T.T. 2003 Practice Week - 26th May 2003

Early Morning Practice

Fell out of bed at about ten to four AM…….. pretty sleepy, and no mistake, and was up the Grandstand for about 4-30am…… The weather wasn't bad and there was no wind…. Which is always handy….. Stuey and Jaffa already had the bike through scrutineering as they had stayed the night in the paddock, and I was pretty much near the front…… handy or not I don't know….. Moodie pushed his way in, which wasn't a surprise, but still not a sportsmanly thing to do all the same…. But it saved him passing people on the road, when you can get away with it in the holding area……

There was a 15 minute delay because of a road traffic accident somewhere out on the course, but was soon wheeling down the Glencrutchery Road….. DJ and Milky looked like they were first away…… I let Shaun Harris and Ryan Farquhar in ahead of me, and lined up alongside Bruce Anstey on the Valmoto Triumph Daytona……… Bollocks, gonna have me work cut out to keep him behind me for long, but was gonna have a go all the same… The blackboard said 'Damp patches all around the course' good job I still had me Intermediate tyres on…… Got the green light and I was off like a scalded cat….. flew down Bray hill pretty much flat out and half expected Anstey to have a go at me at the QB, but no, could see a rider who had started ahead of me, so went in chase of him all the while reminding myself of 'Full tank, cold tyres….. don't be a twat…. Was pretty quick through Union Mills even if I say so meself, but Anstey nailed me round the outside at Union Mills post office, he was flying, and watched as he sped up the Ballahutchin…….. and there was my record of never having being passed…. In tatters… But I will always remember who did it, and was expecting it anyway….. it didn't look like he backed off much rounding Ballagarey and he passed the other bloke who was ahead as well, and just seemed to disappear…… Managed to pass the bloke that was ahead of me down past the Highlander and noticed that it was Liam Quinn who I raced against in last years Manx GP……. got my head down and carried on….. had a bit of a stiff neck trying to keep under the Double bubble of the Pro-Cet Racing R6, but wasn't managing it very well, so was getting a bit of wind blast……. Somebody on a yellow bike came past me before Ballacraine and he was flying an all…… couldn't really tell who it was but he looked brand new…… might have been Duffus, but not too sure….

The Glen Helen section was better than I imagined it would be for damp patches, but it was worse from Handley's to Kirk Michael.. The head shaking this time round was better as we had set the steering damper on 13 clicks this time, which was a better idea than having none on it last time I was out…… Hit Ballacrye at the same time as Richard Britton came past me on one of the new Honda CBR600's and he was going some…… thought that he was in the wrong line through Quarry Bends though as he struggled a bit to change direction, but as he is quicker than me, maybe its my lines that are wrong, but he was awful close to the wall for my liking…… Stuck with him till after the Ginger Hall, where I had to fight the bike more than I would have liked and was thinking of pulling in after this lap, but after going over the start/finish line carried on for another……. Went pretty handy at the bottom of Bray Hill again and was better this time round at Braddan Bridge, although still wobbled round the Quarterbridge as usual….. Lost loads of time after the Highlander when going into Greeba the Marshal's were waving the yellow flags like hell for quite a distance….. there was what looked like dust in the air and I thought that somebody must have binned it, but couldn't see anything and the 'dust' went on for ages and the Marshal's were still waving…… it dawned on me that it was smoke and somebody must have blown up, and when I got to Greeba Bridge I think I saw David Jefferies, walking out of the gate taking his crash hat off……..Had quite a lonely ride for most of the lap, again damp in the usual places and didn't see anybody till I passed somebody on a 125 just before Quarry Bends, it might have been Robert Dunlop, not too sure but it looked like his bike and leathers, after the Ginger Hall a bike came past me and it was No 25……. Right, that'll be Mark Parrett then, he returned the favour of passing me back…… really struggled to hold on to him through this section and gave up doing it because the bike just wasn't handling well enough and it was really tiring me out, I was wondering why it was trying to chuck me out of the seat, was it too hard or too soft, but I think that the forks were set too stiffly, so was already thinking of backing off the preload, rebound and compression dampings when I got back…… was wanting to try a radical change, like at least 5 clicks at a time, so that I knew if it would be better or worse straight away…… might take too many laps to do it one click at a time, as it is a long way round before you can change anything again….. so already decided to do this while still riding it…….. Could still see Parrett as I approached the Hairpin, and thought if I tried really hard I could catch him back up, but thought better of it as I could feel myself tensing up on the bike, was also wondering what condition the tyres were in, as this was their fourth lap, and Goose already had done Jurby South Road Race on them………. Took a few places a gear lower than I know I can, but just wanted to get the bike home nice and safe, with me still on it, another bloke, this time on a Kawasaki passed me at the Bungalow and he was a bit ragged and nearly clipped the hedge so backed off a bit to get a gap between us as if he had a mishap, I'd have time to stop or at least avoid him……. Nearly out braked myself at Signpost Corner, then wobbled round the rest of the lap, and took the chequered flag just coming out of Governors Dip…… so 5 laps in the bag and well inside the Qualifying time…… Official time for my first lap was 21'10 which equated to a 106.95mph lap, (107mph had been my target beforehand)……. Would have liked to go slightly quicker, but to tell you the truth, these two practise sessions have been the first time I've ever had to think about where I'm going, as I'm having to re-familiarize myself with the course…. Usually I'd have had a shed load of laps under my belt before the TT started, but hadn't this time around. Anstey on his Junior Bike, recorded a speed of 116.5mph, so if you think about it, up until Union Mills I was on for a faster one… Harr Harr, still it was pretty good going considering the conditions…. Some of these boys don't back off for anything. Got interviewed live on the radio by Chris Kinley…… was trying hard not to swear…..

Monday Evening Practice

With the weather forecast the way it was and the low lying cloud, I don't think anyone expected the session to go ahead, but we all lined up on Glencrutchery Road waiting for it to start…… Stuey made the first schoolboy error of the day when he lined up the GSXR1000 Suzuki at the front……. As it had been such a long day, and morning practise had felt like yesterday, he thought it was Tuesday, and the big bike was out first…… oops, and he had it right at the front as well….. this meant that we were nearly right at the back on the Pro-Cet Racing R6……. Was feeling pretty knackered, even though I had managed some kip in the morning/afternoon, I didn't feel any better for it……. Was wondering whether to come in after only one lap to make some adjustments, but being about last away, and Geoff Cannell coming over and telling me he thought that the weather would get worse…… so to keep going……. I thought that this would be a good plan…… For this session the team had backed off all the preload adjustment on the front forks and went back on both the rebound and compression damping to see if it would handle a lot better…… anything would be an improvement, not much fun when its bouncing all over t'shop…….

Lined up behind a good mate, Peter 'Hound Dog' Hounsell on his R6…. He said he doesn't like it when I'm chasing him, cos he doesn't like me coming past and he offered to swap positions, told him it was more fun me chasing him…… so never took him up on his offer…… Lined up alongside someone on a Suzuki GSXR1000 and was slightly worried that his extra grunt would get him to St Ninians crossroads before me and I would get stuck behind him all the way down to the Quarterbridge…… Got a good start and never saw him again…… Juan told me that his girlfriend, and my good mate, Dawn 'Bubba' Hallam would be in one of the gardens at Ago's leap at the bottom of Bray, so to give her a wave…….. flew down there flat out, popped a big wheelie and gave her a big wave….. the wind blast nearly took me arm off……..

I could see yellow flags being waved at the QB…… couldn't really suss what was going on, but saw a Fire Engine with its blue lights flashing and a big crowd, but carried on…… Had the wheels on that I had borrowed from Goose and they still had the intermediate tyres on…… at the Manx Grand Prix last year, I only did a maximum of 5 laps before I changed tyres, but these had done 4 laps so far and I was gonna do another 2 on them tonight, but was told that there was still some damp patches and poor visibility on the mountain…… managed to catch sight of Hound Dog in the Glen Helen section and when I went through Lambfell and onto the Cronk y Voddy straight, could see tons of traffic……. Bollocks…… passed quite a few and then got stuck behind a group of 4 lads with Pete and me at the back of it……. Could recognise one of the other lads as Paul Owen whom I've raced against at the Celtic Match Races, me in the Isle of Man team, him usually captaining the Welsh Team……. Managed to slip stream pass Hound Dog on the Sulby Straight and was up the chuff of the others…… Managed to get two of them in one go go over the hump bridge at Kerromoar and got the last of them around the left hander at the end of Glen Duff…..as I went around the outside of the last lad I saw his front wheel hit the pavement……. Bollocks….. because I was past, I never saw what happened to him, but thought if he had come off the three others closely behind would struggle to avoid him…… had to have a look when I got round the next corner and only saw one rider……. I was hoping that nothing bad had happened, but had to forget about it and carry on regardless…… The bike was handling so much better this time around and the changes the team had made were obviously in the right direction…….. Up on the mountain there was quite a bit of mist and a few damp patches and going through the 32nd milestone there was rain on my visor…… was half thinking of pulling in again, but after coming across the line and seeing nobody ahead, I thought I'd have a go at keeping it pinned all the way down and concentrated on getting the line right at the bottom of Bray…… Anybody that thinks that it's a straight line from St Ninians Crossroads to the bottom of Bray Hill is 'Talking Shite'…. Its important to get the line right before you get to Bray and hit that apex dead on…..

The second lap round was pretty clear and only passed the odd person…… Was enjoying it more this lap as the bike was a lot more fun and was popping the odd wheelie over all the jumps, but was half expecting to be passed myself by one of the top runners, seeing as how I started at the back, but that never happened till I got to Milntown when none other than Big H passed me on his new 2003 Production spec GSXR1000 Suzuki, tried to follow him for a bit, but the combination of trying too hard and felling pretty knackered made me mess up a few lines and lose drive…….. passed a few more lads and passed Phil 'Gillie' Gilmour on his GSXR1000 on the right hander after the Gooseneck….. went around his outside between him and the hedge, thank god he held his line, caught up with Kiwi, Warren Tuner at Gutheries, and tried to take him on the left hander after it but his Junior bike had the legs on mine, but passed him going up the Mountain Mile…… I slipstreamed him and was struggling to actually drive past, but as soon as he saw me alongside, he let me through and tucked in behind….. The mist was worse this time around and there was slightly more rain, and was thinking to myself, well, I'll call it a day when I get back… don't fancy going out in the mist and rain on the Big Suzuki…… Wobbled round the rest of the lap and met the team in the holding area….. had a brief chat and then asked had Pete come in….. saw him pull in and was mighty relieved….. asked him what happened, and he said after the bloke hit the pavement he went into a wobble and the others just managed to avoid him, but they all stayed on…….. close one.

Wasn't going to go out on the Suzuki, till it was pointed out that I only had done one lap on it so far and that I needed two to qualify….. Juan said just to wobble round and think of what the bike was doing……. But as soon as I hit the bottom of Bray I knew immediately that the forks weren't right… had to remember that I was on cold tyres and a full tank of gas, arrived at Braddan Bridge a bit hot and nearly out braked myself again, brakes etc weren't up to temperature and don't feel quite so good as the 600, this put me in the wrong line and the combination of being on cold tyres out of the racing line on the dusty bits, filled me with dread, but wobbled round and got through it….. took it steady till Union Mills, and saw my mate Jamie sitting on his garden wall waving as usual, so gave him a nod……. This bike doesn't half get you into the corners quick, and you have to mentally adjust your braking points, but the drive out of the corners is great…… This bike was still on it intermediate tyres too and the power of the 1000 would definitely destroy them quicker than the smoother power delivery on a 600, so was still wary of that happening…… have to change to Super Corsa's for the next session….. Had a pretty much uneventful lap apart from a power slide in the Glen Helen section, and discovered through the Ramsey section that the front forks were definitely bottoming out and the rear was too hard, and I could feel the same blister rearing up on me big toe……. Bollocks again.

The mist and rain were worse again this lap and was thinking at the time that the sidecars practise would be struggling, but was just looking forward to getting in…… had a big slide exiting Brandish, think it was because I had hit the white line, so knocked it off for the rest of the lap… could have gone on for another but decided to call it a day…… had a few people taking photo's of my crash hat, when I pulled in…… must admit I think it looks pretty cool meself….. Pulled in gave the bike to the boys, told them that was it for the night……. Wanted a rest. Chris told me that all three laps were under 21 minutes, which was ok but not great…. Had a best on the 600 at 20'39… which was 109.57mph, which turned out to be 13th quickest (10th quickest in the Proddy 1000)… but as the conditions were pretty crap up top, nobody was really setting the world alight…. One of the seat brackets had broken off on the Suzuki, so the boys set about manufacturing a new one…….. top team or what….. Not long after it started to piss down, and I was glad it was all over for me till tomorrow………

So tune in then for the next exciting, 110mph topping episode of …………….. Tommy Clucas Racing.