Round 2&3.

Firstly I'll apologise for leaving my update so long. I could cry about there not being enough hours in the day day to; race, train and help my heavily pregnant wife (Liz) with our (nearly) 2 year old son Bobby, but I doubt I'll get nor do I deserve any sympathy..:)

So to business. I'm sorry to say the second round was a little uninteresting, only in that you've heard it all before. It was a carbon copy of the first round but without the crash...Practice went well and I won both of the races, which were just me and Ed Poole on the Manx Norton. The bike was exactly the same as it was when we finished the first round because The team bosses (John South and Neil Costa) had been on holiday and they only had time to make good some of the more heavily damaged items on the bike. Our team photographer Gary Lark was also on holiday so we didn't really get any fresh photos.

In the gap between round 2 and 3 John and Neil, (particularly John) had been burning the midnight oil, making new fairing brackets and patching up the fairing and adding the names of a few more sponsors for the Joey Dunlop foundation. John also changed the fork oil to a

lighter weight oil after my feed-back that the front end felt a little harsh on the rougher parts of the circuit. It was really the only way we could lower the compression damping on the fork, this also lowers the rebound damping effect as the 2 damping mechanisms can't be separated on these old forks. In this instance it is the lesser of 2 evils, I think I can ride around a rebound damping problem better than I can too high compression damping. Whilst all this industry was refining the 'little pretty' I re-kindled a contact I had many years ago with Renthal the famous handlebar and sprocket manufacturers. We needed a range of sprockets for the Benelli but they're not readily available. Renthal agreed to make us a one-off batch of sprockets based on the pattern of the original steel sprocket on the bike. Another addition for round 3 was the tyre warmers, such short races meant that the tyres were only just getting upto temperature towards the final couple of laps, tyre warmers mean

I can go a bit harder early on and have a play with some of the more modern bikes with sticky rubber on.

I also found a little time to add a competitive mountain bike marathon to my training regimen, it was a welcome change to my usual circuits and 60km in the East Radnorshire hills was just painful enough to stop me feeling guilty about enjoying myself...;)

Round 3 was starting to generate some excitement at Benelli HQ (Johns house). We'd been given some advanced info that there were going to be a few more classics turning up for this round, the only bad news it that most of them sounded like Benelli slayers.. Ed Poole would be there with the Manx Norton as usual but we'd also see Flip Phillips on his Rob North' Rocket 3 and Pete Hindley on a ex works Cotton (Rotax) 250, which was rumoured to be boasting around 75bhp! The one I was most excited about was a Ducati 350 which would have been very similar to our Benelli but unfortunately never turned up. :(

I was nervous about the races because I knew we wouldn't be a match for the Cotton or the Rocket 3 and if any one else turned up it looked like we could be looking at our first round without a podium. practice confirmed my concerns as the Cotton 'blew' past me onto the straight, every time he cracked the throttle it looked like it was trying to smack Pete in the face, a bit of a fiery handful but with it problematic set-up and reliability. Pete managed 3 laps before a misfire forced him to pit. Flip's Rocket 3 wasn't being quite the threat I'd thought it would be but as suspected Flip was just biding his time feeling his way round for the bike's first outing of the season. I hope the looming road races bring more of these beauties out of the woodwork...

The Race started as I predicted with the Cotton disappearing from away up the grid somewhere and the Rocket 3 (No146), finding it's racing legs getting away, blasting past on the straight early on. On the first lap as we entered the long back straight I could see the Cotton winding up for a high speed assault when the bike suddenly lurched sideways smoke pouring from the screeching rear tyre with that familiar silence from the motor that 2-stroke riders fear so much, the highly strung motor had beaten Pete's experienced 2-stroke clutch finger to the race to protect a 'nipping motor' and it had seized solid on him... Bloody good skills keeping it up-right at that

speed but ultimately the end of his day...A few laps in and I started to catch Flip up through the twisties, the powerful and heavy Rocket 3 might have been an animal on the straights but it was no match for the nimble little Benelli through the chicanes at Jurby. I clawed back his straight-line advantage a little more each lap until I was close enough to risk a controversial (Drum Vs Disc!) 'sneak' up the inside early on in a twisty section to maximise my advantage. Spectators later told me that the move appeared to 'rattle' Flip on the Rocket 3 and I didn't get a reply after that. I guess the little Benelli can be a bit of a surprise to some people..;)

Race 2 started without Pete Hindley on the Cotton, the seizure was a pretty solid one and not a paddock repair. Flip was forceful at the start and put himself and the Rocket in a commanding position, I knew I had to get past him early in the twisties and get another couple of bikes between us before the straight if I was going to stay ahead in this race. Now it sounds like I'd thought about this in advance and executed it to perfection...the reality is that I'm still getting the hang of drum brakes and weather I wanted to or not I sailed past 2 or 3 bikes into the right hander at Runway corner, However far from my intent the reality was, the end result was the same. Sometimes a little luck is very welcome..:) And on the bright side I didn't accidentally ruin anyone's weekend by nerfing them of the circuit..I think..:)

The next race is on the Jurby South Road circuit with fast straights and not many places for a little 2-stroke to hide, I'll be making up all the ground I can on the bumps and the few twisties and hoping We get someone on something similar to battle with.

With any luck between now and then I'll get chance to fill you in on some of the Juicy developments happening between races and the lead-up to the Manx GP....ta ta for now...

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!

First test day of the season.

Brilliant! That about sums up the first test session at Jurby on Feb 22nd. It just couldn't have gone better!

I arrived late on Saturday but in time for a lovely Lasagne dinner with the rest of the team and an evening of nervous chatter about the test day. Neil and John had been working hard in the week getting the bike prepped and had even tried some home grown porting in a test engine before fitting it into a working 'mule', just in-case....

The day dawned mainly dry with a few damp patches drying. Jurby however has a micro-climate all of it's own and the morning session was wet and slippy, just as well we'd only booked the afternoon session! We arrived early so we could make sure we had everything and deal with any unforeseen circumstances, there weren''t any which is a good start...:o)

I was rattling a bit as I hadn't even touched a bike since TT 2006 (2.5 years) and I was doubting if I'd even remember how to ride a bike let alone a pristine little classic!

A quick dry run along the entry paddock helped me settle but highlighted a slipping clutch..head scratching ensued, and was quickly identified as a little too much pre-load on the adjuster. Another quick 'squirt' up the paddock showed this had cured it..

The first session was a bit wobbly and showed I had guessed completely wrongly with the gearing, it turned out to be the same as the original TT bike. John and Neil were a blur of spanners and before I could say, 'I've finished my pasta', they had changed the front sprocket to give an equivalent increase of 2 teeth on the rear. this did the trick and got us on par with some of the novice 600's (not bad for a deficit of 100hp!)

As speed increased I noticed that there was a delayed pickup from lower revs which, 'felt rich'. I suggested a leaner pilot jet but as we didn't have any we decided on lifting the needle jet a notch which had the desired effect. It also stopped a disconcerting 'hunting' sensation that seemed to occur on the bumpier parts of the circuit at speed...

Best time of the day was a 1.26 but I had to admit to cutting the chicane to dispatch a novice who was a little reticent in the corners but not short of speed on the straights. Quite the opposite of my repertoire...:o)

Best 'real time' of the day was a 1.28 which I'm happy with but as yet have nothing to benchmark against with a classic Benelli on Jurby GP circuit..

The photo's might give some indication of how much fun I was having, roll on March 15th first race of the season!...:o)

Right then! I have in my sweaty little palm a newly issued 2009 National ACU racing licence! It seems my Renal consultant and the ACU decided it was entirely correct that I should be able to race motorcycles, something I've been telling them for years but they still insist on making life difficult...

So! We're all systems go! I've managed to cram my leathers, gloves and name tags into an unfeasibly small case that just about conforms to Flybe's draconian hand-luggage spec's. This is because that although I'm only heading over to the Isle of Man for an afternoon's testing I intend to leave my gear over there to help with baggage costs and general ease of travel. I wont be racing in England this year. The caveat being that if we are 100% confirmed for the Manx GP I may need to do a few club rounds to top up my signatures for the Mountain course licence (6! needed this year..)

The action begins on Sunday afternoon at Jurby Airfield where hopefully all the keen young things on 600s will have finished throwing their steeds enthusiastically at the Manx scenery and we can start setting a good baseline for the little post classics's season data. The little Benelli 2C is a parallel 2 stroke twin with fairly basic technology so hopefully wont be to much of a challenge for a first seasons racing for the TS//2C racing team. The biggest challenge, as I see it will be keeping abreast of the complex regulations for whatever class the Benelli's manufacture date straddles, with whichever classic club we happen to be riding with.

Fairly loose targets for this year are to get 'reasonable' finishes for the bikes class in the classic championship on the Airfield circuit, attend the two closed road races on the Jurby South circuit. And if things are going well it would be rude not to enter the Pre-TT classic at Billown and the Southern 100 Classic races. The Manx GP would be a really good score but realistically in our first year with me having no signatures for the season start it will be a bit of a stretch...

I'll report back after the testing on Sunday...

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..