The boys were struggling to make it before 4pm today, so I got one of the bikes lined up at scrutineering at 1-30pm……… and there was already a queue forming…… Jesus!……… two and a half hours early……… The boys are keen and no mistake.

The other bike I took to the dyno to get it tested and check if the fuel mapping was correct on this one…… it wasn’t as far out as the Supersport Bike we put through yesterday, but I was well disappointed to find that it wasn’t putting out the power that I was promised that it would, but that’s another story. The grass field was a quagmire after all the rain, and it was a fuckin joke trying to get out of it……… It took me the next half hour washing all the mud off the tyres…… that wouldn’t be much fun going down Bray Hill with all that shite on them……… Got the bike back to the paddock and then the Wad and Chris took it to Scrutineering, after Juan had the other one lined up first on the grid for tonight’s session…… It looked like I was lined up with my Bullock team mate, Ian Pattinson………… not something I thought was a good idea, so I decided there and then, to try and get away from him at the start, have a look behind at Ballacraine, and if I had lost him, then settle down and try a few things, I didn’t really want him ‘tagging’ me all the way round………

The weather was trying its best to hold off, but it was getting pretty gloomy and there was the odd spit of rain in the air……… bollocks……… Saw one of the Irish Newcomers, and one of the favourites for the Newcomers Race, Ken Doherty, come up the slip road, so I pulled him over and asked him what it was like and he replied that it was damp in a lot of places and getting really misty on the mountain…… mmmmmmmmmm…… was wondering if they were going to let us out at all……

Out start was delayed for about 5 or 10 minutes, but after we got the nod to start, I got away first and thundered off down Bray Hill……… kept the wire tight, but was cautious of a few things because there was ‘wet roads’ flags displayed at various places…… even though I had intermediates fitted to the Bullock Supersport Honda, I was still wary…… had a steady run to Ballacraine, then had a look behind and there was no sign of Ian…… there were some damp patches up through Ballaspur, so steady away an that……… and must confess to being pretty crap through the Glen Helen section, and the bike was all over the shop at the end of the Cronky straight……… probably down to me being in the wrong line, more than the bike. It was down round the 11th Milestone I caught the tail end of the first session, and there was a classic bike trundling down the road…… mmmmmm, that was a bit early to be catching them…… was steady away an that for the next few miles and ‘tried the odd thing or two’………… it was damp all the way through Quarry Bends, like it was the Saturday night……… but carried on regardless…… couldn’t believe I forgot to put a blister plaster on my left big toe…… for one reason or another the toe that I use to change gear really suffers, and with the combination of the gear change lever and my boot, it rips the skin, clean orf……… I use these Compeed Blister Plasters, and they’re ace…… but tonight, I had forgotten to put one on…… disaster…… Got through Ramsey, and through Whitegates, the Marshal was in the road with a big white flag with a ‘V’ on it…… and the electronic board said, ‘mist on the mountain’……… and they both weren’t wrong……… it was at its worst at the end of the Mountain Mile, and I was passing classics galore……… this happened to me last year and I was flagged in with them at the end of their session, and I sat there in the holding area waiting till the officials realised and let me back out……… I was hoping that the same thing wouldn’t happen again…… The fog cleared for a bit then it was getting pretty bad at the bungalow and up Hailwood’s Rise, then after that it was okay……… so kept her going , although had to be wary of all the Classic Bikes I was passing………… felt the tyres working at Hillberry and was probably the crappest I’d ever been through here, they just felt like they were moving more that the Supercorsa’s would……… It was as slippy as hell through Governors Dip, and on the exit the yellow flags were out and we were getting flagged in on a short lap…… Bollocks, its happened again…… so I throttled off……… then the Marshals saw that it was me, (the first of the next session) and withdrew their flags……… I didn’t know whether to carry on or not, so I was shrugging my shoulders……… they never indicated anything so I just went through on a flying lap…… passed somebody that just came out of pit lane and flew down Bray and hit the bottom with a thump, then a couple of wheelies…… passed a couple through Union Mills, then had a clear road again…… still taking it steady, but the old toe was getting really sore……… I was gonna pull in after the first lap, but thought that I’d best try to get a flying lap in, and in case they decided to red flag it if the mist got worse……… the bike didn’t feel like it was wanting to get to the pointy end of the rev range in top gear…… it was more responsive than it had been, but couldn’t really tell if it was because of the dyno work or the gearing change…… Maybe if we had changed one at a time instead of both, it would have been easier to tell……… was keeping it steady all the way round and it wasn’t as lively this time at the end of the Cronky Straight…… had to throttle off at the 11th Milestone, as there was another Junior bike in front of me, and had to sit behind him till the run to the top of Begarrow before I could pass him cleanly…… got past and had a clear road again……… tried a different line at Douglas Road Corner in Kirk Michael, and it was better, but it runs you right out to the pavement, so you have to be cautious……… clung on with my knees and elbows at Ballacrye and the rev light came on the dashboard as I was airborne…… nice and stable landing this time around again, then it was tip toe time through the damp Quarry Bends…… Caught up with some more bikes after the Ginger Hall, but got passed easy enough and gave them as much room as possible, like I always try to do…… its no fun if someone scares you…… I always feel like I try to treat people on the track the way I would like to be treated…… The bloke was still there with the ‘V’ flag at Whitegates, and this time round the Mountain was worse……… I hadn’t any tear offs left and the flies on my visor smeared all over the place when I tried to wipe the mist away…… passed a few more bikes, not because I was going fast, but because they were going loads slower…… Wasn’t much fun, and I was thinking it would not be a good idea to go for another lap……… but as the bottom of the course was acceptable and I needed one more lap to qualify proper, I planned to go back out……… but that would be after I lashed a blister plaster on me poor tootsies!………… the mist cleared after Windy Corner……… didn’t pass many more bikes and then had an easy run down to Hillberry…… was cautious again through here, but rounded Cronk Ny Mona handy enough and nearly outbraked mesen into Signpost…… steady away through the rest, then stuck my hand up pretty early and toured over the line and pulled in……… Met the team, and asked them to get the other bike ready…… I jumped on the ‘Ped’ and zoomed off to the paddock to sort my toe out………… Juan appeared a couple of minutes later to tell me not to bother as the red flags were out……… Wasn’t too surprised……… it was the clever thing to do.

Dashed off to get a shower before the rush, while the boys got the bike fettled ready to push to scrutineering tomorrow…… handy that. Turns out that I was fastest again tonight with 112.63mph, which was a surprise seeing as how I was trying not to be……… mmmmmmmmmmmmmm……………………………

So, tune in for another very exciting leader board topping episode…………