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Sunday, 6th August 2000 - Jurby Airfield Arrived at Jurby on Sunday with my girlfriend Ann, was about the last to arrive cos we were running late. Parked in the paddock next to the "Laxey Boys" and signed on, etc. Only one practice session today so went out and was doing 1.04s and 1.05s, still that was okay. Weather not as good as Saturday. My first race was 7a, 1300cc Restricted Race, by the time race 5 came along it had started to rain, so the track was well wet by the timeI had to take to the track, didn't tape my face off as I had a fog city on the inside of my visor, it wasn't for a Shoei helmet though, as they don't make them, so I made it fit. I was on the third row, but didn't get the best of starts, was about 6th into the first corner and passed a couple, got held up at Snuffies, could have gone past the bloke either side going round Snuffies but if I go on the outside and he drifts wide he could push me onto the grass - if I go on the inside I'd be on the wrong line and could drift onto the grass by myself. I opted for the safe option of taking him somewhere else as it was wet and Snuffies is a really fast right-hander. By the end of the first lap I couldn't see a bloody thing and was going to call it a day. Juan had disappeared, I couldn't see him anyway, so I thought I'd give it another lap. After that I was going to pull in only to find nobody was behind me, so I decided to soldier on for the rest of the race and finished 3rd - Jesus! £40 and a trophy!! Got back to the pits and first thing I did was change my visor. Next race was Race 8, Open Solo. Still wet, all the big boys in this one. Taped my face off, new visor on and got a good start. Was up to 3rd behind Heath and Kinnish. Juan made a move on Heath at the Bus Stop but Heath closed the door on him and he went on the grass, I had to dodge him when he came back on and moved up to second - bloody hell! Overshot the bottom corner and got passed by Big H and Milky, so I tucked in behind them to see if I could keep up. Amazingly I kept behind them for about 4 laps, watching them dice with each other, and the lead swapped a few times. I was about 5 bike lengths behind, they were slipping and sliding all over the place, I tried to be as smooth as possible. Milky came off in front of me at the bottom corner, his rear tyre slid away, I had to take avoiding action and went wide, but he kept on sliding so I had to go wider and wider till he stopped then had to ride around and rejoin the track (this showed my inexperience, I should have gone the other side of him and he would have slid away from me). By this time Heath and Big H had got away and I had lost about 3 or 4 seconds. It's amazing how you can get towed along, but I lost that tow was soon as they'd gone, Juan had me in his sights and made his move on me at the Bus Stop so I let him through (he thanked me later), no point in being a hero, he's better than me (at the moment). I could have pushed him on the grass, but both of us might have come off, so taking no risks, shoulder still too dodgy for that. I ended up 4th - well happy with that and another £30. Thought my brakes were fading on some laps and not on others. It was only when I realised that on some laps I had a bit of a tank slapper on the Start/Finish straight, which put the pistons back into the calipers and I had to pump the brakes to get them to work. Pretty scary when that happens, anyway I sussed that out, so if that happens again I know to get the lever solid before I get to the corner. My next race was 12a, 1300cc Restricted again. It was pretty dry by now as the rain had stopped and I got a terrible start, but made my way through the field up to the front and passed Bruce Black to go 3rd on the 4th lap. Clashed fairings twice as I dived up his inside, but because I had the line he had to go off the track - that's racing! We had a laugh about it afterwards. Anyway, I was catching Ashy but didn't have enough laps left, the race had been reduced from eight to six laps and I was 1.4 seconds down on him at the flag, ended up 3rd, yippee another trophy - and another £40. Last race was the Open Solos again, I got another bad start, which is unusual for me, but made my way up to 5th behind Hunt, Heath, Kinnish and Milky Quayle. But on the 5th lap had a massive slide, my tyres had gone off, so I knocked it off a bit as I didn't want to fall off on the last lap of the last race (I noticed the black line I'd left on the previous lap, must have been 50 yards long!) and got passed by Rob Alton on his R1. So I ended up 6th - hey, hey another £20! So, not a bad weekend - stayed on, 2 trophies and 160 quid! My tyres are knackered though and the bike needs another service and a really good clean. I have to be happy with two 3rds and two 4ths and a 6th and a fastest lap of 1'02.2. Thanks to all who came along to support me. So new Dunlops are needed, could also do with a new rear shock. It'll be interesting to see if one improves the handling again, therefore - go faster. Next up is the ACU Star Championship at Cadwell on 19th and 20th August. So tune in next time for another very exciting episode of - Tommy Clucas Racing. |
Copyright © 2000, 2001 Tommy Clucas Racing.
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