I just found the write-up I did for the 2005 MGP, it was before bloggage entered my life so I thought it might brighten up a fellow obsessive's morning (perhaps..) More cycle training Blogs to follow, it's just blood sweat and tears at the moment but there are improvements!
Manx Grand Prix 2005
Rushing over from the MRO races at Cadwell to your first Manx GP is
not the ideal way to begin life on the famous mountain circuit.
Neither is missing the Newcomers briefing and newcomers speed
controlled laps. I had however already planned for this and made
arrangements with the Manx motorcycle club to have the guided tour a
month before and join in a latecomers speed controlled session. The
club try to stress to everyone how important these familiarisation
methods are and for once I agree with the officials, 37.75 miles of
Manx roads are very hard to memorise and at the speeds we'd be
travelling with dry stone walls and houses instead of gravel traps,
I was all for familiarisation…
Approaching the Grandstand on the Glencrutchery road is a surreal
experience during the MGP fortnight. It's a race track just as we
know it but super imposed over an island with towns and villages.
And the track is made of public roads, there's painted kerbs and
straw bales with marshals hiding behind, but behind them, is Mrs
Jones doing her gardening and just along a bit is Mr Smith giving
his car a clean and putting out the rubbish. As you travel down
this `normal' road approaching the Douglas town centre, a pit lane,
start/finish and score board loom into sight with the road going
straight down the middle. This is the track, and the main road! As
you cross the start/finish line the pits and paddock are to your
left with the race office and garages, just as you would expect to
see at any other motor racing circuit. It completely bizarre! It's
just as if the biggest, most obsessed motorcycle racing fan in the
universe was given a blank sheet of paper to design a country! Talk
about location, location, location..:o)…
My family from my Dads side had all come over to watch me in my
first Manx, they've always been big fans of the event but haven't
been over since, "bikes were real bikes and tarmac was a luxury" So
no pressure then. Me and my Dad have always been close but probably
more so since he gave me a kidney a few years ago, we both had quite
a bit invested in this little venture and once all my course
introductions were out of the way I could see him getting a bit
jumpy in his own understated way…After all he's seen the
consequences when things go wrong here. I guess the prospect of
seeing your son going the same way wasn't exactly a thrilling
prospect for him. This is one race that I won't be `pushing' in, not
for a couple of years at least. :o)
The Manx Motorcycle club have the organisation of this beast down to
a fine art; they've been at it a while, the centenary celebrations
are next year. They have most eventualities covered. I've seen
efficient organisation before, racing with MRO, but this is on an
epic scale, and the responsibility on the organisers and officials
is immense.
Practice consisted of classes going out in order with most able to
get 2 laps in before the session gets flagged, some of the really
quick lads were pushing to the front of the queue and able to
squeeze a third lap in, with a quick fuel splash.
Somehow, I'm not sure either, I managed to procure the services of
Anthony `Slick' Bass, (yes, the former mechanic to million times
world champion Carl Fogarty.) Not only that, but the bike he built
for his current team rider for 2005. It's a Suzuki K2 GSXR 600, with
a Slick Performance tune and Chassis set up. With the possible
exception of the boys on the brand new super tuned supersport bikes,
(some of which were also tuned by Slick) hell-bent on winning the
main event, this was probably the finest 600 I could have hoped to
be doing this on. Jammy git or what?
One of the main reasons I was lucky enough to get Slick onside was
down to Keith McKay, my good mate on the island, he's moved heaven
and earth to help me get to this point and it's largely down to him
that I made it there at all. I owe him a great debt of thanks.
Slick and Keef are attentive mentors and made sure I understood that
absolutely nothing is expected of me in my first year, other than to
come home in one piece. It was impressed upon me, in no uncertain
terms, that this was not the same as a short circuit race and no
limits were to be pushed. I was to spend practice week getting comfy
on the bike ask for changes where I needed them and learn the course
with associated turn in and braking markers. Just use this as my
practice year. Not much to think about at all really….yeah right!
The first few sessions (or `days' as we call them racing over a
fortnight. :oD) I spent trying to get to grips with what I was doing
here. I've been watching TV footage of other people, some of whom
are my hero's, doing this for years and it's taking some getting
used to that these are my own eyes, not a helmet mounted camera.
I've been over a few times on my everyday road bike trying to learn
the course, but that was at legal speeds and obeying normal traffic
laws….kind of…The problem now is that I'm doing twice the speed and
using both sides of the road, there is no traffic, apart from other
nervous newcomers and half of the street furniture is gone, which is
a shame as I thought some of it would have made good markers, never
mind human cheese graters..
Once I'd got used to that little lot I had to get used to the speed.
Everything looses detail at these speeds, the brain can't process
the visual information fast enough and makes bits up, and you end up
going for the grey blur between to two green blurs, feeling for the
surface changes through your feet, hands and backside. When the
memory improves you can start to pre-empt certain sections because
you know what's coming, hopefully. Like I said, nice and steady, I'm
still learning.
Practice week flew by way to quickly, and even with a days rest on
the Sunday my nerves were a mess, the Newcomers race was on Monday
afternoon, I'm not sure I was ever going to feel ready. Same rules
as before, nice and steady, if in doubt roll off, I've got another
whole week of racing here to enjoy, no point in taking risks, none
at all, nope, not even a little bit…are you listening brain?.....la
la la la. Oh god.
In the holding area before moving up onto Glencrutchery road I was
starting to rattle a bit. All around me professional looking teams
were changing tyres and checking pressures. The riders were pacing
nervously by their bikes; some were even being interviewed for the
radio and TV which is a sure fire way to calm the nerves, not. My
trusty mechanic Fizzy was working away on my bike with strict
instructions from Slick ringing in his ears, he looked almost as
nervous as me. But solid as a rock as always, I was so glad he was
here. My friend and road riding buddy Ben had also come over and
stood with me on the road, he went a funny colour too, this place
does funny things to your nerves, whichever way you are involved.
It's almost less nerve wracking being a rider I suppose, I'll know
sooner than everyone else if things are ok or not. :o)
In the Manx we get started in pairs rather than singles as the TT
does. I had been gridded with a mate from MiniTwin racing, Paul
Judge; I suppose they stuck us together on the merits that were
doing the same series. I'd been having slightly better luck than
Paul and with all the advice and the quality bike I was a few mph
faster than him during practice week and after we set off I was able
to get in front quite quickly and have the bottom of Bray Hill all
to myself.
Despite a relatively high start number of 20 I caught the next pair
up before we'd even left Glenvine. The bike was a bloody missile! I
was starting to build speed and some parts of the course were
starting to change in character what were bumps were starting to
lift the front wheel, what were lumps lifting the front wheel became
outright jumps, bloody terrifying jumps! At speeds around the 150-
160mph mark bike control was different to what I was used to, the
wheels are spinning faster so they are harder to turn and the bike
in general feels heavier and is harder to push around, I suppose it
almost feels like trying to push a train from its tracks, the
momentum is surprising. You feel less in control than you do on a
short circuit, more of a passenger. You have to ask a bit more
nicely and you're not quite sure if the bike is going to say yes or
not. If you sit up slightly to get a better view you get and awesome
blast of wind straight in the chest that tries to rip you from the
bike.
Then there was the bit I'd been most worried about, the pit stop,
followed by a further 2 laps, I was worried because I wasn't sure
how my fitness would cope with 4 laps back to back as up to now I'd
only done 2 at a time, 150 miles at those speeds on that kind of
terrain is bloody hard work. Also the pit stop was an unknown
quantity; so much time can be lost in the pits. We'd only had time
to do quick mock up practices and walk the pit lane, entering at
speed would be a very different matter.
I needn't have worried, Fizzy, Keef and Cherie were calm and
precise, this in turn relaxed me, it felt like everyone knew what
they were doing so I just sat back and let them do their thing and
focused on the bottom of pit lane and the run down StNinians to Bray
Hill. The pit stop was so good that I regained a few positions on
the road. Scott Wilson started from 33 and was riding like a man
possessed; he'd fought his way up to second place behind Bret
Crossley who was also riding hard. Scott passed me on the run up to
the pits so was in before me. We left the pits long before him and
it wasn't until we left Glen vine that he came past again.
It seems Scott's aggressive, hard riding style didn't suit this kind
of long punishing race; he clipped the bales at Sulby Bridge and
bent his foot peg and gear lever. I passed him at Kerrow Moor where
he was trying to straighten the gear lever. He didn't pass me again
on the road.
By the last lap I was getting tired and was concentrating on
reserving my energy and riding as smoothly as possible, it seems I
wasn't the only one getting tired Brett Crossley was starting to
feel the pace after his attacking early laps he made a mistake at
Governors dip at the end of the third lap overshooting the turn-in.
As he headed down to Quarter Bridge after the terrifying plunge down
Bray Hill he made a mistake on the down hill gulley. This caused him
to crash heavily while leading. After which the following leading
group approached the incident at race speed. From as early as Ago's
leap we could see enthusiastically waved yellow flags which
indicated to us (from the newcomers briefing) that we should slow
down significantly and prepare to be stopped. As I approached the
incident I could see Brett lay on the road to the left protected by
marshals, the wreckage of his bike against the wall on the right.
Knowing the speeds we approach this section and how solid the
scenery is there, I feared the worse and began to feel sick. Being
presented with the harsh realities of this event first hand is
enough to shake even the most dedicated obsession. I was later to
find out that Brett was in-fact fine, apart from an impressive gash
in his lower leg caused by his footrest.
Of course, not knowing Brett's fate at the time I continued with
slightly less enthusiasm and kept discretion as my better part of
valour. But this was still my fastest lap..? No mater how many times
people tell you that smooth is fast, it never really registers until
you see the evidence for yourself….. :o)
With Brett crashing out and Scott stopping a couple of times, the
leader board was in flux on the last lap and it wasn't until Scott
and I had crossed the finish line that it became clear. By stopping,
Scott had plummeted down the order but had stopped early enough to
pull time back and in the last half of the lap he rode hard and
although he didn't come back past me on the road, he just snuck past
me on corrected time and pushed me back into 6th. I'm fairly sure
that without the mishaps he would have won the event even if Brett
hadn't crashed.
So that was it. I'd finished the Newcomers Manx Grand Prix, you can
only ever enter this once, ever, so the result you get will always
stand, and you never better it. So I was understandably delighted
with the fact that I had made it onto the leader board. To see my
number up there on that famous scoreboard was a really special
moment for me, and I suspect there were a few people up there in the
grandstand were relieved to see me finish, particularly my Dad.
The racing however was not over, when I entered for the MGP I had
asked to be entered into the newcomers and also the Junior and
Senior events hoping that if I got knocked back for one I'd get into
the other. As it turned out my entry was accepted for all of them.
The Newcomers was the focus of this event for me, the Junior and
Senior events were just a bonus and another excuse to ride the
circuit in all it's glory again. Having a really low start number
of 97 for the Junior was a clear indication that I wasn't expected
to get a decent finish in this race so I just set about doing my
thing and learning the course. It turned out to be an intensive
passing class, I finished 24th.
The Senior race was a very similar story with a star number of 81 I
finished 22nd.
I'm fairly confident that with a higher start number I would have
been held up much less and had a higher average speed. As always the
one that got away was always the biggest! Maybe next time…:o)
All in all I'm pretty happy.
I got a 6th in the Newcomers race
I was the quickest member of the winning team for the Padget trophy
awarded to the winning Newcomers team (The Andreas club team)
I received the Alan Hampton trophy for `The most meritous
performance for a Newcomer in the Junior race. ( I was also the
fastest newcomer on a 600 in the Senior), and I got a silver replica
in each race (3).
The Andreas Club awarded me with the Terry Smith Trophy for my
results in the Manx GP.
I don't think I'm ever going to match that haul. Even if by some
miracle I do they will never mean more to me than these, they mark a
significant time and memories of really good people.
Something about the Manx has changed the way I think about
motorcycling. For a few weeks after the event I was quieter and more
thoughtful, I kept drifting into daydreams, I can't explain what was
on my mind or define what I think is different. I can tell you that
I'm driven by a desire to ride the mountain course under race
conditions again. If it's the Manx or TT isn't really important,
just that it happens again….
Foz.
