, I rolled the throttle to let him through and I think he did the same, which made it a bit hairier than it needed to be…… Said to myself, to go and apologise after the race, as Jason Griffiths is one of the true gents of motorcycle racing and in my opinion along with John McGuinness, the smoothest……… Managed to catch up with Chilli on his GSXR1000 and not too far ahead of him was Gary on his Gixer thou……… was getting blocked a bit by Chilli and it looked as if his bike was handling a lot worse than mine had been at the TT……… looked to me he was struggling to hang on to it, so it would be in my best interests to get past as quickly as possible…… did so on about the third lap coming out of Church Bends when his bogged down a bit, and I got on the power early and drove past……… Chris was still swinging out my pit board and it said P5……… and next lap round I outbraked Carswell into Castletown Corner……… was well chuffed with that manoeuvre……… I saw him as a scalp and a half……… so up to fourth…… Had been glancing at my lap timer every lap down the long straight to the Iron Gate and I thought it was stuck as it said 2'29 every lap…… so just ignored it and caught sight of Big H… could also see that Farquhar was leading with Parrett in second……… was pretty pleased that I could still see the leaders……… was reeling in Big H before the end, but he must have knocked it off a tad, cos had the race gone the full distance I would have caught him…. But getting past the big bugger would have been a different proposition altogether……

Took the chequered flag in 4th spot, and was well happy with that…… again, I hadn't suffered from my arm pump problem and the Southern 100 circuit is renowned for being hard on the arms……… That had me a bit confused…… but have noticed that my forearms are bigger than normal…

Helped the team pack up all our stuff, and then Southern 100 Club Secretary, George Peach came over to give me my winnings…… £650…… not bad for a days work, and he told me that I had lapped at over 103mph…… which will put me in the top half of the elusive. exclusive…… Ton Up Club…… So, got what I went for…… Treats.

Got a Jurby round next, and then the Southern 100 Road Races, was supposed to do the Dundrod 150 as I had it pencilled in, but as the huge crash I has had on the R6 had taken its toll on my finances, decided to give it a miss………

So, tune in next time for another very exciting, money winning, target hitting episode of……………… Tommy Clucas Racing.