2 Hour / 2 Man Endurance Race - Jurby Airfield: 6th October 2002

Hadn't planned on doing this event, but Stuey (Bainborough) asked me to partner him as he needed the extra signature for his licence, and he thought that I'd be the ideal partner for him as it was Team PC Racing's No 2 bike he was using, seeing as how he had just bought it off us…… Still wasn't that keen, but thought, 'What the Hell'…… He'd do it for me.

Arrived at Jurby, surprisingly (for October) in the sunshine at around 10am, brought what I usually bring up , minus a bike of course, just in case we needed anything, I had brought all my wheels up, so that we were covered for any eventuality, had new wets, inters and Supercorsa's all ready to go…… Stuey had put the bike through scrutineering, so, when the Wad and Karen tipped up, it was up with the Awning……looked like it wasn't going to rain, but better being safe than sorry……… Was going to leave the tyre choice till the last minute.

Was thinking before the event, that a top three finish in the 600 class would be a good result, but to be honest I was only here for Stuey's signature so the result didn't really matter, as long as we finished…… but being as competitive as I am, deep down I always want to do well, but as Stuey is only a Novice and was on a new bike…… felt like it took the pressure off me a bit……… I don't think anyone figured that we would be a threat. The Nigel Beattie / Bruce Black pairing on the R1 Yamaha, for me, were the favourites, also thought that Phil Kneen / Dave Black on another R1 would go well, even though Dave hadn't ridden for a few years, and in the 600 class a couple of teams from across had entered, and the blokes that had finished 3rd overall last year Lynch-Smith / Millhouse were here…… so it was gonna be a toughie…… Stuey had decided that I was gonna go first, and he was also going to leave the tyres he had used at the 2 day Celtic Match Race round on as well…… told him he was 'having a laugh', they could stay on for practise and then they were getting changed.

Tried to put the bike back to the settings it had when I first bought it, don't know why, but couldn't get the ride height the same for some reason, the last time I rode it, it wasn't steering fast enough, so wanted to remedy this…… Stuey said to set it up for me and he would ride it whichever way it was……… got it close-ish and I went out in the first of two 15 minute practise sessions (was going to have a session each)…… had the lap timer fitted to the bike and did a couple of laps to warm the tyres up……wasn't long into the session when the yellow flags were out at Snuffies, and then I noticed that the No 34 bike of the Lynch-Smith/Millhouse partnership was lying in the grass at the Bus Stop Chicane………… not a good start for them, but they got it going again…… did about 8 laps (10 minutes) before I pulled in, so Stuey could have a go in the first session, but they stuck the chequered flag out…… so much for the 15 minute session then…… Checked the lap timer and I had been doing my usual 1'01 and 1'02 sec lap times…… knew that I would go better than that come the race. It still wasn't steering quick enough, so put the ride height up to the maximum setting, only worry with doing that though was that under really heavy braking, Top Spanner twiddler, Slick Bass said that the back wheel would probably lift off the deck as there wouldn't be enough sag. Said to Stuey to give me the last couple of minutes to try it as he set off for his session…… also told him to be wary at Snuffies, as they had taken a cone away from there and I usually used it as a tipping in point, and the first couple of laps I tipped in too early and nearly ended up in the grass on the exit……… dodgy. Watched him going round and Chris said that he had a best lap of 1'09 secs which is loads slower that he is capable of, but no prizes up for practise……… was thinking, however that Nige Beattie would be doing very similar lap times to me, and at the changeover, Bruce would disappear into the distance and leave Stuey in his wake…… but no matter this was only Stuey's first year…… and like I said, would settle for a top three position in our class, although I always hope for better…… Stuey pulled in after 10 minutes and I had another go, it steered slightly better, but still not as sharp as I would have liked it, and Slick was right, felt the arse end flapping around a bit when I was heavy on the anchors……

All the teams lined the bikes up in their number order and as we were No 28, we were way down the field……… the Kneen/Black pairing were No 1 and the Beattie/Black pairing were No 10……… so was keen to get a good start……… Lined up about 50 yards from the bikes with all the other No 1 riders for the old classic 'Le Mans' start…… the 4 minute wait seemed like an eternity, was still a bit stiff from playing football (first game of the season for me) for Peel AFC the previous day, got the 10 second signal, the flag dropped, and then it was the sprint across the track, was one of the first to get to the bikes, and when I got there some of the cheating buggers had their engines already running…… tut tut…… Hit the starter and got a belter and was third into the first corner behind Phil Kneen and surprise, surprise, Nige…… Was a tad concerned that I had a full fuel tank and not very warm tyres…… Nige must have been thinking the same as me, because he was definitely holding me up as Phil was pulling away a bit, not much, but enough for me to decide to get past Nige as soon as poss…… did so into the Long Runway on the second lap, then tailed Phil for another lap…… he's been telling me all year that he's been going backwards, but it looked like he was flying to me…… passed him I think it was into Nan's on the third lap to hit the front…… didn't think that there was much point in doing so, but thought bugger it, as long as I felt safe enough, may as well give it a go……… on the back straight on the fourth lap could see back markers at Snuffies……… By the time I got to Nan's I had passed a couple, and wanted to put as many of them in between me and the two R1 mounted pilots that were behind, along with anybody else of course…… Got my pit board every two or three laps and it said P1 +4, so I was 4 seconds ahead, next few laps it was up to +6, was wondering who was lying second, but assumed it would be the fast Laxey pole cat, Beattie (No disrespect Mr Chairman)…… posted a few 59 sec laps but mainly most of them were 1'00 flat or slightly slower, which was not bad considering all the traffic that was out there…… some of the A class 400cc machines were really slow and it was pretty scary how fast you caught them up…… was still really steady and cautious all the way round though, but a couple of times had to dive up the inside of someone so not to get blocked and lose a few seconds…… got my pit board after 25 laps, which said L25 P1 +11…… so I was still extending the lead, but that didn't really matter as we were expecting to lose it after the changeover…… was hoping Stuey wouldn't try too hard and jump off…… at the end of the day it was the signature we were after…… was pleased to lap the No 34 bike in the first session, so that gave us some daylight in the 600 class I reckoned…… Got the signal to pit for fuel after 30 minutes (and 30 laps)…… so haired into the stop box and then pitted…… Had the Wad and Stuey's Dad, John, doing that for us while me and Stuey swapped over…… got it a bit wrong when the fuel sploshed everywhere, but wiped it all down and Stuey was off……

Cleaned my visor etc, put a new rip off on it and had a drink…… was sweating cobs and could feel blisters starting on two toes on my gear change foot, so wrapped a bit of cloth round them and then went and watched Stu, it looked like he was really flying…… couldn't really keep track of where we were, but assumed we were running in the top three, which I thought was pretty good. Decided between myself, Chris and John, that I would do 35 minutes in the next session and leave the last 25 odd minutes for Stuey, and we pulled Stuey in for his pit after his half hour, and we seemed a bit quicker this time round…… then it was back out on the track for me……… Carried on where I left off, just kept my head down and looked at my pit board every time it was swung out, this time it was just indicating how many laps I had done…… had the rear tyre spinning up on numerous occasions, mainly onto the back straight when it was really sliding……… the only 'moments' I had was, when passing a few on the brakes into the Bus Stop, the back wheel lifted way off the deck a couple of times (hope somebody got one on camera) and flapped a bit, and when I had to take a really tight line into Nan's to pass four riders in one go and the front hit a bit of a bump where the tarmac joins and skipped a bit…… think I gave somebody a fright and put him/her off the track doing that, good job there was plenty of run off…… (sorry to whoever it was…… would have apologised personally if I knew who I did it to……) (still will). had to make that move as some one had high sided out of the chicane on to the start/finish straight and the yellow flags were being waved, so there was no overtaking…… so that meant I had to get past before I got there…… made for some pretty interesting manoeuvres the next few laps as well…… did get stuck behind a few……… I sat up, throttled off and toured past…… though some could have got off and pushed they were going that slow…… got my pit board to come in again, and actually passed someone in the Stop Box…… talk about taking your time. Swapped over with Stuey, had a quick look at the rear tyre, it was ripping up a bit, but looked like it would be okay, although it was on its way out, and after what I thought was an ok stop he was off……… got changed out of my leathers and went to watch the end…… Stood by chief timekeeper Chris and pit board man, John and was well impressed when they told me that Stuey had been lapping in 1'01 and 1'02 sec laps when he got a clear run…… 8 seconds quicker than he had been in practise and nearly 3 seconds faster than his personal best…… you have to be happy with that!…… kept my fingers crossed that he would get to the finish and watched him as he flew by lap after lap till the chequered flag came out…… he pulled in and had a huge grin on his face…… enjoyed that then did ya? I reckoned we had finished in the top 3 overall and won the 600 class, which is loads better than we were hoping for…… went to see Nige and Bruce and their team had the result down as them for the win with us in 2nd overall with the same amount of laps (112) but 46 seconds down on them at the end…… apparently we were pretty much equal but they had faster pit stops than us, with us losing between 13 to 15 seconds each time (they had a fuel dump tank) we were just pouring it in with a funnel from a jerry can… They were also really impressed at the way Stuey had gone…… the top six were………

Nigel Beattie / Bruce Black 1000cc Yamaha 112 Laps
Tom Clucas / Stu Bainborough 600cc Yamaha 112 Laps
Dave Black / Phil Kneen 1000 Yamaha 108 Laps
Ged Lynch-Smith / John Millhouse 600 Honda 106 Laps
Paul Corrin / Scott Stewart 600 Honda 106 Laps
Dave Corlett / Chris Dowling 400 Honda 104 Laps

So a pretty satisfactory result……… and the bike never missed a beat. Wonder why I flogged it now……… It was also the first racing trophy that Team Silverback Racing has won (Stuey's Team)……… Packed everything back into both vans and headed for home. That's it for me till I decide what I'm doing for next year……

So, tune in next season for another very exciting, enduring, better than expected episode of…………… Tommy Clucas Racing