T.T. 2003 Practice Week - 30th May 2003

Friday Evening Practice

Had my brother Don come over for a week or so today, and along with Andy Wright from Pro-Cet Racing who had also just arrived, they were going to watch me for the first time at the TT……… We had decided to try and do 2 laps on each bike, but had asked the Race Office could we go out in the 600 Production practice on the big bike as we were still struggling with the way it was handling…. It would be nice to ride somebody else's to see if it was the bike or just me…… Had just gone for a new rear tyre on the 1000, but opted for a full set on the Pro-Cet R6 as the tyres had done 6 laps, and amazingly still looked in top nick.

Lined up alongside Maria Costello again, and got the green light to go, I managed to get to the traffic lights first and haired off again down Bray Hill…… Not so bad on a standing start lap but pretty hairy on a flying one….. The bike wasn't handling very well again and I pulled in after the first lap, had to pull in anyway as with the humid conditions and hardly any wind the flies were out in force tonight, I had used both my visor rip offs before I had even got to Ramsey Hairpin….. so had to pull in for another visor anyway……while in the pits the boys made some adjustments to the suspension…… and then I went off out on another lap……… it was pretty much the same on the next lap and again the flies were really bad….. Pulled in and told the Team, that I was still struggling with it and changing direction was one of my biggest problems, and also that the brake lever was coming back to the bar more than I felt comfortable with….. Stuey reckoned he could have the brakes bled, chain adjusted and the forks raised through the yokes, so as to quicken the steering in the 20 minutes it would take me to complete a lap on the R6 Yamaha….. and then to pull in and swap back to the big bike…… I thought he was being pretty optimistic to have it back to the paddock, all these adjustments made and have it re-scrutineered in that allotted time…..

Anyway, had another visor clean, more rip offs added and I went out for a lap on the Pro-Cet Racing R6….. straight away I felt comfortable on the bike…… the whole package felt better and I was really enjoying it…… there was a hell of a lot of people out watching, more so than I had ever seen, the good weather and a Friday seems to bring them out….. after jumping off the big Suzuki the R6 Yamaha seemed like a doddle to ride and I nailed it round corners like Ballagarey, the left hander into Crosby and the end of The Cronk-y-Voddy straight as fast as it would go….. the gearbox was a lot sweeter too, and it was giving my blistered big toe a bit of a break….. thankfully….. Tore off the last of my rip offs, just after Signpost and I knew I really should pull in for more as I would never see where I'm going without some…… but as I crossed the line… I felt 'warmed up'….. had no arm pump problem, only one fly on my visor, and this was the best fun I had had so far…… so just kept my head down and thundered off down Bray Hill, much to the annoyance of Stuey who had apparently busted his hump and had the big bike ready….. amazing! ……At the time it was unbeknown to me… I just had a clear road and it was great……. Passed a couple of blokes with no fuss at all and kept going……. The flies all the while were splattering off my visor and after the Glen Helen section it was getting desperate…… I knew I was on for my fastest lap of the week on the 600 if I kept going, but it could be dangerous….. so when I got to Sulby Bridge, I pulled in and signaled to the crowd for a rag or sommat to clean my visor with…… a Marshal pulled some 'Bob Heath Visor Spray' as if by magic out of his pocket…… nice one… but then had to wait a bit till a rag was produced….. scrubbed like hell but needed to do it again, and was happy enough to have a clear line of vision…. Gave them the thumbs up and carried on…… felt really comfortable all the way round and by the time I got back to the Grandstand, I could hardly see through it again……. The little bastards….. the only consolation was that I had slaughtered hundreds of them…….

Was happy enough with the R6 and felt that I didn't need to do the extra one lap practise there is on Wednesday on it, was more worried about the Team PC Racing GSXR1000 Suzuki….. I felt that I was going to struggle with that…… and to get into the top 20 would be no mean feat…. Especially the way the practise times were…… the top 20 were all around the 116mph mark, and that was faster than I had gone…… so we'd have to wait and see…..

So tune in next time, for another very exciting, most fun so far, Stuey spitting feathers episode of ………………………….Tommy Clucas Racing.