ManxGP IoM -Day 8- Aug 26th – Blog by Alan Boyter at Vendetta Racing
Another quiet day today. We had another drive round the circuit to start the morning but this time for keeping an eye out for photo locations for Jason.
I told you not to listen to that Sat Nav Alan...
One of the downsides of the circuit is that you are restricted of your movements as the main road is closed (it becomes a race track) but as there are only 22 minutes per lap (so far, that may come down) its worth planning a spot where once you’ve taken a picture you can move to a different location for the next lap. (Ed-all ye motorsport photographers will agree with that !)
typical unassuming country lane, not as wide as it looks...
You have 2 choice’s, either inside the circuit or outside. There are plenty small single lane roads that connect back to the main road, so we studied the map and decided to explore one of them in detail as it would tie up 2 great locations but it turned out wasn’t a road at all….it was a green lane used by 4×4’s and off road motorbikes! Should you own a Nissan Quashqui and find yourself in a very narrow rocky lane on the top of a mountain surrounded by sheep and cows, don’t worry, it WILL get through (albeit with some scratches and dents)
Its been another glorious day here so we had the bikes out to get washed, a bit of sun tanning and even managed to get a quick safety nap in before the scrutineering started. One thing that the scrutineers are quite hot on, are tyre valve caps, they have to be used and they have to be metal.
They call him Mr Wagtastic...say me fantastic..
Wag found the reason for this first hand a couple of days ago. For some reason the rear valve cap was missing/forgotten on his R6 and it wasn’t picked up by the scrutineers. He came in after the first lap thinking that he had a puncture but it turns out its the valve. As the bikes are at top speed for such a long period of time (160mph+) and the roads are so bumpy the valves actually lift in their seats allowing air to escape, a metal valve cap as an extra seal at the top acting as a second barrier, every day’s a school day here!
Best pub in Britain- (ok one of the best)
Practice was yet another good session, Steve managed a 104.049mph average on his out lap! his flyer was slightly slower (103.025) due to traffic but he felt better so I’m sure there will be more to come tomorrow.
Also on his out lap he managed to coin himself a new nickname which myself and Jason are determined to make stick. Towards the end of the lap he came through bedstead corner a lot faster than he has done before which is a definitely a good thing but he used the same braking marker for the following nook corner…which obviously was too late!
Graham who is part of the Ducks Cross race team just happens to marshal at that corner so the entire incident was witnessed. He left a black skid mark the length of 3 telegraph poles and narrowly made the corner. Apparently there was some fantastic 80’s style tyre skidding noise to complete the incident. So Skiddy Blackney is born….
Wag also had a fantastic night, His outlap was 115.1mph but after his second lap he came in complaining that is wasn’t as fast as last night but we corrected him as he managed a 116.899mph average! we had the camera on his bike so the entire session was recorded, including a Wagtastic shout of ‘yeh baby!’ at the end.
Great stuff, more tomorrow. Jason’s advice for the day: AVE IT!
TTFN Alan
