Manx Grand Prix - Practice Week: 17th - 25th August 2002

Had waited for ages for all the bits that I needed for both bikes to arrive and they did on Thursday morning (15th) and was in the garage till 1-00am with my Team Manager, Chris and top spanner twiddler, Stuey…… would never have managed to get the things together without them…… Have to say a huge thanks to Joe Whalley at J.W.Welding for getting me out of a hole by fixing my knackered exhaust…… My No1 bike has a hand made Laser Works Extreme system on it, and as they are hand made, spare parts for them aren't guaranteed to fit, as they are all slightly different, and I couldn't wait on the delivery for a new set of front pipes…… so Cheers Joe…… Top Man.

I can't believe that after all this time…… the dreaming…… the pub talk, the cost, the injuries, no holidays and all the signatures I had to get…… the time is finally here…… the Manx Grand Prix…… The only racing experience that I've ever wanted to do…… to have a go on the TT course……… have the road to meself, with no bloody tin boxes coming the other way, or combine harvesters, or horse shit etc etc etc…… Now to have a go for real…… and I can't wait……

Friday 16th August

Went to sign on at the race office at the Grandstand at 1400hrs…… there was already a huge queue…… bollocks…… It was really hot standing there and all I could think about was the rain that was forecast for the Saturday and Sunday…… bloody typical…… queued for ages and eventually got in to sign on, get my helmet, boots, leathers, dog tags, license and all that checked and pick up my folder full of stuff…… nearly two hours to do that…… I had read the regs wrong, by already putting the wrong colour number plates on the bikes…… and it had taken me bloody ages to get all the bubbles out of them as well, so that was the first schoolboy error before I had even started, and there will probably be many more……

Met Stu at the Grandstand to help put my Awning up and fasten it down so that we could leave it up for the fortnight…… only to be told that we couldn't do it…… as we were locals, we weren't allowed……… wasn't happy with that so rowed with the Clerk of the Course, his Deputy and the secretary for a good fifteen minutes…… made some good points only to be shot down in flames………… the bottom line was, that the locals get shat on……… we have to work out the back of our vans…… was well not happy, so if it rains the locals get soaked and all the lads from across don't…… doesn't seem that fair to me……… felt like telling them to shove it up their arse…… with that and starting me at No18 in the Newcomers race…… which I thought was a real piss-take…… but I wasn't going to bite my nose off to spite my face…… it's not about them, it's about the challenge that I've set myself.

Had left the tyres on that I had used for a race at the Southern 100 and all of Jurby Road as I thought that worn tyres would slow me down a bit and I had also left the settings on it that I never got chance to try…… loaded everything that I thought that I would need in the van ready for tomorrow…………………

Saturday 17th August
First Practise

Was at the Grandstand for just after midday, as all the newcomers had to endure a Newcomers briefing, followed by a lap of the TT course in a coach with Dessie Evans as our tutor…… could hear him okay, but as I was near the back never saw much of where we were going…… not too worried though, reckon that I know the road pretty well as it is……… the only parts that worried me slightly, were the parts that I've never been fast through before……… like mainly the top of Bray Hill, Kirk Michael, and May Hill in Ramsey…… the rest of it I've been pretty fast on before, going like a nutter on the open road…… something that's not big or clever…… but 'as you do'.

Had parked in Paddock C, next to my good mate, and fellow Newcomer, Chris 'Sammo' Sammons and his Girlfriend, Sandra, who are both kipping down at Juan Kinnish's in Laxey for the fortnight…… the best place for him to be I reckon……… as he is as fucking slack as any Laxey boy I've ever met…… Kinnish excluded……… he has had his head up his arse for the past month as the time had got nearer, which we all have probably had…… I'm pretty sure he's actually keener than me…… which would take some doing. Got the bikes out of the van when the team tipped up at around 3-00pm, Chris, Stuey and The Wad…… did the tyre pressures etc and listened to the Ulster GP on Sammo's radio…… was informed by someone in the know that Gary Jess had come off somewhere and that was all I had heard……… had noticed that his truck was already here in the paddock, just a few vans away from us…… the boys took the bikes to scrutineering, where one of the local scrutineers informed me that Gary had been in fact killed in the incident at the Ulster…… I was absolutely mortified………

I had met the bloke at Cadwell last year, it was the day of the cancelled Newcomers race and I made a point of going over to his Awning at exactly 10-45am……… popped my head in and being the cheeky bastard that I am, said 'Oi Gary, do you know what should have been happening right around now……?' And before he could answer……… I piped up……' I would just be coming past you in the Newcomers at the Manx Grand Prix'…… it was pretty funny, and you had to be there…… Spoke to him for nearly an hour and he was one of the nicest blokes you could ever hope to meet, and I was sooooo looking forward to racing him on my home track, although he would have taken some stopping, it would have been no disgrace to finish second to him……… I was pretty numb for the next hour or so…… just couldn't believe it…… it really hits home how this sport can really bite you in the ass……

Hung around after the bikes had been put in the holding area…… The Newcomers were going to be let out first and I was right at the front and it looked like I could be first out on the track…… which I was quite excited about…… was informed over the tannoy that there was mist on the mountain section, visibility was down to about 50 feet and the start was going to be delayed for 15 minutes…… bollocks. They also said it would now be an untimed session. Eventually got called out onto the road and Stuey lost a few places pushing the bike up to the start line…… told him to push in and was about 12th in line to go out…… noticed that one of the up and coming Irish stars, Raymond Porter, No4, was ahead, only know that, because the first 5 are all the Irish Fast Boys, and Gary Jess would have been No1…… Had my dark visor on and noticed that I was the only one that had……mmmmmmmmmm………… well, we'll see how it goes…… The plan was to do at least two laps, as I need 6 in total to qualify, with at least two inside the qualifying speed of 26 minutes…… so eventually got the green light and set off, the bike really bogged down and the bloke I started with got away, the gearing was that different than I normally have it, I forgot I would have to get some revs on to get it going…… flew past the bloke I started with before I even got to the traffic lights at St Ninians Cross roads and thundered down Bray Hill…… to tell you the truth it was not half as bad as I expected, but remembered that I was on a full tank of gas and stone cold tyres, was saying to myself ' don't be a twat'…… passed a couple more at Ago's leap and wobbled round Quarter Bridge, had a bit of a slide as I laid down the power, so told myself off……… was really cautious round Braddan Bridge, but then fed in the power and had caught another couple on the road by Snugborough…… took it steady through Union Mills then got on the gas and was already thinking about one of the scariest corners on the Course…… Ballagarey………… there were a couple of riders approaching the corner as I crested the hill and as I was going so much faster than them I had to throttle off, but passed them both going down the hill towards Marown TV…… I've heard about the 'Big Balls' corner into Crosby and I could see what they mean, to take that flat out will take some doing, but no doubt I'll be having a go at that come the end of the week…… it really effects the speed you can get to Greeba…… noticed quite a few troops at the Crosby Hotel, and had a monumental wheelie at the crest over the Wagon and Horses…… saw a gaggle of riders going down past the Highlander and flew past them all before we got to Greeba Castle…… couldn't believe I was now first on the road, I was only going steady, anyway, this is what I had wanted, to have the road to myself, so just carried on and tried to enjoy it…… noticed that I was sweating like mad and I had been holding on too tight so tried to relax, had a bit of a slide going down towards Ballacraine, which was unusual, and it was here that I noticed that the bike wasn't really steering very well, as it drifted a little wide towards the hay bales…… still took it steady all the way up through the Glen Helen section, where I made a few mistakes, wasn't really concentrating like I should have been, was taking more that one bite at some of the corners instead of trying to be smooth, but I thought, bollocks to it, just get the first lap under your belt…… had a few handling problems and would have had to give the bike no more than a 5 out of 10, as it had been loads different than the ex Jason Griffiths Road & Track Motorcycles Production R6 I had been using for the past couple of months, was pretty sure I was faster on that…… felt like I was doing okay till I got to Kirk Michael where I rode like an old woman, was so cautious I was nearly down to the speed limit, and it never got much faster than that all the way through…… you wouldn't believe how bumpy it is…… still carried on regardless…… was steady most other places, found it hard to change direction from Kirk Michael to Ballaugh, and was rolling the throttle when I know I shouldn't have been, but was making the excuse to myself that it was only my first lap…… leapt Ballacry quite nicely, and it landed okay so nowt to worry about there…… was pretty uneventful till Milntown where it was hopping all over the shop and when I got to schoolhouse corner I had hardly any brakes…… the fully floating brake discs I have are no friggin use for road racing, went through Ramsey thinking who's got an R6 that I could pinch solid discs off (came up with 2 people…. How's that)…… Was steady through Cruickshanks as I was already aware that is where Newcomers get caught out the most, and I could see why, it really tightens up on you and its really bumpy…… The yellow flags were out and I knew that it must still be misty up the mountain…… lost a knee slider when it blew off and hit me on the side before I had even got to the Gooseneck, they weren't joking about the mist……… it was an absolute joke…… visibility down to 50 feet my arse…… more like 20…… tootled along following the white line all the way over at about 30 mph…… had to rip both tear off's off and then had to lift my visor to see where I was going…… it was desperate…… if I had fallen off the Marshal's would have heard it but not seen it…… that's if they were there, because I couldn't see them……… I couldn't believe they had let a bunch of Newcomers out in this…… It felt like it took a week to get to the Creg ny baa, and even going down there I couldn't put my foot down, because as I had lifted my visor it was now all wet on the inside…… road nearly all the way back with my visor up, still managed to go round Hillberry pretty handy I thought…… nearly overshot Sign post as I was busy wiping my eyes cos I couldn't see, then tootled back to the paddock…… got stopped as I rounded the tree to back to the pits to get noise tested, then the boys met me at the top of pit lane…… said that I had to have a visor change, took my helmet off and the first person standing in front of me was Geoff Cannell, he asked a few questions, can't really remember what I said…… went back to the van and got my spare clear visor, put a fog city in it went back to the bike, got all ready and then waited to go back out.

Sped off down Bray Hill for the second time, and pretty much did on the second lap what I did on the first…… got held up loads by another newcomer at the Black Dub and was extra cautious because he was all over the road…… Christ, this guy hasn't a clue where he was going, so bided my time, but squeezed past before Glen Helen, he did his best to try and put me on the pavement while I went round him though…… felt like I was going okay, but wasn't really looking forward to the Mountain section again, must have been losing so much time through there…… anyway, went up again, and if it was possible it was even worse…… I just followed the white lines……… the short white lines meant I was on a straight bit, and the longer white lines meant that there was a corner coming, and as I know the road so well I knew which way the corner was going to go……… Was thinking all the time that they should have really cancelled the session …… It was abysmal. Still managed to pass a few people, you didn't really see them till the last second, but as I sort of knew where I was going I wasn't too worried although I wasn't enjoying it at all, but was determined to get 2 laps under my belt.Lost my bearings for a moment as I was constantly wiping the mist of my visor and I was then lost, but after three left handers on the bounce knew that I had rounded the 32nd milestone and was heading down to Windy Corner…… I was using my finger on my visor like a windscreen wiper whilst watching the lines on the road, but was off line just that little bit and ended up in the run off area that is there, the first I knew of it was when I saw 3 orange jackets thought……… 'Oh shite! That's the marshals sitting on the wall……' then ended up in the gravel trap and took a good few seconds to get out then the bike stopped, got it going again…… got out of the mist as I went down the Creg, then went steady till I got to the finish line…… All the team were waiting as I pulled in and they immediately informed me that I had done two 98mph laps……… Jesus!, that wasn't bad…… must have been doing alright on the bottom section, must have lost 2 or 3 minutes over the mountain, which in theory might have put my very first lap on the TT course at over 110mph…… was well pleased.

Monday 19th August
Morning Practise

Was up at ten to four, picked up The wad and met Stuey and Scotty in the paddock…… put both bikes through scrutineering, was planning on using No 2 bike which had the intermediate tyres on it, as I was expecting the roads to be slightly damp with the dew, and if the conditions improved, would swop and have a lap on No 1 bike which Stuey and I fettled yesterday with the V&M settings that Moodie had used for the TT, to see if they would suit me, so I was quite keen to give it a try.
Had a problem with scrutineering, they made us wire up every spring on the exhaust on both bikes, which meant whipping the fairings off and doing it in the dark…… bastards…… I thought it was just the end can springs that had to be wired…… Don't understand that you don't have to do it in the TT…… This meant that I was 5th from last out.

Had a lap on No2 bike there was a lot of traffic about, and I forgot to put my earplugs in and get breathalised like they asked me, but with all the fucking about I forgot to do both…… there was yellow flags getting waved at Ballaspur and saw two bikes were down, with one of them in a field……… mmmmmmmmm…… there seemed to be tons out for a morning practise but the weather was really good, apart from up the Mountain where it was damp and pretty slippery, so that knocked the time down a bit, when I got to Signpost noticed that my foot was slipping off the footpeg, so toured in as the was oil all over my right boot and coming out of Governers Dip there seemed to be something wrong with the rear wheel…… so pulled in, wiped my boot and jumped on my No 1 bike they boys had warmed up ready…… and set off…… managed to squeeze 2 laps in on that, so that made 3 in total…… the conditions didn't really improve, so I was pretty chuffed to find that I had lapped at 107mph, which I think was somewhere near the top of the leaderboard…… not bad for a newcomer. Only problem I had was a front end slide up at the Bungalow Bridge…… there was on oil flag out, as there was all over the mountain because of the wet conditions, but this was actually oil I slipped on…… great.

Phoned up Anthony 'Slick' Bass, top tuner extrodinaire and Factory mechanic to the stars (including me) to see if he could have a look at my No 2 bikes' oil leak and when we got there discovered to my horror that the inner wheel spacers had also been missing and the bearings had welded themselves on to the wheel spindle…… Jesus, I was lucky there…… the thing could have locked up on me…… I don't understand how they were missing which has made me paranoid about checking them…… Slick had to cut the spindle out, so I had to go home and raid my spares box and beg and borrow some bits from Road and Track Motorcycles in Douglas, good lads again. Had to take the wheel to J.W.Welding to see if he could get what was left of the bearings out by welding something on to them, get tyres fitted to wheels and get back out to Slicks to fit a new wheel, spacers, Disc, and rear brake caliper hanger…… it was hectic, and had to also fettle No 1 bike ready for the evenings practise…… put new tyres on that…… it has on got 3 laps to go before I have to give it to Slick for its engine rebuild…… it was a really hectic day…… got back to Peel, Scotty picked up the Wad while I went to collect my new tyres that my mate Kelvin Dawson at Peter Dawson tyres had fitted for me and then got stuck in the rush hour traffic…… bollocks …… was late getting to the paddock, the boys got the bike through scrutineering pretty quickly, and we weren't out till 1905hrs…… gave me some time to relax…… was absolutely knackered, wanted to have a sleep in the afternoon, but as things turned out hadn't stopped all day, and it was really starting to catch up on me…… this was the first timed session and I wanted to put a good lap in…… had done 5 so far in total, so needed two timed laps to qualify…… Noitced as they let us out in pairs at ten second intervals that my mate Sammo was ahead of me, so that would be a larf catching him up…… Set off and had caught Sammo on the road by the time I got to the QB, tailed him to Braddan and was thinking of going around his outside, but the thought of cold tyres put me off, but got past him round the next corner…… really started to screw the bikes neck and was trying pretty hard if I was to tell the truth, or was it because I was so tired it felt like it and couldn't concentrate like I should have been…… again, there was loads of traffic about and I had to be careful, but the bike was going really well, it was absolutely flying down the Sulby straight where I past loads in one go, after nearly overshooting May Hill in Ramsey, was thinking about knocking it off and concentrating on getting a smoother lap on the next one, but didn't have long to think about it when the engine let go big time rounding the waterworks. Couldn't really stop there, so tried to tour to the Gooseneck and stopped a few yards short with smoke bellowing out of the exhaust…… not good. Watched the rest of the practise from there, with Juan's Girlfriend, Dawn, who had picked that exact spot to watch. Used Dawn's phone to contact the team in the pits and they came the back roads to pick me up and we phoned Slick and met him at his workshop, fettled the No 2 bike while we were there, he had already put a load of new gaskets on it, so at least I would have something to qualify on in Tuesday nights practise, left my No 1 bike for him to strip down and assess the damage…… Was going to take No 2 bike to Robbie Sylvesters Dyno in the Paddock, Tuesday am, to see if the oil leak was cured. It was a late night and had buggered both bikes in one day, was pretty pissed off, went for a Chinese with the team, as they had earned it. Eventually tipped into my wanking chariot at around midnight.

Tuesday 20th August

Got the No 2 bike dyno'd and it looked like the oil leak was okay, but there was still a smidgen of water leaking out of the water pump housing……Slick phoned me and gave me the news I was hoping not to hear and his technical term was……… 'proper fucked'…… the bike had dropped some valves and basically ate the engine…… the only salvageable items were the gearbox, cams and crank……… BOLLOCKS! So my all singing, all dancing, engine had gone to that scrap yard in the sky…… R.I.P (rest in pieces)…

Went out to Slicks place to steal the housing off the knackered engine and swop wheels etc etc etc… over, as now there is only one bike to use…… and its not the one I had planned on…… typical that I had 2 ½ laps to go and it was getting rebuilt…… I was getting a bit testy the way things were going and it was taking so long to put together, was wishing I had Stuey and Wad with us to give us a hand…… found a stripped thread in the engine mounting and this was 5pm…… scrutineering opened at 4pm…… good job we were out in the second session, but we were still late as it was…… Slick fixed the stripped thread and we lashed it back together and headed up over the mountain to the paddock……… The boys whipped the bike through and lined it up in the pits ready for the off…… Had had no time to relax, and its at times like these I feel like packing it in…… have had no luck so far, and the week seems to be getting a lot more expensive that I had envisaged………… but 'That's Racing'……… Didn't make me feel any better though…… Didn't really have my No 2 bike set up suspension wise, but set everything to about 'half' just to see how it would handle.

Anyway, we were all let away from pit lane, and got a slap on the back before I got to the front and it was Pete 'Hound Dog' Hounsell beside me…… that was handy, I'll follow him around……… Got flagged away and was doing that, and had a nice and steady pace going…… noticed he was braking earlier that I would have done, and apart from the sun in my eyes it was the most fun I'd had so far…… there were loads on the Cronk-y-Voddy straight and we both had to go really close to the pavement on the right hand side of the road, kept tailing him and was actually rolling the throttle in loads of places, my bike seemed quicker that his, this is what I was hoping for, had decided before I went out that I wouldn't go as fast down the straights and roll the throttle as often as possible…… there seemed to be more traffic out tonight than there had been, going through Ballaugh, decided on showing Pete that I was still there and passed him going into Quarry Bends then knocked the throttle down to 10 or 11 thousand revs along Sulby straight hoping he would come back past, but he never, was held up more times than I can remember from Ginger Hall to Ramsey and again up the mountain, but did manage to follow some bloke on a 250 who was going really well, but passed him as well…… was going pretty steady, still rolling the throttle when I could and into Sign Post Corner my foot slipped off the peg again…… Bastard! The oil leak had reared its ugly head again…… so I had to tour into the pits again and that was my night over…… The boys told me that I had lapped at 108mph, which was uplifting, seeing as I wasn't trying that hard and was backing off all over the place, wasn't really wanting to show my hand in practise, but I reckon even on this bike I could knock another 30 seconds off that, which would be around the 111mph mark…… good job really, as on of the Irish lads had done 110.2mph, which is pretty good……… going to have to go out to Slicks again tomorrow morning…… got some decisions to make on what to do for the best…… Simon 'Goose' Fulton offered to lend me his engine, so might put that in my No 2 chassis and use it for practice, while Slick rebuilds No 2's engine and put it into No 1 chassis……… whichever way I look at it I need another engine…… like I said…… decisions, decisions…… Word on the Manor was that another local lad and British Junior Superstock competitor, Neil Muirhead had a spare tuned engine…… By the time I got home, it was a bit late, so left a message with Neil's sister to give me a ring ASAP.

Wednesday 21st August

Was woken by the phone at around 7-30am by young Neil and we thrashed out a deal for his engine, went first to Douglas to pick it up and then it was out to Slick's workshop…… decided that the best option was to drop the engine out of No 2 bike, give that a complete overhaul while it was out and have that ready for race week, and put the engine that I had just got from Neil into No 2 bike so that at least I would have something to go out and practise on…… Slick checked the engine out before we put it into No 2 bike and he said that it had definitely been tuned as the compression was different but he couldn't see much else in the way of tuning without stripping it…… didn't really have much choice so we banged that into No 2 chassis and changed the oil and filter, which took us till around three and we had it up and running…… then went to the Paddock and got it dyno'd…… it was putting out more midrange power than the previous engine that had been in No 2 bike, which was handy, but I was a little worried that it wouldn't be as fast because of that, more of a short circuit engine it seemed to me, where I've found that these V&M bikes are really geared towards having more top end speed…… although Neil said that this engine had 'allegedly' been tuned by V&M……

Was soon out on the track and thundering down Bray Hill the engine died……… Had to pull in at the Quarter Bridge, but it started again and so off I wentski……… same thing happened at Glen Vine, thought that it might be fuel starvation, and a kinked fuel pipe, thought that I had it sorted but it died again at Crosby Post Office…… managed to get my hand in this time and sorted the problem…… then proceeded onwards…… by this time I was last on the road by a fair bit, but still didn't really have that smooth a lap even with the empty roads…… rounding Brandish my foot was slipping off the peg again…… Bollocks got another oil leak…… So had to tour in to the pits…… maybe sometime soon I can get a flying lap.

Went straight back out to Slick's place and found that there was a bung on the flywheel housing leaking so he fixed that, and trying to change wheels and brake discs, 4 bolts had been put on too tight, so we had to drill them out, lucky I had some spares, but it was all time consuming work. Slick had my other engine in a million pieces and he found that this one was suffering the same symptoms as my No 1 bike, so it might not have been long before this one had also gone pop…… he was going to utilize the best bits from both engines, crank, cams and gearbox - wise and replace everything else with new……… pistons, rings, shells, valves, springs etc, etc, etc…… Brought No 2 bike back to Peel, hoping that tomorrow afternoons session would go well…… it was about time I had some luck I reckon……

Thursday 22nd August

The Wad called down early doors, as I had decided to change a few things on the No 2 bike to see if it would handle a bit better, so set about making the geometry the same as No 1 and softened off the suspension a tad…… Slick phoned with some more bad news, some of the spare weren't in the box when he opened it…… we were short 3 inlet and 5 exhaust valves……… Disaster!…… why is this happening to me. First port of call then was Road & Track Motorcycles, and by pure fluke they had some in for a warranty job, so they gave me what I needed, thank God they've been here this week, then went to get some more tyres fitted by my mate Kelvin, then it was up to the Paddock…… did all the usual jobs and got the bike through scrutineering……… Had new tyres on for this session, and after all this week and all the problems I've had just wanted to get a couple of decent laps in, so went pretty hard from the off…… Noticed that my mate Sammo had started 10 seconds ahead of me and he's been getting faster and faster all week, but it still gave me something to chase…… was on his tail up to Balla scary corner, had to back off just a tad, because if I had gone in the way I had wanted to I might have ran in the back of him…… steadied the bike up and flew in…… drove around the outside of Sammo and got my head down, with Sammo tailing me all the way to Ballacraine…… he told me afterwards that every time I pulled some distance between us, he reeled me back in on a straight bit…… he said his bike was way faster than mine……… bollocks, I had been worried about that…… still, this was all I had, so had to get on with it…… Sammo said he never saw which way I went in the Glen Helen section, but as I know it much better than him it was to be expected, pretty hard to learn that bit…… found after the Ginger Hall all the way to Ramsey that the bike was handling like a piece of shit, nothing unusual there, but it was really tank slapping all over the place…… was wondering if I should notch the steering damper up some more clicks, had been taking this section in 6th gear on my No 1 bike but was down to 4th in loads of places on this one…… not good…… went steady enough everywhere else, all the while having a look down at my boots to see if there was any oil on them…… the bike wasn't pulling top gear either, and I probably could have gone up another tooth on the rear sprocket to compensate this, but if it wasn't revving out it wasn't doing the engine as much harm, so wasn't too worried about that, although I would have liked a bit more speed, the original engine in my No 1 bike was a missile (god rest its soul)…… managed two laps without any mishaps and pulled in to refuel…… saw my Team Manager as I pulled in and he gave me the big thumbs up…… two laps around the 112mph mark…… not bad considering, I reckoned if I had been on my No 1, I may have notched around the 114mph mark, I knew where I was losing time, so something to be upbeat about…… The Wad and Scotty Boy re-fuelled me, clicks my steering damper up another 4 notches and out I went again…… flew down Bray Hill, and overshot the QB…… the brakes had cooled and there wasn't as much bite, straightened up and just stopped before the bales……… got a little applause from the crowd, then carried on…… this time round wanted to try a few different things, like going round some of the corners in a higher gear and carrying a bit more corner speed, found that by doing this the bike was a lot more settled, but the damper may have had something to do with this…… was still having a look down at my boots now and again, and pulled in at Sulby Bridge, because, believe it or not there was oil all over me right boot again……… Jesus H Christ! Checked it out and it wasn't bad, so decided to carry on and get back to the paddock, let a bloke on a CBR come past me then tailed him over the Mountain, we both passed Paul Duckett on his GSXR Suzuki and even though the oil was playing on my mind, was having a really relaxed time…… this bloke in front of me was really quick and smooth and he was dragging me along…… decided on passing him though and pulled away, which maybe I shouldn't have done, considering, but got back to the pits and the boys couldn't believe there was another oil leak……… join the club. So it was back out to Slick's place and he fixed the oil leak, which was coming this time from the oil level sensor in the sump, so he replaced that with a blanking plug…… then gave him a hand to put my No 1 bike back together as he had the engine ready…… he doesn't hang about that's for sure…… had to go at around 7pm as I had a presentation at 8pm in the Foresters Pub in Douglas, where SMGP Racing presented me and fellow local Scott Shimmin with Sponsorship for this years MGP…… they help out a couple of local lads every year, by raising money with raffles etc…… and they are all bampots to boot…… had most of the team there and they were all drinking beer an that……… except me.

Friday 23rd August

Went to Slick's again to finish off both bikes and ran the No 1 bike for half an hour around the block, loaded the bikes in the van and went to the paddock around 5pm…… it was a novelty to have two bikes through scrutineering again…… we were out in the second session and the weather started to turn for the worse, then were informed that it was pissing down from Ballacraine to Windy Corner…… so thought, 'Fuck that then' and loaded the bikes back into the van , just as it started to piss down in Douglas…… even though the No 1 bike still needs a few miles, I'm not going to learn much on Pirelli Super Corsa's in the wet…… Not worth throwing the bike down the road this late in the week, its hard enough to keep it upright in the dry. Planning on going up to Jurby to run it in tomorrow. Heard that Derran Slous had come off at Braddan Bridge…… and broke his leg…… that was his Manx GP over, was gutted for him, he had his lap times up to over 108.5mph and I'm sure there was more to come…… Emphasized that I had made the right decision by not going out though……

Saturday 24th August

Went up to Jurby with Stuey to give No 1 bike an extra run in period and bring the revs up gradually…… Stuey had a go of No 2 to see if the oil leak was cured and I had suspected that the clutch had been slipping, and he confirmed it was…… shite. Went back out to see Slick, who beefed up the clutch and then set off for the paddock via Peel to pick up The Wad. Put both bikes through scrutineering, and was soon to be going out on No 1 bike and was looking forward to 'giving it some berries'…… Time soon passed and out I went…… through St Ninians crossroads, found that it drifted a bit wide, which concerned me a bit, and then it was weaving like mad at the bottom of Bray just as I tipped it over to the right…… not good…… as I was riding along I knocked the steering damper back a couple of clicks to see if that would cure the weave, as I had notched it up some before. Also I hit a neutral as I went into Ballagarey, I know I can take that in 6th anyway, so it wasn't a problem, but it might be somewhere else, so that was playing on my mind as well. I missed a couple of gears at other places as well, something that I hadn't done all week, and at Cruickshanks in Ramsey it hit neutral again and I had to take the slip road and do a three point turn…… better being safe than sorry…… toured in from signpost again, as would you believe it, there was oil on me boots again……… gutted. Pulled into the pits, the team were there and so was Slick……… this time it was really pissing out, Slick was gutted too, he couldn't believe it…… the boys had No 2 warmed up, which was on the Intermediate tyres I had, so I went straight back out on that, a barrier blocked my way as I was given the green light and had to wait till the Marshal moved it so I lost about 10 seconds before I started…… treats. Passed loads and loads of other riders, and managed to take the corner at the end of the Cronk-y-Voddy in 6th gear, and it wobbled a bit, I had watched here at the TT and it scared me to death watching Jefferies and Co, but I knew it could be done and so I gave it a go…… Ballsy corner and no mistake…… Went pretty steady, but landed a bit wrong at the jump at Kerromoar and got into a huge wobble, but it straightened up okay…… caught 4 other lads on the road into Milntown, and as I needed to get past, I dove up the inside of the 4 of them at Schoolhouse Corner…… not a favourite place of mine, but it was a nice clean move. Passed my good mate Keith MacKay on his 750 Suzuki at the white bridge just before the Mountain Mile and got my head down and kept going…… it was misty at the top of Hailwood Rise so rolled the throttle there and then toured in from Governors to add a few seconds to my time…… ended up 4th fastest with 108.5mph…… could have topped the leaderboard as it was 111.2mph (by Ray Porter) if I tried a bit harder…… I know the bike isn't as quick as my original No 1 bike, I'd say its about 15mph down on the top end, but I still think I can do 114mph + on it…… Was still a little deflated with all the problems we had had with the No 1 bike, the only reason it was bought was for the Newcomers Race…… but it had blown up and with the new engine in it, had leaked, and it wasn't handling the way I would have liked it…… the bottom line was that I had lapped quicker on the No 2 bike, which I felt wasn't as good, but you have to go with the facts, Chris had the times down, so we decided between the pair of us that I had to go to the Race with No 2 bike…… couldn't help but feel disappointed. I reckoned that with a sorted No1 bike, it was THE tool for the job.

Sunday 25th August

Slick phoned to see where we were, and as we were just heading off, said we'd see him in 20 mins, picked up the Wad and we were soon fettling away…… Slick found and cured the leak on No 1 and said it would definitely be okay, but we had already decided to go with No 2, so set about getting that ready for the race, new tyres, oil and filter, change the seat unit to a standard one, check it all over etc etc…… I had to go to the Grandstand for the Pit Lane briefing etc and got back to the Wad to finish off the bike, and got home for about 4-30pm…… another busy day. Had two mates, Ian and Simon, turn up from across the wet bit, for the week and they were staying with me…… the first time for them at the Manx GP, although they came to last years TT (that never was). Ian was going to be one of my pit crew.