IOM 2013 - Day 10 - Classic TT Formula 1 Race

A late post, but I temporarily lost my camera with the pics... got it back now... :-)

Monday was the first race day of the 2013 Isle of Man campaign. The Classic TT Formula 1 race on my Ducati 851 SP3 (1991) that I have spent every last minute (and penny) building and preparing since getting her as a road bike in late April.

 

There were 64 entrants in total. The top 24 riders are 'GP' riders - professionals and top TT competitors... some of the best real road racers on the planet. A lot of them getting paid to ride and most riding other peoples' very tricked-up (and expensive) bikes. The other 40, like me, are 'Privateers'.

Half of Sunday was spent going over the bike... and going over it again. Everything triple-checked. A mechanical failure wouldn't only mean not finishing the race, it would probably be seriously detrimental to my health. Got to make sure everything is 100%.

The night before. Check. Whisper. Pat. Think. Check. Caress...

 

Got the bike through skrootineering by 08h30 and with the Classic 350cc race in the morning it was a case of hurry up and wait. With Alex, Nic and Ian as crew, we got everything prepared and set for the race quickly. This left a lot of time to wait around. The hour delay to the race start didn't help either. I don't think I've felt this nervous before a race since my first ManxGP in 2005. I just tried to relax and focus.

My friend Mark Herbertson in the morning's Classic TT 350cc race on Alan Harmiston's immaculately prepared Matchless. Unfortunately, Mark broke down on the first lap :-(

 

Five minutes before the race start, we roll the bikes onto Glencrutchery Road. The atmosphere is electric. Bikes being warmed up, last second checks, nervous twitching and all around "Go for it. See you back in the beer tent."s.

Pit crew hurrying up and waiting

We'd warmed the bike up in Parc Ferme 15 minutes earlier to let it get a good heat soak. I had qualified 32nd and was to set-off around 5 minutes after the No 1 rider on the road (some Michael Dunlop fellow). With the sound of higher qualifiers blasting down Glencrutchery Road, we edge forward. Ten riders in front and I hit the start button. Nothing. I can't hear the engine or fuel pump priming with the roar of engines around me, but I know the bike isn't starting. Shit!

I fiddle with the switches... hit 'Start' again... nothing. Again. Nothing. We're now about 8 riders away from our start. If we don't make it, we have to go to the back of the queue. Crap!

Oh fuck! She's not starting...

I shout to Nic "Let's bump it!". He can't hear me, so I use sign language. Despite never having tried to bump-start this bike before, I figure it's worth a try. Push! Run, run, run, jump, drop the clutch... braaaaammmmm. She roars into life! I'm only 4 riders away from starting. Shit! That was cutting it a bit fine.

Phew! A bit unsettling.

I'm still doing last second checks and clothing adjustment and am a little flustered by the time I roll onto the start line. Starter's hand on my shoulder - I stare down Glencrutchery Road. I don't wait for the starter's shoulder tap... I switch my focus to the little Manx flag that the starter uses as a queue. I see it move and we're off.

Almost 20 years since the last Ducati 888 raced on the TT Mountain Course

First, second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth gear flat-out before I hit the jump over the traffic lights at St. Ninians. I'm airborne at over 120mph and land. The bars going squirrely in my hands... not a headshake, but front-end twisting about. We made some suspension changes after the last practice hoping to improve the rear-end. We've now solved the rear-end problems, but created a bigger, more concerning problem in the front. I don't mind the rear squirelling around a bit... but having the front do it around here is definitely not what you want.

Shit! I mutter under my breath. It's gonna be like this for 4 laps... gonna have to live with it and get used to it... fast. I hit the bottom of Bray Hil... and the front waggles around again. Bollocks. It's a bit disconcerting and I'm a bit unsettled from the start-line no-start-up. I'm a bit scrappy going through Union Mills. I just keep it pinned, let the bike move about under me, let the course come to me and try relax into it.

My brother Nic has been an absolute champion helping with everything

Every corner I'm trying to eek out those extra few tenths of a second. Trying to go faster through sections than I have been before. Pushing the edge of the (my) envelope. I keep chipping away. I have the rider that started 10 seconds in front of me just a few seconds ahead by the time I get to Ballacraine. I push on, trying to gain a few yards on him in every corner. I chip away at the gap. About 10 miles later I make a clean pass on him coming out of Glentramman towards Conker Trees.

The rest of the lap goes well and by the time I'm flying down Bray Hill for the second time, I have got used to the feeling of the front wallowing around. I just hang on... and keep it pinned. The next lap flies by. My screen and visor covered in flies too. On the run down to Brandish I check my gearing: 9900 rpm - perfect!

Hustling the old girl through the Gosseneck

Down towards Hilberry and I remember that I have to make a pit-stop to refuel and get my visor and screen cleaned. I round Cronk-y-Mona and hope my pit crew have seen to little light above my number on the scoreboard light up. I've caught the next rider as we get to Governor's Dip.

Into the pits. We make a great pit-stop and are all ready to go. The last few litres of fuel gets an airlock and slowly bubbles down. Shit. Ian is topping up. It slowly bubbles down. Ian tops up... the seconds are ticking away. After about what seemed like 15 seconds, I lose my patience and shout: "That's good, let's go!". Fuel-cap back on and she fires up on the button first-time. Phew!

Seconds later and I'm gunning her down Bray Hill for the third time in a hour. I must have passed the other rider during the pit-stop because there is a clear track ahead of me. Nice work pit crew!

I keep her ticking over... doing the same as the last two laps. Getting through corners just a little quicker, arriving at the next one just those few mph faster than I have before. Its all just that little bit faster. Soon, I've got the old girl flat-out down Bray Hill for the last time.

Last lap. I'm thinking that of she has made it this far, she'll go the distance and I wind her up just that little bit more. The last lap is normally the fastest during a race - its the only real flying lap - no standing start or pit-stops.

One of my goals before I got to the Isle of Man this year was to do a 105mph lap on the 22 year old bike. Putting together best sector times from practice, I knew she was capable of this. I was sure I had done or come really close to 105mph in one of the first two laps. But I had to make sure... and the number 107 popped into my mind. I said to the old Ducati "Common girl... just one more... just one more..."

Just that little bit quicker. Hold the throttle open just that little bit longer, get off the brakes just that little bit earlier. Common Paul. Push it. Faster... Faster... Faster.

I was exploring the limits and it felt fast. I got the lines right and was safe... giving myself a lot of margin. Well, at those speeds, the margin for error is still just about nil, but racing motor-bikes is 80% in the head. I was thinking ahead and pushing harder through every corner.

I say that the Ducati didn't miss a beat but downshifting on a corner through Glen Helen, she coughed. My heart jumped and I gave her some soothing words for the next 3 miles... all while wringing her neck!

I hustled her up onto Glencrutchery road for the last time. As in the first lap, catching a slower rider just at Governor's Dip. A second or two lost, but I didn't care... I could push her home from there. I crossed the line in a total time of 1 hour, 25 mins and 26 seconds. We made it!


Racing on the Isle of Man is super-tough on machinery... especially a 22 year old Italian bike. Ducati have a very poor record on the Isle with a finish rate of less than 50%. That's not even counting all the bikes that never made the start line and broke during practice. Going to the Isle of Man to race a Ducati is against the odds. It felt awesome to finish the race. Absolutely awesome!

 Somewhere on the last lap, I lost most my knee sliders!

On the return road to Parc Ferme. She spluttered a lot. I think she's running on fumes and we were a litre or two short of fuel. Lucky! She was an absolute beaut around here. We struggled a bit to get the set-up right... but most competitors with limited budget and no full-time engineers struggle with that around here. Considering this is her first Isle visit and that we kinda started from nowhere... so I'm dead pleased to where we got her in just a few practice sessions. We had a minor oil-weep from the clutch push-rod but other than that she was absolutely perfect.

 

It sure feels good!

 

Our average for the race was 105.9 mph. Fastest lap was the last at 109mph. That is the fastest I have ever lapped the TT Mountain Course! We finished 14th overall with only 29 finishers out for 64 entrants. Best part: 3rd in class (Privateer) and earning a TT Silver Replica for our efforts. Finished just 2 places behind TT legend Nick Jeffries on his Honda. Fantastic result!

After the race, we had a practice session.

I took the little Suzuki out and did two 104mph laps on her :-)

 

Blistered hands... battered body. 6 laps of the TT Mountain Course. Good training for Friday when I do 8 laps!

 

Thank you to RedMax Steve Hillary for building such a strong, fast engine. Peter at Oronero for those lovely carbon bits... my brother Nic, girlfriend Alex and friend Ian for your support and help through practice and race day... and all others for your encouragement, help and support. It's been epic!

TT Silver Replica

Still got one practice session on Wednesday and then two races on Friday (gulp!) on slightly more modern machinery. Roll on!