Celtic Match Races - Jurby Airfield: 14th & 15th September 2002

Had not really been looking that forward to this event after finishing the Manx Grand Prix on such a downer with another oil leak……… Had the bike looked over again, bought a new oil pump casing for it as well as some other gaskets to get the problem sorted once and for all (had a suspicion it might be that)…… also had Slick crack test the engine and he compression tested it for good measure…… Tested okay.

Heard a funny story from a good mate who said he was talking to someone who thought that I was fully sponsored by a bloke called 'The Wod' (as in 'Wads of Cash' )…… and this bloke described said person exactly like my Team Manager, Chris…… he also reckoned that I didn't need any sponsorship because he was loaded…… Well the bloke he has got his wires crossed over is 'The Wad' (pronounced WAD…… Not WOD)…… and he is my best mate who has helped me all season…… Chris had just retired from forty odd years as an MEA employee, where I still am…… and I've yet to meet a millionaire working for the electricity board…… chance would be a fine thing!……… If there are any millionaires out there looking to be part of a team, you would be more than welcome to join us seeing as how we have got space for one.

You wonder where these stories come from. Must be the illusion we have created with trying to turn ourselves out as professionally as possible, get the team in t-shirts etc…… and keep the bikes as nice as we can…… and there was me thinking by doing that we might attract sponsors, not drive them away…… A suggestion given to me was to run the bikes plain black……… but I'm more of a tart than that…… Oh yes indeedy…… Anybody that helps me out, I put their name on the bikes, no matter what they give…… £20 from one person amounts to the same as a £100 from someone who can better afford it…… It's all relative really.

Had Both bikes fettled ready with the help of Slick (who rebuilt No2 bike after it was stripped at the Manx GP), Stuey Bainborough (who's buying No 2 Bike) myself and Chris. Decided to let Stuey use No 2 bike for the weekend, a good test ride for him…… and no mistake. Was pretty worried that he had his 'brand new' leathers on…… Oh no, that's just asking for trouble…… I was hoping he wasn't going to visit tipoffsville……

Saturday 14th

Picked up 'The Wad' and headed off for Jurby Airfield at About 10-00am, it was only a practise day today with all the races being tomorrow (Sunday). Got there and slotted into the space Stuey had Saved for us……… Got all the usual jobs done, Awning up, Scrutineering, signing on etc etc…… As I was part of the Manx 'A' Team, (along with Chris Heath, Nigel Beattie, Juan Kinnish, Chris Palmer, Gary Carswell, Paul Hunt, Rob Sells and Norman Kneen) they had entered me for everything, and that was the Formula 600 Solo Race, Both the Celtic Match Races, Both the 1300 Centre Championship Races, and The 1300 Open Grand Final Race…… the last one I wasn't planning on doing, thought that I'd probably be sick of chasing Gixer thou's by then on me 600…… Reckoned we had a good chance of winning it this year, we had a pretty good line up, although the Irish team was strong…… again!

Had a practise session lined up for each event, and it wasn't long before we were called…… Went out and wobbled around on my No 1 bike…… couldn't believe how hard it was to get into it, I thought that I would have no bother…… But there I was rattling around with lap times of 1'03's and 1'04's… Nigel Beattie was dead right when he said it takes a while to get out of 'Road Mode'…… The bike wasn't handling anywhere near the way I would have liked it, as it was still pretty much set up for the Manx GP, except that I had changed the ride height, but it was still steering slow, so decided that needed changing again, put it back to my original settings…… but to make matters worse when I pulled in there was a smidgen of oil on the right hand side of the bike……… Bollocks!

Wiped it all away and nipped the bolts up and washed it down with cleaner, decided to go out in the next session to do a couple of laps and try and find where it was coming from this time…… went out again in the Celtic Match Race practise and pulled in after two laps as it was doing it again…… This time on checking it, found that the sump sensor blanking plug was seeping…… when I put the allan key in it to nip it up, the bloody thing snapped…… Really shit metal, must have been cracked all the way through …… didn't have a spare one, but managed to borrow a Thermostatic switch that had the same thread off young Neil Muirhead…… lashed a load of PTFE plumbers tape around it and tightened it up…… went out again and it wasn't as bad this time, hardly any in fact, but in my last practise the heat of the engine had melted away the PTFE tape and it was pissing out, so had to pull in after two laps…… Was really fed up, if I couldn't sort this out I would have to call it a day……

Packed everything up and headed for Peel to sort it out, Didn't have a spare blanking plug, but managed to borrow one from me mate Juan Harrison, (still have his brake discs on…… before he knows it I'll have his whole bike away). Got that sorted and ran the bike up and again it seemed fine. Stuey swopped all the fairings and tank on No 2 bike to the plain red ones that I had as I was wanting to keep my V&M ones as my spares, he soon had it all looking 'factory an that'…… Packed the van back up ready for tomorra.

Sunday 15th

Met 'The Wad' at Jurby at 9am, as he had come up with his missus, Karen, and parked next to Stuey again…… Stuey had lent his bike to Steve Grainger after his threw a rod yesterday…… so if mine sprung another leak, I felt hard of taking my No 2 bike back off him, so decided that I would withdraw…… and get one of the other lads to take my place…… Found out that there was another practise today which was handy, gave me a chance to test the bike out, and after all the usual, went out and practised on it…… was gutted to find that it was still leaking…… can't bloody understand it……… got off the track straight away and was later 'asked' to pull in next time after the Start line, but defended myself by saying that there was no way I was wanting to drop oil on the track…… although it wasn't as bad as that, it was just leaving a fine mist inside the fairings and on the crash protector mushroom…… but as far as I'm concerned, a little tiny drop of oil is too much. The boys stripped the fairings off it and we checked it all again…… still looked like it was coming from the same place so we took the blanking plug out and covered it with high temperature sealant and lashed it back on, washed it all down ……… tested it, and again, it tested okay……

My first race of the day was the Formula 600 Solo, and I was on the front row, although not where I would have liked to have been, Sellsy and Norman had got there first…… Was wondering where Kinnish and Big H where going to be as they were way behind on the grid…… After the flag dropped, got one of my worst starts of the year, when the front wheel lifted…… twice!……… Bollocks…… this was the first start I'd had since racing in the Senior Manx GP and as the gearing had been so different for here I totally botched it…… too many revs…… got passed by loads, and was gutted…… into the first corner, got blocked in the pack and saw Big H and Juan fly around the inside of everyone right to the front behind Sellsy who got off to a flier…… Managed to pass a few before I got to the bus stop chicane, but I really had my work cut out for me as I was down in about 15th place…… my own fault so had to get my head down and do sommat about it…… was making places up every lap and my lap timer was indicating 1'00.1 lap times which was a bonus the way things had gone yesterday……… Nearly ran into the back of Norman Kneen when his 250 Honda seized in front of me at the same time I was going around the outside of him at the hairpin…… he sat up and went off the track…… close one!…… Caught up with young Connor Cummins who was on the Wilson & Collins ZX6 and he was really going well…… the best I've seen him, was thinking at the time he must be putting his fastest ever laps in, took me a couple of laps to get past him as I wanted to get him cleanly and not knock him off the track…… then I caught sight of Sellsy and in the distance Big H, so I knew that Juan must be leading…… really pissed me off, because this was the only race I was really looking forward to, and it would be nice to dice with Juan and 'H' for the first time this year, I wanted to beat them both, I knew I could run with them, but there wasn't much chance of me catching them after the mother of worst starts…… Was right on Robs tail into the Bus Stop, and he nipped in before a back marker who held me up and he pulled a couple of seconds on me, but after a couple of laps in the 59's I got past him, then put another couple of back markers in between us and that was that…… never really saw which way Juan and 'H' had gone so had to be happy with 3rd…… cruised home on the last lap after checking I could afford to as my crash mushroom had oil on it again……

Pulled into the pits and Wad and Chris whipped the fairings off it…… Borrowed some super epoxy and Yammy Bond from Mark Mann and left the Wad, Chris and Rob Colvin to find the leak, while I went to a team meeting, we decided grid positions, and I ended up on the 7th row…… Basically went on practise times from yesterday…… and I had a mare! Wasn't long before I was out in the 1st leg of the Celtic Match Races and the boys had got the bike together, was hoping that what ever they had done with the sealant had set, and when I got to the holding area, told Reg, who's in charge, to give me the last row (9) instead of 7, so Chris Palmer got my spot on the grid…… was thinking that if the oil rears its ugly head again, I would pull in and cross the line in last place and hopefully get a point…… The race started and there was chaos at the first corner, loads overshot and ran over cones and it was really lucky that nobody came off…… had to run off to avoid somebody and rejoined in the last 4 or 5……… bollocks…… anyway, that was where I had started, so decided on seeing how many places I could make up and started passing people mainly on the brakes into the Perimeter section and up the inside at the first crossover chicane…… Had been planning on a new set of tyres for this one but stuck with what I had on as I might have been pulling in…… carried on for 8 laps, looking down at my right boot every lap on the back straight, and on the 9th lap saw a drop of oil on the crash mushroom again…… Jesus H Christ…… as it was only a drop carried on, and after checking I had a cushion on those behind, knocked it off till the finish…… and finished in 16th place…… was the first 600 home, which was pleasing, but the 17 points I'd gained were better than the 1 point I was expecting…… and points mean prizes! Was chuffed to find that the Manx Boys had finished in the top 3…… Juan, Heathy and 'H'…… yee harrr…… great start.

Back to the pits, and the fairings were off again, this time I decided that I had to withdraw, can't race around like that…… Rob and Wad reckoned to give it more time for the epoxy to set as it looked like I'd blown it off, but we never had enough time before the next event…… Went to see Juan and he suggested that I go and see his sponsor, Dessie Collins of Team Wilson & Collins and ask him for help…… (Dessie had offered to help me out before, after the problems I had in Manx Grand Prix practise week…… he had been prepared to lend me one of his ZX6 Kawasaki's, but although I was very tempted, I declined his kind offer as I was determined to get one of ours sorted, after all that is why we bought them in the first place.) Dessie said he would let me loose on one of his ZXR750's…… Mark Parrett had used it at the Manx GP and unfortunately it was still set up for there, gearing and suspension wise…… it also had an old set of boots on that had also done at least 4 laps of the TT course so that was a bit of a worry…… Had a 1300 Open Centre Championship Race before the 2nd leg of the Match Races, so wanted to try this ZX7 in it and use it as a practise…… The first time I sat on it was when Ronnie Russell push started me and I was off out in the 2 lap warm up…… Bit different from the R6 that's for sure, a much larger barge, the gearing was so far out I reckon I only got into 4th on the back straight ……got to the grid, and as I'm lying 3rd in the IOM Centre Championship, settled myself on the front row (Jesus!)…… Stalled the bike on the line……… well, just let go of the throttle to let it tick over…… and it didn't, no starter on it so had to get a push and then get back on the grid. Got another really shit start and was way down the field at the first corner, but wasn't blaming myself, this time I had an excuse…… still lit up the back end on the way to the Bus Stop, and with Dessie's words of 'You bend it you mend it' still ringing in my ears, blasted round Snuffies and passed a couple…… If I said I wasn't a tad worried I'd be lying…… this thing is worth a fortune and the front forks on it are worth more than my entire No 1 bike so I was taking it steady enough…… but I was really impressed by it…… it felt so stable and had shed loads of power and great brakes, though the first gear was so tall it was incredible, when I was at the hairpin in what I thought was 3rd gear and went to change down, it was already in 1st …… Jesus! The motor didn't even sound like it was screaming…… got my knee on the deck at this point and then it popped a wheelie, passed a bloke and I was starting to get the hang of it, Juan showed me his front wheel, but I got to the corner before him, going round Nans on the run up to the Bus Stop Chicane, went wide and waved my 'Temporary Team Mate' through…… he was on his 600 this time and I knew I was holding him up…… this was just a learning curve for me…… got passed by a couple of blokes and lost more places when I hit a false neutral into the first crossover chicane (something that happened to me more than once)…… Probably more me than the bike…… the R6 box seems less clunky…… Had I had more time on the thing would have tried harder, but was more concerned about getting the hang of it than getting a result…… managed to pass a few back and get it home in 10th place…… not bad for my first go on it…… back to the paddock and I had to admit to Dessie that it was impressive…… The gearing was so far out though I only got it into 4th gear, and 1st for a lot of the lap, get this thing sorted for here and I reckon I could do really well on it…… emphasised my need for a bigger bike, I wasn't trying half as hard as I did on the R6 and the lap times had been similar…… Nige told me that I was leaving big black lines all over the place when the rear wheel was spinning up, even had smoke coming off the rear tyre…… I knew it was sliding a bit, but I didn't know it was doing that… Told Ronnie that I wasn't getting into top and he decided to change the gearing on it for me, and had the help of other Team Wilson & Collins riders Mark (Parrett) and Blair (Degerholm)…… sat on my deckchair pretty chuffed that they were doing that for me…… Dessie was telling people that I had seen the light……… and it was green!…… The Wad, Chris and Rob had put my R6 back together, but thought I'd go out in the last race to try that out…… the Celtic Match Race 2nd Leg was up next and I was going to try the big Kwacker in it…… Was disappointed to find out that they hadn't changed the front sprocket on it…… it still had a 16 tooth front, still far too tall for here, but they never had a chain short enough to accommodate a smaller one, so they had banged on a larger rear sprocket which would have to do…… went to see Juan to see if he had any spare new tyres ready on wheels but he never, so the tyres would have to do as well, was more concerned about them than anything…… Got bump started and headed off…… this time I settled on my spot on the 8th row…… there was a bit of confusion on the grid, when people were not in their correct positions and then Ryan Rainey stalled his big Ducati, and they took that long starting him everybody else's bikes started to overheat……… Ronnie said to me beforehand that if it went above 80C to pull in, it had gone past that point so I hit the kill switch and stuck my hand in the air, as did a few others…… a right pain in the arse not having a starter button so had to get another push, then we had an extra warm up lap…… looked at the temperature gauge all the way round and it dropped to just over 60C so that was something less to worry about…… Got a better start than before but not by much and was blocked at the first corner by all the traffic……… had to practically 'queue' for the whole first lap while the field strung out then I started picking people off…… was quite enjoying it, using the extra power of the 750 and driving past others on the straights (made a nice change)…… watched Bruce Black, who had stepped up to fill in for Norman Kneen mess up the Perimeter Section and go off the track…… he was lucky to stay on…… out braked fellow IOM 'A' Team member Chris Palmer on his Gixer thou' into the hairpin, but he got me straight back when I hit another false neutral into the first crossover chicane again…… lost some places cos of this…… next couple of laps, managed to pick off a few more and then got stuck behind a bloke on a big Duke, as I was still a bit worried about binning it bided my time till I got better drive than him through Snuffies and eventually got past…… the blokes in front had 3 or 4 seconds on me so settled for the position I was in and came home in 16th spot again…… not bad, another few points for the team. Chris informed me when I got back to the paddock that I was lapping in the 59's which was nice as I was only going steady…… Definitely would be interesting to see how it would go with new rubber and the proper gearing on it………… mmmmmmmmm.

Decided that my last race would be the 2nd leg of the 1300 Open Centre Championship…… this time took the R6 out to give it a test…… Got another really shit start from the front row, this time the worst one in the history of Bad Starts…… the front wheel lifted then crossed up on landing and nearly had me off, then it did exactly the same again…… I was that slow off the line I was relieved that I wasn't hit from behind…… have to get that sorted…… schoolboy Errorsville, Arizona. Left myself with a hell of a lot to do, and started passing people galore and was lapping again in the 59's…… managed to get into the top ten, but then I spotted some oil on the crash mushroom so I pulled in after 7 laps…… not pushing my luck…… so that was that…… I couldn't believe it was doing it again. The Wad and his wife Karen, gave Dessie's big Kwacker a polish (part of the deal) before I gave it back, and I thanked him for his help…… Top Man.

Heard that there was a protest in about some of our lads for some reason, but nothing came of it and when the points were totted up……… we had won! The first time in sommat like 8 years…… You Beauty. The Irish were a close second, then it was the Welsh, then the IOM 'B' Team…… a good day had by all.

Packed everything up and headed back to Peel…… then it was off to the presentation at Paramount City………where we got our hands on the Celtic Sword and a trophy each, even won £80 for my 3rd place in the 600 race and it was a pretty good night.

The Endurance Race is up next, but that'll probably do me for this season, its been a tough one, and no matter what it takes…… whatever is happening to my No 1 bike is going to be sorted, whether it gets flogged or not…… Don't know what to do for next year yet, but now I've got some time to think about it…… A bigger bike to go alongside the 600 is a must…… A Gixer 1000 seems favourite, and keep it pretty stock so that it will last a while…… We'll see……

So, tune in next time for another very exciting, sword winning, wheel spinning episode of…………………………… Tommy Clucas Racing.