ManxGP IoM – Day 5 – Aug 23rd – Blog by Alan Boyter (Vendetta Racing)
Yet another busy day at the Ducks Cross Racing camp. Most of the day was spent finishing off Steve’s number 1 bike; as well as getting a new quick shifter it got new race fairings so it would look its best round the track. I took it up to scrutineering with the number 2 bike just to get it checked over and it passed with flying colours, good news!
Bikes #1 and #2 (we're looking forward to seeing whats on that Go-Pro !)
The weather was pretty bad all day, rain, rain and more rain so at 3pm we decided that the slick tyre’s were just asking for trouble, so quickly prepared the number 2 bike with the intermediates. At one point the sun did come out and I was thinking the change of tyre’s was perhaps a bad idea, but with a 37 mile long circuit its bound to be wet in some places so we kept them on.
This is where the Bad toys go ..(Toy Story 4)
The Seniors were out first in practice and many were only doing one lap as the rain on various parts of the circuit was too heavy, we were hearing stories that one corner would be patchy, yet the following corner would be standing water! thankfully our tyre choice was correct but it still wasn’t going to be much fun for Steve. To be honest we had done as much as we could and we can’t control the weather, so best get out there.
Jason had met a couple in B&Q a few days ago (through crew chief Mick) and they had mentioned that he could use their garden as a photo location as it looks onto Sulby Bridge so he had already made his way there before the roads closed to capture the action.
Steve on Sulby Bridge at around 130mph !
Steve’s first lap was a 85.553 mph average (26min 9sec) but he squeezed in another flying lap with the time allocated and managed a 91.043 mph average (24min 51sec) so we have now officially qualified for the new comers race! I was on the pit wall with the stop watch when he passed for his second lap and the speed trap said he passed at 136mph! pretty fast for a little road through a town.
When Steve came in through the pits after the session had ended all I could see was him shaking his head. He pulled to the side so I could check his tyre pressures and he was telling me that the bike was overheating and cutting out. We had already had issues with a blocked radiator on Wag’s bike last Saturday so this wasn’t good. It got even worse when I noticed the radiator water was sprayed all over the engine. Steve then went on to tell me that the bike was now handling like a dog so it looks like the new wet tyres will need some suspension adjustment too, just when you think your on top of things…..
open heart surgery..
We got the bike back on the work bench as I was desperate to find the issue and thankfully it didn’t take long. As this is a road race held on public (yet closed off) roads there is a lot of debris laying around so these bikes all have wire mesh over the radiators for extra protection.
Punctured rad guard from the flying stone
A stray stone had acted like a bullet, fired through the mesh and punctured the radiator! the leak then caused a short on the plug lead electrics which made the bike cut out intermittently……and Steve still managed a 91mph lap! good lad!
Despite the intermittent engine cut outs Steve still managed a 91mph lap! good lad!
Dinner was quick and dirty, Chinese food which was consumed in the garage, and after working on bikes for the last 14 hours, racing and sitting in cold gardens with a camera, we’re all pooped.
Mr Socket sticking to his tasks...
Tomorrow we’ll get the radiator fixed and probably swap the current wet tyre’s for a new set of wet tyre’s and play with the suspension a bit if its still raining so the bike handles better, just 5 more days of practice until the first race!
- and this is where Good toys get to sit …( in Toy Story 4)
Practice sheets from today can be found by clicking link below
TTFN Alan
