T.T. 2003 Practice Week - 28th May 2003

Wednesday Evening Practice

Practise this morning was cancelled as the weather forecast from Tuesday had given poor visibility, so it was another lie in this morning…… most welcome I might add, cos this hairing round the mountain course at break neck speed doesn't half wear you out…. Especially on the arms and back…. Both of mine needed a good rest…

Tipped up in the paddock early afternoon, the weather wasn't too bad, but looked like there could be a spot of mist about with a bit of rain forecast for later on……. got a spot of tinkering done and soon enough it was back out first on the Pro-Cet Racing R6 Yamaha, the tyres had done 4 laps but thought that they would be okay for another two I was hoping to get in tonight…… I lined up, this time alongside fellow Jurby regular, and top TT Rider, Paul Dedman, who was on his Junior bike….. Got another good start, and I went through St Ninians traffic lights with Paul right behind me (I imagined) ….. hit the bottom of Bray Hill flat out in top and then rounded the QB…. Got to Braddan Bridge and was quite surprised that Paul hadn't at least showed me his front wheel… got my head down and carried on regardless….. took Ballagarey in 6th although feathered the throttle a tad…. Reckon I should have gone down a gear as it bogged down a bit… but picked the speed up enough to take the left hander into Crosby at full stick….. passed a few riders till I got to Ballacraine and just before the Glen Helen got blocked by a slower rider and Dedman passed us both in one go……. Aaahhh… there he is….. got by the slower bloke and haired off after Paul….. was hoping he was going to show me a few lines, and he did… thought this would be handy… he can drag me round for a bit, although realistically, his Junior bike should be faster than my Production machine, so I would have my work cut out for me……. I was pleased to hang on to him for a while and it had been the first time I had seen someone jump Ballacrye directly in front of me doing about the same speed as I was doing….. and from my point of view it was quite impressive…. Was still right up his tailpipe into Quarry Bends and slipstreamed him down the Sulby Straight….. to be honest I was quite surprised that his bike didn't pull away from me….. in fact I pulled out of his slipstream and managed to get past…. It took ages….. there was a slower rider approaching Sulby Bridge, and I managed to outbrake him, Paul must have done too, because rounding the Bridge he went around my outside just missing the bales in the process…. That was a close one…… so he was back ahead of me….. tucked in behind again and he was slightly quicker through the Ramsey section than me, but was still close enough to him in Ramsey…… had a problem with another slower rider at the Gooseneck when we both outbraked him and I hit a false neutral…. Bollocks….. by getting my shit together it meant that I had to pass this bloke again and lost the tow I was getting from Paul….. Tried a bit to catch him but the gap wasn't closing any and I lost my concentration for a bit…. Just before Gutheries, Davy Morgan overtook me and he was going some……. Decided to just try and keep a steady enough pace going, but my arms were getting tired again…. I'm 'boy arms' me…….. Went across the line to start another lap, and it went pretty much okay, but was looking forward to pulling in……. got passed by Jason Griffiths on his Proddy 600 just before the Glen Helen and watched and tried to learn from him….. he seemed to know exactly where he was going, and was really nice and smooth……. A wider line than I had seen before, but nice and smooth all the same….. and the speeds he's been round at, he's obviously taking the right ones, sometimes you tip into a corner too early, and you know your doing it, but its probably a reflex action coupled with a bit of naivety ……… watched as he got passed the bloke in front like he wasn't there on the Cronk y Voddy straight, but it took me longer to get passed and didn't manage it till the 13th Milestone on the anchors….. took me over two miles to get past him….. that doesn't half add time to the clock…… big bugger was extra wide…. Didn't have anybody else pass me for the rest of the lap and was pretty bloody knackered when I pulled in…….

Wasn't really looking forward to going out on the Big Suzuki, but the boys had it all ready for me, it also had tyre warmers on it for the past hour to get them up to temperature and there was a new set of Super Corsa's fitted, had to go out on it to see how the new forks were more than anything else.…… so it was up up and away on this one after I had a short rest and a drink…… Think I started off with American dude, Wade Boyd…… but got the better of him and headed off down Bray Hill first…….. passed a bloke on a 125 before Braddan Bridge and nearly over cooked it again….. wobbled round after telling myself off and carried on…….. passed loads before I got to Ballacraine and got blocked a couple of times in the Glen Helen section …… the end of the Cronk v Voddy straight was interesting when I went wider than I normally would and had to roll the throttle…. Its easier on the 600 to take it flat out in top than it was this big bugger ……Past me ol mate Phil 'Gillie' Gilmour at the top of Begarrow and haired off after another bloke who blocked me at the bottom but went around his outside and got him before the 13th…. Was still feeling a bit tired in the arms and it was pretty hard work changing direction. Up on the mountain came across two riders and recognised on of them as Liam Quinn… seem to have met him on the road more than anyone else…… watched as he went past a bloke that was holding us both up and he gave him the two fingered salute from behind when he got passed him….. it was obviously his mate….. I was stuck on his tail for what seemed like an eternity and had a couple of bites at him, but nothing I thought that would be ultra safe, so I never made it stick……. Managed to out brake him though into the Creg-ny-Baa …… haired down the straight, being careful not to get on the power while on the white lines at Brandish and have a slide like last time, and was still only rounding Hillberry flat out in fourth…. Should be taking this in fifth, but that will come the more I do it….. not had too many laps on this Suzuki…… wobbled round the slow bits and pulled in…… Was gonna call it a day as I wanted to save my energy for tomorrow afternoons session, but Stuey suggested that we try a few suspension alterations and it was only 'one more lap' so he went softer again on the settings and I went off again after a few minutes to try it……. This was the first time that I had done two laps in one night on the big bike and I could really feel the difference with the lower fuel load, the bike was just popping wheelies everywhere…. Which was ace…. And it felt like it handled better, and surprisingly enough my arm pump problem had gone…… really enjoyed the lap and it was the most fun I'd had so far….. it felt like a different bike and I hoisted the front at every opportunity…… caught up with No 46 on the Mountain, who had Granie on his leathers, so that must have been that French Dude, Marc…… he held me up for a mile or so till I passed him going down the Creg…. But I braked too early and he came back past…….. sorry Frenchy, but passed him straight back and haired off down the straight to Brandish and never saw him again…… Popped a big wheelie after Signpost, but had to drop the front to tip in for Bedstead…… wobbled round Governors dip then popped another huge wheelie up the Glencrutchery road…. Was half thinking of keeping it going for the whole length of it….. but the bollocking I thought I'd probably get, wasn't worth it…. Pulled in after what seemed no time at all for the team to inform me that I had done a Personnal Best…. Whay Hay….. The Wad had me down for 19'49 which is sommat over 114mph….. and I felt that I was only going steady….. was pretty pleased with that. On checking the official timesheet though…. They had me down for a fastest of 20' 05 of which The Wad reckoned that was my first lap…. And they had me down for 24 minutes for the other which is somewhere around the 90mph mark…… Total Bollocks…. They obviously had added the time I was in the pits…. But I couldn't see how, because I had completed two separate laps, and must have tripped the timing beacon both times……… and if I had come in and gone out again in say 4 minutes which was probably about the time spent in the pits, I would surely have showed up on the sheet as having done a 4 minute lap…… which would take some doing!…… Another thing that baffled me was that they had Liam Quinn down on the sheet as having gone quicker than me……..mmmmmmmmm after I had caught and passed him as well…… makes you wonder if all the times are right. Although Wad reckoned they were only a second out on my 600 time which was 20'19 (111.3mph)…. So a definite mistake made somewhere ….. I know it was quicker than what they had, but it would have been nice to see it officially in black and white…… problems problems …….. Doesn't make much difference in practise, but I hope that the race time will be right…. Had to go and buy another pair of gloves as I had worn holes in the ones I had on, which tells me I'm trying too hard…. Gonna have to try and steer the bike more with the foot pegs and my knees….. I know I need to but its still hard to do….

Anyway, tune in next time for another very exciting, who knows what times, knee steering episode of
………….. Tommy Clucas Racing