T.T. 2003 Practice Week - 27th May 2003

Tuesday Evening Practice

There was no morning practise this morning, so the lie in was more than welcome…… Got to the paddock early afternoon……. Jaffa tinkered a bit more with the Pro-Cet Racing R6 Suspension, as I wanted to try altering the rear rebound damping… wanted the rear of the bike to come up slower, so he set about doing that….. Had problems with the Suzuki front end, as the forks were bottoming out, I wanted this remedied…… its not much fun when you don't feel in control of it…. The problem was that even with the preload adjuster wound right in, we had 8 -10mm too much sag…. Which is not good…… it was suggested that we put a spacer in…… but as none of my team are forks experts, it was pretty frustrating….. even more frustrating was the fact that I had already sent these forks away to be done and it still had the same problem…. Went over to ask the boys at TAS Suzuki, but were busy themselves and not much help….. and it was typical that Ohlins or the like weren't in the paddock….. In the end Jason Griffiths's mechanic, Tom Dickie came over and tried to help us, but not having the right tools was causing a problem……. In the end we just had to lash it all back together unsorted, so I wasn't keen on using it till it was ……. So it looks like it would be both sessions on the Pro-Cet Racing R6 Yamaha… The boys also fettled the bike with a new set of Pirelli Super Corsa's, and it was the first time I had these fitted this week….. but the blackboard mentioned 'fog falling and lifting on the Mountain'…. And where there's fog there is usually damp bits….. so had to be wary about that……

Was lining up for the start, and was beside top lady rider Maria Costello on her new Martin Bullock CBR600 Honda……. Got the green light and another good start had me away first…. Thundered down Bray Hill and wobbled round the QB…….kept my head down and passed a few people….. took the top of Ballagarey in top gear and kept it pinned around the left hander into Crosby…… its pretty hard to do that one, even DJ says he has to build up to it. Was held up by a couple of riders in the Glen Helen section, but got by okay and went steady enough for the first lap…….. Crossing the line for the second one I concentrated on where I should be on the road and I hit the bottom of Bray full tilt…. It didn't half hit with a thump and I got a couple of good wheelies…….. tried not to roll the throttle as much this time round, but was suffering from a bit of arm pump, which is not good…… Had a hell of a fright when Richard Britton came underneath me on his Big 1000 Suzuki right at the Jump at Rhencullen 1….. I don't think he expected me to tip in when I did and there was no room……. Fuckin idiot could have had us both off…… it's only practise after all….. I know I'd have slowed him up, but that wasn't a safe move, could have knocked me into the crowd that was there…… knocked the stuffing out of me for a bit, as that was too close for comfort, but probably not worth saying owt, they probably do it to each other on the Irish roads all the time…. noticeably slowed a bit, with a combination of arm pump, getting tired and too many flies on my visor…… I'd ripped my rip off, off too early…. Doh!….. was passed by Bruce Anstey on his Gixer Thou just after windy corner and Adrian MacFarlane on his at Bedstead……… Pulled in the paddock as this session was over, and was going straight back out on the same bike in the Proddy 600 class…… the boys re-fuelled it, and I cleaned my visor, and addeda another rip off….. tried to stretch my arms a bit and was soon off again……. There was quite a few 125's and 400's out this session which was causing a bit of traffic….. but funnily enough I felt more comfortable…… probably because I knew the tyres were warmer and the bike felt slightly better again with more adjustment to the rear rebound damping…… Felt like I was going slightly better and took the end of the Cronk y Voddy straight full tilt….. the bike jumps about a bit on the exit, but it was going okay…….. caught up and passed a few more and bearly ran in the back of a 400 braking for Sulby Bridge… its amazing how quickly you can catch these smaller bikes… passed quite a lot of traffic through the Ginger Hall section to Ramsey and the bike was handling better than it had been before and I managed to keep it in 6th gear all the way through…. Tried to remember to keep wide in the places before the jumps that are through here as I usually hit them banked over which puts you into a bit of a wobble……. Still haven't got the one at Glen Duff quite right yet…….

Got passed myself by again, No 25. Mark Parrett just after the Gooseneck, when I got blocked by a slower rider and he went round the outside of us both…… he pulled a gap on me and managed to nail another one before the white bridge onto the Mountain Mile…… again, I was blocked…. Got passed and started to chase him again…… there was a bit of mist this time around and had to throttle off once or twice but was still catching him slightly, and had him in sight going down to Hillberry and when I got to Signpost, then Governors etc…… couldn't see him at all….. he either went down there like a man possessed or overshot somewhere and I never saw him…… haired over the start line to start my fourth and final practise lap and again hit Bray Hill flat out in top…… another couple of good wheelie ensued and I was enjoying it more this time around…… slight arm ach but I felt more comfortable with the bike………. There was quite a few off this time around, and the yellow flags were a bit late as I approached the gooseneck… somebody had clipped the hedge on what looked like a little 125, must have just done it cos the Marshal's were still getting there….. There was quite a bit more mist this time round and it was wetting my visor quite a bit and had to keep wiping the 'Dew' off it…. Wasn't too handy when it was already covered in flies and it was just smearing there little carcasses all over it….. bummer….. Passed a few more on smaller bikes and never got passed myself for the remainder of the lap and pulled in safe and sound….. gave the bike to the team and had a bit of a chat then went back to the Awning…. Team Manager, Chris had me down for around a 20'20 lap, which was getting better…….. officially it was 20'19.6 which was a 111.39mph lap which turned out to be 9th quickest….. so not bad…… I know I can do better though…….. Archibald topped the Class with 115.89mph…..These standard exhausts have slowed the bikes Jaffa and The Wad wheeled the bike off for washing and I went for a shower….

Stuey had sweet talked Big H into lending me his Maxton front forks for the Suzuki, as he took them off his Super bike to fit proper works Ohlins jobbies…… so left Stuey to fit them as I took the team home in the trusty Clio Diesel…..

So keep tuning in for more exciting, get that bloody Suzuki going, episodes of …….. Tommy Clucas Racing