The little 4.3 mile closed roads circuit at Jurby was my first introduction to closed roads racing, it was an ideal taster to show me what I was in for when I entered the 2005 Manx Grand Prix. It has a little of everything that you usually find on a road circuit, fast long straights, mind numbing bumps and some technical blind corners and jumps...
As I've been on sabbatical for a couple of years it's been a while since I raced here and even then due to cancellations and clashes I'd only actually ridden it a couple of times before, that was on the bone crunching ogre of a bike that was the Kawasaki ZX10 Superstock bike.. So it was with virtually no trepidation and some excitement I approached this weekend's attempt on the little Benelli.. I thought it would be nice to enjoy the circuit on a bike that didn't feel like it was trying to tear you arms off and beat you to death with the bloody stumps.....:o)
John and Neil had done their usual high standard of prep and the bike was gleaming with improvements in place from my last feedback... (the kind of team you dream of riding for!) and as is the standard practice in team TS//2C racing, John was up with the larks and motivating anyone with a pulse within infectious range..:o) Closed roads races usually get going allot later in the day due the limitations of closures so when we arrived a the paddock at a time that would have been early even for an airfield race it was no surprise that we the first ones to arrive! This gave us plenty of time to unload, cook bacon and sausage and generally shoot the breeze with the next arrivals..
It seemed to take an age to get started, (not unlike this Blog I hear you cry! How very dare you!) but once we did filter out onto the roads and begin our familiarisation laps it all started to come flooding back and the little Benelli felt a comfortable as an old armchair...In the absence of a mid range I'd taken a gamble on the gearing and gone as long as we had sprockets for. On a fast circuit like Jurby you tend to spend most of your time flat out anyway so assuming I could keep up momentum the long gear should have been ok, there was a following wind on the fastest straight so it had to be the way to go...Just for safety's sake we'd jetted the left hand cylinder a bit more rich as we'd noticed it running much hotter than the right and didn't want to risk a seize on the high revving circuit. This of course meant the motor wasn't quite as sprightly as it had been but for safety's sake worth doing...
John and Neil had done their usual high standard of prep and the bike was gleaming with improvements in place from my last feedback... (the kind of team you dream of riding for!) and as is the standard practice in team TS//2C racing, John was up with the larks and motivating anyone with a pulse within infectious range..:o) Closed roads races usually get going allot later in the day due the limitations of closures so when we arrived a the paddock at a time that would have been early even for an airfield race it was no surprise that we the first ones to arrive! This gave us plenty of time to unload, cook bacon and sausage and generally shoot the breeze with the next arrivals..
It seemed to take an age to get started, (not unlike this Blog I hear you cry! How very dare you!) but once we did filter out onto the roads and begin our familiarisation laps it all started to come flooding back and the little Benelli felt a comfortable as an old armchair...In the absence of a mid range I'd taken a gamble on the gearing and gone as long as we had sprockets for. On a fast circuit like Jurby you tend to spend most of your time flat out anyway so assuming I could keep up momentum the long gear should have been ok, there was a following wind on the fastest straight so it had to be the way to go...Just for safety's sake we'd jetted the left hand cylinder a bit more rich as we'd noticed it running much hotter than the right and didn't want to risk a seize on the high revving circuit. This of course meant the motor wasn't quite as sprightly as it had been but for safety's sake worth doing...
There were a few more classics than usual, most notably Chris McGahan on a Honda 350K4. He was here to shakedown the bike for the Pre-TT Classic races at Billown in a few weeks. Chris had some problems in practice which is often the case with these old classics, especially if they're not used regularly..We had a good practice, decided we were about right on the gearing and that I would improve my lap times considerably if I remembered I was using drum brakes, not disk and having to do u-turns at the end of every straight!
As there is only one race on a closed roads day you tend to find you're gridded with other classes. We were up with the 400's and Modern Classics and the Classic grid included and old GSX1000 and a Yamaha750!
The classics were allowed to gather at the back of the grid and start a few seconds after the main grid..lucky us..;o) I made a concerted effort to fix my gaze on Chris McGahan on the K4 although he had a good 20bhp on us I was hoping to get a bit of a slipstream on the lighter Benelli. It worked for the climb through the 5 speed gearbox but once we hit top gear the K4 started to pull away, as the Benelli climbed into it's peak power (all 25+bhp of it!) I started to equalize the gap on Chris. Then started gaining on him REALLY quickly! just as I started to think that I might be able to get on terms with Chris he put is hand up with a problem...damn! And here was me thinking me and the Benelli were a flying combination!...:o)
The classics were allowed to gather at the back of the grid and start a few seconds after the main grid..lucky us..;o) I made a concerted effort to fix my gaze on Chris McGahan on the K4 although he had a good 20bhp on us I was hoping to get a bit of a slipstream on the lighter Benelli. It worked for the climb through the 5 speed gearbox but once we hit top gear the K4 started to pull away, as the Benelli climbed into it's peak power (all 25+bhp of it!) I started to equalize the gap on Chris. Then started gaining on him REALLY quickly! just as I started to think that I might be able to get on terms with Chris he put is hand up with a problem...damn! And here was me thinking me and the Benelli were a flying combination!...:o)
The rest of the race was a little lonely, with Chris gone and the 2 big multi cylinder Jap' bikes a forgotten spec in the distance It was just me and the circuit, with a big gap back to Ed Poole on the Manx Norton with Stuart Robinson bringing up the rear. I was really enjoying the little bike on this circuit finding that I didn't really need to do much else other than steer as we spent most of the time flat out only changing up and down the gearbox at the 3 junctions making up the corners on the Jurby south circuit. I even managed a bit of air under the front wheel on the 'pill box road' but that's more down to the road surface than the awesome power of the bike..:o)
During the practice I lost the end can from my rhs exhaust due to the bumpy, vibey and high revving nature of the circuit and towards the end of the penultimate lap a pretty strong vibration started to emanate through the bike from the engine. I didn't want to be picking up bits of Italian alloy from hedgerow tonight so I knocked 1000 revs or so off for the final lap thinking that it may have been the cranks' way of telling me it was time for a refresh..
During the practice I lost the end can from my rhs exhaust due to the bumpy, vibey and high revving nature of the circuit and towards the end of the penultimate lap a pretty strong vibration started to emanate through the bike from the engine. I didn't want to be picking up bits of Italian alloy from hedgerow tonight so I knocked 1000 revs or so off for the final lap thinking that it may have been the cranks' way of telling me it was time for a refresh..
With a successful finish and another signature towards the ManxGP the day was called a success and we were able to pick up a trophy!. We were the fastest Classic but the way the grids were joined it included the 2 big Jap multi's and we were awarded a third. Not a problem, lots learned and an intact motor to strip and diagnose. ;o)
We have a spare motor to try for the next Airfield round and John and Neil have been 'playing' with porting and are waiting for my feedback... Hopefully they will have built a nice reliable motor for the Manx GP. This weekend will hopefully be the final signature for the Mountain course licence as I rode a little Motobi (badged version of the Benelli) at Three Sisters last week courtesy of Pat Sproston of Felt Tip Racing to make up for the missed sig that the Pre-TT classic would have provided... I was under strict instruction from all quarters to have a steady run and bring it home for a sig'. It was the Motobi's final race before it's retirement so I really did take it carefully. A 6th place and a lap time slower than my wet practice..:o) but the sig' was achieved and everyone was happy...:o)
We have a spare motor to try for the next Airfield round and John and Neil have been 'playing' with porting and are waiting for my feedback... Hopefully they will have built a nice reliable motor for the Manx GP. This weekend will hopefully be the final signature for the Mountain course licence as I rode a little Motobi (badged version of the Benelli) at Three Sisters last week courtesy of Pat Sproston of Felt Tip Racing to make up for the missed sig that the Pre-TT classic would have provided... I was under strict instruction from all quarters to have a steady run and bring it home for a sig'. It was the Motobi's final race before it's retirement so I really did take it carefully. A 6th place and a lap time slower than my wet practice..:o) but the sig' was achieved and everyone was happy...:o)
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