Mallory Park DD

It was beautiful, sun-shinin' morning to take the Wee Monster out for a spin. Warm-up all done, I got stuck into qualifying but it was cut short to only 5 laps because of an incident. No worries... I qualify 5th.

Race 1 - Red lights on.. revvs up... feel the clutch... lights off and we're away with a little wheelie. Stylin! I hold my start position and the race settles down quite quickly.  It's a long 18 lap race and soon there's a white bike on my six - he stays there lap after lap. He finally makes a move and pushes through going into the super-fast turn 1 on about lap 13. I return the complement the next lap... game on!

Some feckin starlings have taken to the tree over my driveway... if they don't move on soon, they're gonna get it!

We're lapping riders and going around the outside of a backmarker through the looooong turn 1 (Gerrard's) I cut it a bit fine as the slower bike drifts wide and clip his footpeg with my elbow. "Sorry..." I press on. Another backmarker and I get held up - the white bike's through again.

We go through plumes of white smoke into turn 1 and I back off - looking for the trail of oil. At the exit of the 180 degree turn, a backmarker's bike finally shat itself and spewed a 2 foot wide oil slick on the race line. Whooooah! I dodge the oil and the offending bike is sliding riderless across the grass. A small justice when a rider goes down on their own oil.

I lose touch with the white bike through this excitement and on the next lap another backmarker goes down on the oil in front of me - he was probably just ahead of the blown-up bike so had no idea what was there. Race red flagged and a result called. 6th.

Race 2 - Red lights on... revvs up... feel the clutch... hmmmm, a little too much feeling there. I roll forward a yard before the lights go out. Bollocks! Jump start. :-( No worries, I pile into turn 1 underneath the guy on pole who got a bad start... turn 2 and that white bike comes up my inside. On lap 2 the 2nd and 3rd place riders take a fast trip to the gravel in turn 1... I get there to see 2 bodies and 2 bikes tumbling through the dust. Restart.

Red lights on... revvs up... I fondle the clutch too much again and creep forward... lights out and I give her beans. The white bike gets a rocket start from 8th and is up my inside at turn 1... I in turn get up the inside of another and am in 3rd. Turn 2 and I outbrake that pesky white bike to get up his inside. I chase 1st. End of lap 2 and I'm still 3 bike lengths off 1st.

I get the 'Bus Stop' chicane slightly wrong and land up clipping the 2" high concrete domes that are used as a rumble strip. I must have hit it square - the poor monster takes a big hit and goes skywards. I'm bucked out of the seat and land back on with a mighty "Whump!".

Ouch! No major damage though...

Shit! I crack on the gas again... no time to lose. There goes second... and third... fourth... what the f... ? Fifth... sixth... I'm going nowhere... just coasting. Shit! Bollocks! My chain came off. Doh!

I coast into the pit and that's my race over. A bit disappointed - I was in the hunt. But... the objective of the day was a signature for the Manx GP. Done. Four down... two to go!