Southern 100 Road Races - 8th - 11th July 2002

Sunday 7th

Loaded the Awning in the M.Benz on Sunday afternoon with The Wad and headed off to the Billown circuit in Castletown to nab a good spot in the Paddock……… wanted to get in a corner somewhere, as near to the road as possible so as to keep on the minimum amount of grass and to be able to tie the Awning down using some of the posts in the field……… managed to this and as there was only a slight breeze blowing we had it up 'toute suite'……… even had some second hand sheets of plywood down an that, and it was looking all 'factory'……… then it was off back to Peel to load the bikes and the rest of the kit in the van…… Ready for the off. Then it was back down to Castletown Football Clubhouse in me rust bucket of a car to sign on, lap of the course, briefing etc etc etc……… As always, have set myself targets for this meeting, and again, the first one is to stay on the bastard, and the other two, which won't be easy…… but you have to aim high, as they say……… is to be the best Newcomer in my class, and to try and join the exclusive 'ton up club'…… by lapping the course at an average of 100mph…… This equates to a 2 minute 33.0 second lap. I've never fancied the place to be honest, but I need the experience and its me Team Managers local track and he loves the place…… apparently it's one of the hardest road races you can do…… no time for a rest, and balls out all the way round…… a lot harder than doing the TT course apparently………mmmmmmmm.

I'd been down circulating the course the week before on the Road & Track Motorcycles R6 Yamaha for quite a few laps and hoped that I had a pretty good idea on where I was going, though it is a different track when you can use the whole road…… But now the time had arrived to have a go for real………… oooeerrr missus.

Monday Night 8th

Arrived at the circuit in what I hoped would be plenty of time, as it had been straight from work, should have really thrown some holidays in, but a bit late now, so started earlier and finished earlier than normal…… Top Spannerman, The Wad, and Team Manager, Chris, met me there and we unloaded the van, But left No 2 bike in it as I have decided to just concentrate of setting my No1 bike up…… hard enough doing one, never mind two…… Also had another Spannerman coming in the shape of fellow Jurby regular Stu Bainborough……… so hoped that between myself and the gruesome twosome, we would have it sorted……… The weather looked like it was going to hold up, although there was a few dodgy looking clouds up there……… fingers crossed that it would stay dry…… because if it didn't my arse might go 'pop' and I would have to seriously consider if I would go out in it.

Current circuit lap record holder, Blair Degerholm, came to see me and I had a word on him about suspension, and he told me to back things off, there are that many settings its unbelievable…… and I'm running a Penske rear shock on my No1 bike, which aren't that popular (probably because they're the most expensive), so I told him that I had backed everything off about 4 turns (clicks) each…… High speed damping, slow speed damping, compression and rebound damping…… still can't get my head round most of it…… anyway, I don't think Blair realised how hard I usually have the rear shock and these minor adjustments would to prove pretty scary later on…… but he did say that the bike will be slapping all the way round and just to get on with it……… mmmmmmmm……… again.

Got the bike, fettled (so I thought) and the boys put it through scrutineering, then it was on to the holding area…… I decided to leave the tyres I had on from my previous outing, so as to keep my head in check…… I thought that with already worn rubber on (the rear had done 60 laps at Oulton and Jurby), it would help keep me to a sedate enough pace and help me learn the track instead of going hell for leather and jumping off somewhere…… also wasn't going to use my tyre warmers, which would force me to have a couple of slowish laps to get them up to temperature… have to remind myself how little roads experience I've done……… but I was still planning on going 'pretty handy, like'……

Was a tad worried on the gearing of the bike, as most people have told me it was what you use at the TT, only go one tooth extra up on the back sprocket…… but I went with what Jason Griffiths had told me, which was completely different, but Jason being Top Man around this circuit…… if he didn't know, who would…… I had my fingers crossed that it would suit me……

The first 8 minutes of the first practise session was going to be untimed, and then for the last 10 minutes they stick a board out to indicate a timed session is in progress…… lets you know to get your finger out an that…… Lined up for my practise session, for the Senior Race, in my snazzy orange Newcomers bib…… was gutted, feel like a proper herbert with one of those on……… (was held for an extra ten minutes than we should have been in the holding area, must have been an incident in the classics practise somewhere)……… was probably one of the first 5 out on the road, had the lap timer on the bike up and running, and Chris had the timer beacon with him so I could have a looksee at how I was doing…… had to do one complete lap before I tripped it and into the second lap I upped the pace a tad…… the bike and gearing felt good up until I got to Ballanorris (Joey's Gate)…… where there, and after Ballabeg, all the way to cross four ways it was trying to have me off…… I was getting chucked around all over the place every lap, and it was friggin scary to tell you the truth…… on about the third lap, as it was happening again, I was thinking……… if this is what its like doing the Manx GP, then you can shove it up your arse!…… The suspension was WAY too hard and I totally never enjoyed the experience and I had been taking it steady as well…… rolling the throttle in loads of paces and braking really early…… god knows what its going to be like when I start going faster…… Lap timer indicated, (confirmed by Chris's stopwatch) that I had just dipped under 2' 44 secs…… not bad considering…… Had been following John Crellin and on the smooth bits, he was 'toast', but as soon as we got out the back on the bumps he pulled easily 800 yards on me… back on the smooth bit up to Church Bends, and I reeled him back in before we got to Castletown Corner. Realised my worse nightmare, when I hit a false neutral into Ballabeg Hairpin……… cruuuunnnnchhh………… shite! then Big H went between me and the wall…… Jesus, he was close…… Got round ok though, managed 6 laps in total before the session ended, including the 'in' and 'out' laps…… got back to the Awning, arms pumped, sweating cobs, hard work that…… Also my finger was starting to hurt a lot……

Dave Black came over to see me and I explained that I was struggling…… he told me to back everything off and just run on the coil spring on the rear shock for the next session, to see how that went, that meant instead of going down 2 clicks on all the settings at a time it was approx 22 in the one go…… checked the sag as well, refuelled, and it was back through scrutineering for the 600 race practise…… wasn't long before I was back on the circuit, and straight away I noticed that the steering was a lot slower, bloody thing just didn't want to turn as easy as it did………bollocks…… something else to combat. Was still be extra cautious, as this was still a learning curve……… Out the back of the course though, it was a lot better…… it soaked up the bumps more and I managed to knock 4 seconds off my lap time, which went down to a 2'40.1, only 7 seconds away from the magic mark of 2'33.0…… though those 7 seconds won't be easy to find, I know I can knock a few off, by getting on the throttle earlier and braking later…… but that'll come hopefully…… still have to get the suspension right, otherwise I'll be pissing against the proverbial wind…… Blacker adjusted my rear rebound damping another couple of clicks and said to try that…… so I was gonna……

Had to go through scrutineering again, for my last session, again for the Senior race and was hoping this time to get into the 39's or 38's…… but unfortunately, only managed one flying lap as my visor misted up and sweat ran into my right eye and I couldn't see properly…… so toured back to the pits, noticed that there was a big crowd out watching…… checked the old lap timer and I had managed another 2'40.6 but was hoping for better…… But I was not messing about between stone walls when I can't see properly…… Pulled in and let the bike cool down…… so, only 14 laps in total, know that I can go much faster, just have to have the bike handling a lot better…… decided on putting a new rear tyre in, left the front as it was, as it should be ok. Packed everything up, and went to find Dave East, the bloke who was straightening my wheels as he had brought them back over with him…… turns out the wheels were 'Bob on', it was the discs that were dodgy…… and as I had put my second hand discs on and I still had the handling problem, I thought it must be the wheel, but those disc were also warped……… treats. Anyway, ready for tomorrow (ish) Home, shower Zeds………ZZZZZzzzzzz………

Tuesday 9th

The sun was shining and for a change it looked like it was going to be a top night… hardly a breath of wind, Before I arrived in the paddock, thought that I would give the boys at V&M a ring seeing as how I'm a 'factory' rider (I wish)……… and spoke to their head race mechanic, Paul, who couldn't have been more helpful…… he gave me all the suspension settings, ride height, front and rear sag measurements (new one on me) etc etc…… that Jim Moodie had used to win the Junior TT…… if its good enough for Jimbo, its good enough for me…… got the bike out of the van, and me and the Wad set about adding all these settings to the bike, loads of clicks here, there and everywhere and we soon had it done, (as close as we could get anyway)… Then the Wad in his wisdom, decided to change the 'Steam Packet' sticker on the front of my bike to 'Steam Racket', after I had whinged to him about having to run it…… They have refused twice to help me out on sailings, and I venture across the wet bit more than most, so I was under protest about having to run it on my bike…… they might sponsor the meeting, but they don't sponsor me…… funny how you never seem to get a ticket for the price they advertise on the radio either…… you all know where I'm coming from. Stu turned up, and he and the Wad put the bike through scrutineering again…… was first out tonight at around 6-15pm…… was gonna try and stand on the pegs this time around the back of the circuit on the bumpy parts…… went handy enough like, straight from the off, but unfortunately it was shaking its head pretty badly again, and it was sending a wobble all the way through the bike, especially on the bumpy part through Williams Bend…… this making it really difficult to change direction…… not too handy that then…… this was forcing me to hold on tighter and the dreaded arm pump reared its ugly head again…… noticed the lap timer had indicated in the 2'39 bracket for two laps, but knowing that I wouldn't go quicker, decided to pull in…… I was thinking that it must be my steering damper that was set too tight and it was upsetting the handling, so I knocked it back a couple of clicks as soon as I got back to the Awning. Only managed 4 laps and I was really knackered, hard work again that, and because the weather was so warm and very little wind (unusually)…… I was cooked…… the 'team' got the necessary jobs done and it was back down to scrutineering, this time taking the Jenny and tyre warmers with them, I know we get a warm up lap, but it was one less thing to worry about…… left it in the holding area to get up to temperature.

Got ready and returned to the bike, noticed a sticker saying 'row 6 centre', as I had 'qualified' 18th on the grid…… not bad out of about 40, happy enough with that…… settled on the dummy grid and then it was off for the warm up lap…… decided against wearing my orange Newcomers Bib, I asked did I have to wear it and they said if I didn't want to I didn't have to…… so that was binned…… got to my spot and we weren't held that long, lights changed to green and we were offski……… this was the moment I was dreading the most…… the first 2 corners, where 40 odd bikes would be vying for position…… the sun was pretty blinding, I got a good start, but somebody on a big Ducati 996, bogged down in front of me and I had to roll the throttle…… bollocks…… lost the places I had made up, but at first corner went around the outside of a few and made a couple back…… haired down to the Iron Gate and watched as all the bikes fanned out and there was a load of dust and shite chucked up…… thought that this was the place where if something was going to happen…… it would here…… thankfully, everyone got through cleanly…… and pretty much all settled into a 'train type' formation…… the first lap went by steadily enough as everyone was settling in to position, noticed that the bike was better than it had been, but wasn't going as fast as I could have been, so was waiting to see on that one…… made up a place at cross four ways and just got my head down and managed to reel in a bloke on an red Gixer thou.. he was a right twat to pass…… he pulled a huge amount on me on the start/finish straight, and the straight down to the Iron Gate…… but I had reeled him back in by the time we got to Ballawhetstone, tailed him through there and he was definitely holding me up, even more so after Billown Dip where I nearly ran into the back of him…… he lost loads of drive, and I went past only for him to blast straight back past me. My bike was slapping a bit through here and the brakes could have been better into cross four ways, where I had to pump them because the front end was slapping that much that it was forcing the brake pads back into the calipers…… managed to nip up his inside but he blasted past again…… was getting held up every lap and it was the same old story out on the bumpy bits around the back…… this enabled Alan 'Bud' Jackson to get past me on his 750, and he went underneath this guy on the Gixer at Billown Dip…… I rolled the throttle, cos I was going to be ready for the worst, but he got through…… nearly ran into the back of this geezer again, and went around him only for him to come back past…… getting sick of this… still, didn't want to be involved in any short circuit type manoeuvres…… if it had been on one of those, I would have had him long ago and been gone by now…… overshot cross four ways a bit meself on one of my efforts to get past, and Dave Madsen Mygdal and Jeff Tansley got past me…… started to have a great dice with them, all three of us getting held up by this bloke on the red Suzuki…… Nearly got T-Boned by Tansley at Castletown Corner, but as soon as he showed me his front wheel I sat up and let him through…… passed each other so many times I lost count…… them getting past me more often than not as I wobbled round Ballabeg Hairpin…… nearly lost the front twice on separate laps, when my front wheel hit a small grid in the road and nearly put me in the bales…… good job it was only at about 5mph…… really started to enjoy it and it was really good fun…… would have been more so had we managed to get this bloke on the Suzy away from us…… at one time we crossed the start line four abreast…… must have been good to watch…… The Marshall's were on the road at Ballakeighan Corner (the first one) waving the yellow flags like hell…… turns out there was two down, I backed off more than most I reckon, as there were bits of bike and Marshalls on the road, but soon got my head back down and carried on…………… couldn't believe it when the last lap flag came out a while later and were we all still in a group of four…… thought I had at least another 3 laps to do…… was wondering where I was going to have a go at these blokes, but decided against doing anything stupid, and bide my time…… we were still the same position wise and I was lurking in case there was pieces to pick up, as it had happened that many laps on the spin that I thought Tansley would be having a go at the two in front on the brakes into Castletown Corner, where he nearly T-Boned me…… so I sat back and watched and waited……… nothing much happened till we got there and I went as wide as I possibly could to try and drive up the inside to the line, but we all finished in the positions we had been in…… with only a second covering the four of us…… Pulled off the road to go back to the paddock and was told to go into the holding area…… I was hot and knackered and wondering 'What the f**k have I done now' got off the bike leaned it up against the gate and was told that I had got 3rd…… I said 'You What!!!………' I forgot that there was a 600 class and I had come home 3rd………… you beauty!…… then it dawned on me that if I would have tried an out braking manoeuvre on Tansley I could have got 2nd……… Jeff came over to me with a huge smile on his face and shook my hand, saying 'brilliant race that, brilliant'…… he was right…… it had been nice and steady and most of all safe…… apart from the bloke on the red Suzuki wobbling all over the place and blocking the three of us all the way round, but still……… Stu phoned the Wad and told him to get his arse over to the podium as I was going on it, as he was waiting back at the Awning, he never realised I had finished 3rd either (although it was 17th overall)…… Wheeled the bike onto the Podium and sat on it with Darren Lindsay (who won) and Jeff Tansley, said to Darren that I should have left my orange bib on, that would have been a goodie………loads of people were taking photographs and all I wanted to do was get out of my leathers…… and there was me sitting with the 'Steam Racket' sticker on the front of me bike ……Ho Ho Ho… I was wondering if anyone would spot it……… and it surely was……… and low and behold it was Paul Phillips who noticed first…… you just can't get one past him!…… was pretty pleased to have finished 3rd in my first Southern 100 race……… won prize money of twenty quid as well……… bargain! Checked my lap timer and had my best time down to 2' 36.97, so over three seconds quicker than before…… and less than 4 secs away from the ton up barrier.

The bike was indicating 116 C so Stu pushed it back to the Awning, the whole team was chuffed and we left the bike to cool down…… and later on loaded everything back in the van. Happy with today's events, a podium, a new PB and still know I can go loads quicker if I can get the handling sorted…… Then it was home, shower, bed…… ready for tomorrow…

Wednesday 10th

Left work and arrived at the paddock as early as I could, the Wad was already there…… so we unloaded the bike and set about doing the necessary…… wanted to try different brake discs for tonight as my ones have had the rivets 'popped' which makes them rattle on the rotors and you would think there was something wrong with them…… but not so, its something V&M do to them…… but I wanted to try 'solid' ones to see if I could minimise the way the pads were getting pushed back. Changed the compression damping another click as I was sure the forks were bottoming out, cleaned the front pads up and the Wad put the bike through scrutineering, before hand changing the sticker on the front of the bike back to 'Packet'…… Wad said as soon as he got there he was swarmed by scrutineers and he got a semi bollocking……… word sure travels fast! Stu turned up again as soon as he could and we were all ready to go…… Was only out on the track once again tonight, and that was in the Total Oils Senior Race (Race 3 in the programme)……which was first out on the track again…… unfortunately for me there was no 600 class in this one, it was just an open race, so it was a case using it for extra practise.

Was again on the 6th row of the grid this time on the right hand side of the road…… the weather was nice again though slightly overcast, but it was ideal for racing…… less flies about when its like that……… Lights went from red to green and we were off again…… you can see how the leaders pull such a huge gap on the first lap because I had to roll the throttle all the way up to Ballakeighan Corner after initially getting another good start…… got good drive out and passed a few, but it was the same old story of follow my leader after Ballabeg and beyond……… was getting held up quite a bit but still managed to pass a couple and was settling in nicely…… was having a dice with Phil Gilder and was up to 13th place, which was pretty good…… and then approaching Ballakeighan for the 5th time was in two minds about trying a pass, which left my braking later than I wanted……… if it had been a short circuit I would have tipped her in, but after seeing Duckett and McFarland come to grief there yesterday decided on the safe option of the slip road………… Bollocks!! The first thought on my mind was that Lougher was now going to catch me on the road before the finish…… as he was only about 5 seconds away from catching me yesterday……hoped I'd get back before I lost a place but lost at least six…… Shit…… had to do a 6 point turn to get the bike facing in the right direction, then had to wait as some bikes went past, recognised three of them, John Crellin, Chris Dowling and Paul 'Big 'H' Hunt…… (was wondering what the hell 'H' was doing back that far, turns out he did the same as me)…… past Dowling straight away and nipped past Crellin before the Iron Gate, was concentrating on getting good drive out of corners, more than using short circuit type out braking manoeuvres to get past people, most of these boys have more experience round here than me……… but passed another at Cross Four Ways……… past Big 'H' as he toured towards the pits and caught up with another local, Mike Crellin on his R1…… he had the legs on me on the straights but I reeled him in out round the back section even though bike was still more unsettled over the bumps than I would have liked and was completely airborne at Billown Dip which sent me into a wiggle every lap…… sat in behind him and just followed him around…… couldn't see anyone in front of us, so decided on just sitting there and have a go on the last lap for that extra place…… My arms were that pumped after 8 laps I could hardly use the clutch………… crossing the line to start my 9th lap I saw them getting the last lap flag ready, which meant of course that Lougher and co were not that far behind…… now I was just wondering where it would be when he caught us……… was still up Mike's chuff by cross four ways and up to Church Bends, glanced behind and saw a bike……… assumed it must be Lougher and was concerned I would get in his way, but he never actually blasted past till Great Meadow, where I used the same line as him (and it had been different than the one I was taking) it was definitely smoother……… might have got lapped but at least I had learnt something and I didn't have to do another lap!…… me poor arms were swollen up like Popeye's…… I'm usually okay if I have a stretch after having arm pump, but unfortunately this was my only outing tonight……… I got to the finish 0.2 seconds behind Mike…… I had pulled alongside out of the last corner, but his extra cc's came into play and he out dragged me to the line …………… and I finished 16th. (third 600cc home again, no trophy this time though)…… Got back to the Awning and checked the lap timer…… had gone faster again at 2' 36.1 with all the other laps being in the 36's or 37's, so not too bad…… another improvement…… apart from the lap I overshot, which was 2' 46.9……… I lost 10 seconds doing that and must have lost a few more trying to get back past people……… Lougher got lap and race records……… unbelievable the speed of that thing he's on……… know for sure that I would join the 100mph club with one of those…… they are soooo rapeedo……

The gruesome twosome set about the bike getting it ready for tomorrow, put new tyres on it etc etc…… and after it cooled down we lashed it in the back of the van. Went down to the Shore for a couple of halves, then it was back home, shower, bed……… ZZZZZZzzzzz………

Thursday 11th July

Took the day off from work today as the racing was in the afternoon, as well as the boys from Pulrose Power Station (work), on their annual pilgrimage to Castletown, who said they'd be hanging off a wall somewhere cheering me on…… then on to the presentation afterwards to get…… very…… very drunk…… well, they picked a good day for it as it was well hot…… nice one…… left Peel in the van on me own, and got to the Awning in the paddock just after 11am…… Chris was first there and had 'opened up' so to speak…… damn handy that we haven't had to put the bloody thing up every day, we've had it pretty well anchored down and Chris had checked it every day, but it had stood up well, windy old spot down at Billown…… but not today it seems.

Then Wad turned up a few minutes later and Stuey just after twelve…… so we got the necessary done and out of the way…… bike through scrutineering and into the holding area, and tyre warmers on the new rubber, (I was using soft compound front and rear tyres this time)……… I was only out on the track once today and that just happened to be in the first race which was the 10 lap 250/600cc Race, I know I had finished 3rd in class in the Senior Founders Race, but this one was going to be so much harder with the top boys like Lougher, Farquhar, Griffiths etc etc…… using smaller machines this time……… My target for the day was a top ten spot…… but still wanted to hit the targets I had set myself by being best Newcomer (in my class) and hit that ton up lap……… no excuses about the weather hindering proceedings so I'd have to get my finger out.

The race was scheduled for 1-40pm, but we had to be at the bike in the holding area 15 minutes earlier, so got myself ready and had a few stretches…… the boys had the bike warmed up ready and it was tyre warmers off and we were ushered to the dummy grid area…… then it was off for the warm up lap…… Gave Chris the nod on the way past and tootled round the circuit, was getting a few waves from people that I knew, as I had time to see them, and spotted the Power Station crew at Castletown Corner…… couldn't miss em really. Lined up on my spot on the fourth row of the grid in the middle and waited for the lights to turn green……… they soon did and we were off…… not a bad start, was a little worried when Chris Palmer clouted the bike in front of me and bounced off, lucky they didn't have each other off……… again, there was that many bikes vying for position I just had to roll the throttle…… it must be ace being at the front and you can keep the power on for longer…… its all about a good start this racing lark…… rounded the first corner okay and screaming down to the iron gate, made up a couple of places and was up to about 8th …… still the first lap, as always, is the slowest one because of all the traffic and it's the one I don't like…… as it is all follow my leader and you have to trust that the bloke in front of you doesn't crash, cos you are just following his back wheel, and if he went down in front of you there would be nowhere to go and there would be loads of riders piling in before the marshals could even raise a flag……unfortunately its happened before…… the first lap is always a bit of a worry, but cautious, as reflected in the lap times, crossing the line for the second lap could see that it was Chris Palmer and Big 'H' ahead of me and passing Team Manager, Chris, who had my lap timer beacon it said 2'46.34 just shows you how the leaders can pull 15 or so seconds out of you on the first lap…… the bike was still wobbling all over the shop, much more than I would have liked again, and I was wishing I had knocked the steering damper back another notch or two, couldn't really try it, because I couldn't feel the clicks through my gloves to tell if I had done it or do it on the straights because the way the bike was I didn't want to take a hand off the bar…… passing Chris again, tripped my lap timer and I had posted a personal best of 2' 34.24, twelve seconds quicker than the first lap, the next two laps were in the 34's as well……was wishing someone had my pit board somewhere, especially when I noticed Palmers just after Castletown Corner, but hadn't organized anyone to do it, but know for next time……… was using more of the road this race, sometimes not meaning to especially through Williams Bend which is taken flat in 5th gear and holding it pinned all through Billown Dip (if you haven't watched here before I don't think you'd be able to believe it could be done)……… changing up to 6th as you crest the hill on the approach to Cross four ways…… had a big wobble on here every lap as it was really bumpy, got passed at this spot by Phil Gilder, whom I knew was the boy to beat for the Best Newcomer title on his Honda…… shite, lost a place so tucked in behind him and followed…… really noticed how much better his bike was handling than mine as I did, he never seemed to be out of shape anywhere, when my bike was shaking its head and tiring me out…… Got to Ballabeg for about the 5th time and saw Ryan Farquhar come from the Colby direction and buggered off like a scalded cat…… he had obviously overshot, but kept my head down and was still consistently doing 2' 34 and 2' 35 laps……… I didn't know it at the time, but I was pulling a huge gap on the riders behind…… would have known this had my pit board been out, but carried on regardless…… every lap the Boys at Castletown Corner were waving like hell and I decided I would return the favour on the last lap…… crossing the line Farquhar was touring and knew he was going to pull in and I went past him thinking I had jumped up another place, not really the way you want to, but don't look a gift horse in the mouth…… Gilder had pulled away from me by this time and I was having a pretty lonely ride, all the while checking my lap timer to know if I was losing concentration…… damn handy piece of kit that. But was riding well within my limits all the way round, didn't want to have a scary moment and shit myself, but was still circulating it the 34's only just over a second away from the ton up barrier…… had the bike instilled a bit more confidence I would have pushed on a bit…… but priority was to get to the finish. Got to be said I was wondering when the last lap flag was going to come out as I had expected it for the last two laps and there was no sign. Damn pit board again…… its really hard to count laps when your racing…… eventually went over the line and there it was, so one more lap to go……… rounding Ballakeighan for the last time saw a back marker ahead and knew I wouldn't get him in time before the Iron Gate, and was worrying that he might hold me up longer than I wanted……… when we got there I was right up his chuff and made a move on him around the outside over the bridge into Ballanorris Corner (where Joey's Gate is)…… and the numpty pulled right across my front wheel…… shit!! Braked really hard to avoid him, the twat nearly had me in the hedge, and it put me off a bit to say the least, why do these things always happen on the last lap of the day…… hadn't had a moment all week up to then. He held me up all the way to Ballabeg…… I was wishing there was blue flags waving to warn him I was behind, but nipped up his inside and buggered off…… must confess, shouted at him on the way past…… though it was still nice to lap someone my first time here. Got to Stadium and flew in as normal and gave all the boys there a big thumbs up, and into the last corner was thinking about pulling a wheelie all the way to the finish line, but didn't in case I got a bollocking……… so got to the finish in one piece…… which I was well pleased about. Got back to the paddock and the team informed me I had finished 8th on the road…… 7th 600cc machine as Ian Lougher had finished 3rd on his 250 Honda, so had to be pleased about that as well. Was a little disappointed that I had been that close to my targets and never managed two of them…… I was one place off being the best Newcomer on a 600cc bike (Gilder had finished 7th)…… and according to my lap timer was 1.2 seconds away from the magical 100mph lap………. Had the bike been handling better, I would have done it for sure…… but there's always next year (if I do it again)……

Decided on not doing the invitation Championship Race and declined their kind offer, as its not much fun trying to stay with the big bikes on a 600 and so decided to call it a day and save my tyres (last set) and keep the bike mileage down for Jurby South Road Races on Saturday…… have to have a bigger bike for these Open events and a 1000cc GSXR Suzuki seems the way to go, so might be selling my No2 bike to get one, but lets get the other events out of the way first. Had a bit of a BBQ whilst we changed the bike to what I thought what be Jurby Road set up, different gearing etc and checked it all and gave it a good clean and then packed everything into the van.

Watched the last race will Chris, and one of our main sponsors Sean Beattie of S. Beattie Decorators, who has sponsored us for the past two seasons and it was a belter, was asked by so many people why I wasn't doing it, and would have done had I had a bigger bike, they had said they had only stayed for the last race to watch me, which I thought was pretty flattering.

All in all, a good week, gained valuable experience, and a few of the lads said that the TT course is a lot less taxing than the Southern, and is like a Billiard table compared to it, so I'm glad I've done it…… needed the road miles if nothing else. Stayed down South and get pretty drunk with the Team at the presentation and a good night was had by all, was even up on stage twice meself to collect my 3rd place trophy and £80 winnings!! Spotted Birthday Boy Ian 'Lucky' Lougher staggering up the road gone midnight, well pissed and so he deserved to be, 6 wins and a 2nd……. I reckon the most underrated rider there is, and I don't know how people think it, cos he's won everything…… everywhere! Seriously fast boy…… and absolutely top bloke.

Next up for me is Jurby Road on Saturday, and then not much else, a little bit worried that the bike hasn't done enough miles to warrant a rebuild, but will be due for one after practise week at the Manx GP………… so don't really know what to do about that……

So, tune in next time for another very exciting, beer money winning episode of……………… Tommy Clucas Racing.