ManxGP 2010 - Seventh Practice - A Bit Damp

Saturday brought rain. It stopped raining by 16h00, but I decided not to go out. Having qualified and happy that the bikes are as good as I can get them in the current circumstances there was nothing to learn or gain by hooning around here in the wet and damp. For the first time on the Isle I made a decision not to go out to practice - it was pure luxury!

The BAMF hustling through Quarterbridge on a previous evening practice  - thanks Northline Photography

My mate Mike Minns (2nd in last year's Ultra Lightweight race) broke the end off his crank during Friday's practice... so he had to get out on a spare bike (his brother's SV - very simmilar to mine) to do the minimum number of laps on that bike to qualify. He'd been running in the top 10 Ultra Lightweights all week.

Frank Biggelaar from Netherlands just back from evening practice on his big old Post Classic 1000cc 'Magni' Suzuki 

My knowledge of pre-1998 bikes is pretty embarassing... any knowledge on who/what/how/where Magni Suzuki is?

His heavy beast takes a battering around the TT Mountain Course - "I thought I heard it getting louder..." says

Only about 20 bikes went out... probably all just to test certain aspects of the bike or to do emergency qualification. It was our turn to watch. The house I'm renting has a galleried landing with a bay window on Bray Hill side. The views are fantastic! Sitting in a warm house, sipping a cup 'o tea we watched race bikes streak down the last half of Bray Hill and scrape fairings as they bottomed out at 130mph at the Bray Hill traffic lights. I tried to get some pics... but the bikes were just too fast for my little  point-and-shoot camera.

The Paddock was alive with the 'Puk-puk-puk-puk-puk...' of trials bikes from early on Saturday morning for the beginning of the Manx 2-Day Trial. Unfortunately we didn't get a chance to go watch some of it.

Mike got 2 laps in and qualified. He has been doing laps of 106/107mph on his broken SV all week... he only managed a quickest lap of 93mph in the conditions - fast enough and enough laps to qualify.