Jurby South road race report, (24/04/09)

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...

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 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..

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)

Titbits...

Some of the, 'juicy titbits' I promised turned out be a damp squib. Most notable of which was the opportunity to test and set-up the Manx entry to the TTXGP (worlds first 'clean emissions' motorcycle road race) the Isle of Man team lead by Keith 'Mad Dog' McKay have been working a warp speed to prepare a 'from scratch' entry for this event based loosely on a Ducati 748 chassis....Sadly the bike wasn't going to be ready in time to test due to the late arrival of some key components and pushed the completion date to the beginning of TT fortnight! I understand it's now finished and has had some dyno runs and is ready to be piloted to victory by the amazing 3 time MGP winner (in his newcomer year!) Dan Kneen. Watch the TT results for more history in the making....

Other titbits seem to be working out well. Pat Sproston, supporter of team TS//2C racing and aficionado of all things motorcycle,old and Italian has very kindly offered the use of his Motobi 250 (a badged version of our Benelli 2C) to race at Three Sisters circuit this weekend. The reason for this is mainly because we need signatures for the Mountain course licence (arbitrarily enforced by the ACU some years ago.). If we'd had our entry accepted for the pre-TT classic at Billown. This wouldn't have been a problem but for reasons best known to themselves our entry wasn't entertained on the grounds that we'd have been 'unlikely to qualify'. I guess they haven't been paying attention to the mighty Team TS//2C Benelli's progress! (hopefully I'll get time to add a race report and pictures of Pat's Motobi after this weekend.)

I managed not to crash the Motobi at a recent try out in wet conditions at the Three Sisters circuit so hopefully I can repeat that performance on Sunday and bring Pat's bike back in one piece to take a signature home. Riding Pat's bike has shown some differences in set-up and engine characteristics which John and Neil are keen to try in our spare engines. John has also been picking up some serious tuning tips up from the Benelli 2C fanatics in New Zealand, some of them are a little extreme for our needs and would see us 'sharing' our cranks with the crowd before we even got to St Ninians! The theory is useful none-the-less.

In other news; The second child to the Fozzy empire is imminently due so I'm on high alert for a quick dash to the local maternity unit, must remember to pick Liz up on the way!...;o) John and Neil as team bosses are keen to put contingency in place should I be forced to miss any of the signatured races so they've entered me in a race across (in England) at Cadwell park as a guest to the VMCC's Historic Racing Club. We should now have enough options to ensure we have enough signatures for the ACU's completely impotent (but sadly essential) Mountain course licence.

I took this weekend's free time, by virtue of it being my wedding anniversary, to go up to Scotland for some training with a fellow mountain biker. (No you cant have my wife she's brilliant and she's all mine!) Unfortunately due to an inability on my part to properly calculate friction coefficients of dry versus wet granite, I took a bit of a tumble on the 'Qualifier' section of the Dalbeatie trail. I managed to dislocate my shoulder and sprain my knee! Fortunately, thanks of the fact that I have a skeleton well seasoned by similar motorcycling injuries I'm already back to full motion in both limbs and will be able to cram myself onto the Motobi without any problems...;o) If not without a 'bit' of bruising and a handful of ibuprofen...

In Joey Dunlop Foundation news; the keys to Bradden house have been handed over by the Manx Government and work can start on the respite care home that the JDF have been working so hard to raise funds for and acquire. We're proud that our supporters are giving so generously!

You could say this is a little teaser for the Jurby Road race report which will follow soon (before this weekend's race at Three Sisters with any luck.) Goodbye for now and thank you very much for all your continued interest and support.

1st race in the Andreas Club Champs 15th March 2009

I had layed a few demons to rest at the test day, worrying about remembering how to ride a motorbike was one of them...I thought...

It seems I had been a little 'previous' with that thought! For the first time ever, since I started racing all those years ago, I crashed on the first lap of practice! I had hoped I could blame it on the new brake linings that

grabbed slightly as I used them for the first time tipping into the bus-stop chicane. There is no getting away from it. I asked to much from the classic style tyres too early in the lap and the bike's front end slipped gracefully away from me and laid me gently onto the track to slide, stage left, onto the grass where the bike also slid and flipped onto it's other side.

All was not lost though, as the 'little pretty' is very light and speed was ultra-low, the damage was minimal. Had it been a modern, alloy laden machine we may not have been so lucky and after some desolate looks from my team managers and pit-crew we set to a frantic 'straightening session'.

The fairing, that had been painstakingly fitted and stickered with the Joey Dunlop foundation sponsors only the night before, had to be ditched. I had knocked of all the had crafted brackets, the fibre glass was split and the screen smashed.

Because I had missed the practice session I had to ask for special permission to join the back of the grid, this was granted once I had been checked over by the doc for injuries, had my riding gear checked and had the bike re-scruted.

The grid was mixed and I shared it with GP bikes, steel framed 600's, SV 650's, pre-'89 400's and another Classic. The beautiful Classic Manx Norton gridded next to me at the rear or the grid (can just be seen behind Emma Shimmin on the 400.) With the exception of the Norton I was giving away roughly 40 to 50 horse power to everyone else on a circuit with a very long back straight!

This was never going to anything other than a 2 horse race for me and the Norton. It seems the Norton rider didn't feel much like a horse today and didn't put up much of a fight. After a fairly tentative start from me and a fairly purposeful one from the Norton, I slowly began to trust the bike again, (starting cold from the back of the grid after bending various bits of the bike straight again is not a method conducive to good lap times!) I passed the Norton and pulled away. My tentative start meant that I was lapped by the main race leader one lap from the end (Ryan Kneen on a GP250) Only 5 laps, my tyres were still cold!

Race 2 was much the same but I made a more purposeful start and was able to complete the full race distance without being lapped, a whole 6 laps!

It's pretty clear that we're not going to be having many battles on our hands on the short circuit this year unless someone on a similar class machine comes out to play. I'm hoping that we get to do some of the higher profile 'real' road races this year where there tend to more classics gathering to race, I'm told there might even be another Benelli coming to play....

It's great to be racing again and it was brilliant seeing all my Manx mates again, Suzanne Tasker from the Joey Dunlop foundation came to support me and see their bike bike in action and we had lots of friends from the classic scene Including Pat and Linda Sproston who are very much into racing classics in England and Europe.

Gary Lark is responsible for the photos and a fine job he's has made of them too, next time I hope to have an intact fairing with sponsors names for him to photograph!

A weekends results of x2 class wins is good in anybody's book, but I would like to have to put up a bit more of a fight for it and a few more laps to do it in!

We have good base settings and a few minor changes to make for the next round, hopefully I can get a bit closer to the lap times turned in on the practice day. The new expansion chambers have improved power but ruined the mid-range. I'll be trying a different front tyre pressure and a leaner mixture at lower revs to improve throttle response...

Roll on the 5th of April!

I'm going through the usual ACU licence woes again. The ACU have returned my app' asking for a full medical from my Renal Consultant.

It seems things have moved on somewhat since my last application, last time (2006) my Consultant was happy to tick boxes and send the form, this time she wants ECG, bloods the lot....

It's a bloody pain in the arse to be honest, it's just another level of stress to contend with and (in my opinion) wholly unnecessary! Any fule can see I'm as fit as a butchers dog!

I've still got to jump through the hoops tho'. :o( Pitting the two most sluggish bureaucracies in Christendom (NHS and ACU) means I'm going to be cutting it really fine for the test day at Jurby on the 22nd! (Licence holders only!)

This was one of the things I really didn't miss during my 2 years off, bloody jobsworths round every corner, all I want to do is race a motorbike for heavens sake! It's not like it's rocket science!

Just setting a blog up for now, ready for the 2009 season, to keep all followers and sponsors of Team TS//2C racing informed on our progress and results for 2009.

Testing starts on Jurby Airfield on 22nd Feb. Where the 'little pretty' (Benelli 250 2C) gets her first outing.

Training started this week with some gentle cycling to ease myself back in to the regimen... i'll be ramping it up as the weeks progress..