|
|
|
|
|
|
Damp Start At Jurby - by John Watterson The first road race of the millennium spluttered into life at Jurby on Sunday when, after a fortnight of predominantly dry and mild weather, showers of rain were driven across the exposed former RAF drome by a bitterly cold north easterly wind. Chris Heath rocketed into a five second lead after just a single lap of the first solo championship race, but he was soon dragged back by Richard Quayle who wisely chose a cautious approach first time out on Martin Bullock's 750 Kawasaki. By lap four the two leading protagonists were more or less level pegging, "Milky" taking the initiative on lap five when he grabbed the opportunity to move ahead of the number one plated Yamaha. In their wake (quite literally) were Dave Madsen-Mygdal and Nigel Beattie in third and fourth spots, followed by Rob Alton, comeback man Greg Broughton, Mik Scott and Peter Hounsell. Riding on intermediaries, Quayle failed in his bid to put any airspace between him and Heath, and almost inevitably the latter man pounced back into the lead with a lap and a bit to go. In the end, Chris won quite comfortably by some five seconds - almost as if he was playing with the opposition. Madsen-Mygal shook off the 250 Honda of Beattie to finish a somewhat lonely third, while Alton just managed to hold off former MGP lap record holder Greg Broughton for fifth in what was the latter man's first airfield appearance for several years. Stott and Hounsell maintained station in seventh and eighth places, but there was a cracking ride from former Island footballer Tom Clucas to squeeze into the top 10 in his first ever race ahead of some relatively experienced riders. There was a considerable hold up before the start of the combined Restricted/Forgotten Era race whilst an attempt was made to clear up an oil slick dropped in the earlier sidecar race, but in such damp conditions it was a nigh on impossible task. The aforementioned Tom Clucas rocketed into the lead on his R1 Yamaha at the drop of the flag and looked set to score a win in his second ever race. But he was soon ousted by hard trying Neil Muirhead on the 400 Honda, who rode very well to win by some 15 seconds from Paul Ward, with Ramsey's Paul Corrin third and Clucas fourth. Several riders chose not to ride on the lethal concoction of wet roads smeared with sump oil in the second Centre championship race, leaving a smaller line-up of just 13 starters. Chris Heath again shot into the lead, but once more he was dragged back by "Milky" Quayle in the closing stages. Indeed at the end there was just one tenth of a second in it between the two with Madsen-Mygdal another 1.8s in arrears. Nigel Beattie and Rob Alton completed a carbon-copy of the first five in front of Michael Crellin, while new sensation Tommy Clucas crashed out of a potential seventh place after hitting the oil slick at the bottom of the main straight when dicing with Peter Hounsell. The Peel footballer was unhurt. Tom Clucas Results: First Solo Centre championship (10 laps) -
9th place
|
Copyright © 2000, 2001 Tommy Clucas Racing.
|
