Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

. . ,ROAD.. RACE· Isle of Man TT • • f til cross. He even had a go at the local hotrod stock car race. Sadly, it wasn't all fun and games for the Americans. William Boldman fell from his Honda RS250 in a support race and his bike flew into the crowd, injuring seven spectators. The most seriously hurt was an eight-year-old girl, who was flown to the hospital with serious head injuries. At the time of this writing, she is in serious but stable condition. Boldman suffered fractures to his legs. Unfortunately, the dangers of the circuit will never go away. was absent for the second time in three years. Steve Hislop has always been concerned that his image within racing is purely related to the TI, and this has always rankled the Scot as he firmly believes in his racing ability. Lest we forget, he was British 250cc Champion in 1990, and has been a regular top-six finisher in the British Superbike classes in subsequent years. Before the 1995 season commenced, Hislop stated that he would not ride at the TI this year, preferring to place all his efforts into his British National Devimend Ducati ride - and a good job he is making of it so far. Also missing were the top two in last year's British Championship, Ian Simpson and Jim Moodie. In both cases the determining factor was the allegedly poor start money offered by the Auto Cycle Union (ACU) and the Manx Tourist Board for these two riders to compete in the TI. The Scots weren't the only riders to be put out by the supposedly small offers. Even (whisper it) Joey Dunlop was at one point thought to be considering not coming, due to a somewhat small financial inducement. This year's entries had somewhat of a club or holiday look to them. Castrol Honda continues to support the TI as ever, and their four riders for the F-1 and Senior, Dunlop, Nick Jefferies, Steve Ward and late replacement Phillip McCallen were all potential winners and all, bar McCallen, over 40 years old. Some cynics dubbed them Dad'sAnny. The American riders were back in force again. The usual traveling grou.p of Californians comprising Thomas Montano, Craig McLean and the enigmatic Wayd Boyd were back for fun and frolics. Boyd especially seems more and By Stephen Bums Photos by Nigel K1nrade ISLE OF MAN, JUNE 3-11 n retrospect, 1995 could be viewed , as a critical year in determining the long-term future of the TI races on the Isle of Man as a major part of the annual road racing calendar. There are, of course, many racing people who will tell you now that it is a pauper in a rich sporting world, a relic in a modern technological age. These people may well be right, but for the short term, or 1995 at least, the road racing capital of the world continued to host the biggest twoweek racing festival in the world. It may be no more than a festival these days; the racing has hardly been gripping stuff in recent years. Steve Hislop has usually trounced everyone in the Superbike (F-1/Senior) races, and those riders deemed to be among racing's stars (Brian Morrison, James Whitham, Carl Fogarty) have drifted away from the TI in recent times. Only Joey Dunlop can be classed as a true star among the TI entry list regulars. Castrol Honda's late decision to draft McCallen to assist its TI effort certainly paid dividends as the Ulsterman easily took his fourth overall TI victory and his second F-1 race win. Apart from the first split-timing point at Glen Helen (10 miles out) on lap one, where he trailed teammate Dunlop and Ducati-mounted Rob Holden by one seconCl, McCallen was never headed (apart from one brief moment) and always had a commanding lead over his nearest pursuer, who surprisingly was Dunlop. aturally, as with any TI race and any rider in the race, there were problems, and McCallen nearly made a late decision that would have cost him the race. "On the fourth lap, I think a fork seal broke," McCallen explained. "The rear suspension really went off, and the bike started weaving about quite a bit. It was getting so bad on the fifth lap that I nearly came in at the end of the lap to have it looked at, but I would have lost the race." McCallen's problem actually turned out to be a loose rear wheel. The Honda squad had taken delivery of a new batch more intent on entering every possible event at the TI, from the races themselves (including the sidecars) to the Classic Parades, and the Beach Super- of Dymag wheels which McCallen said they had not bedded in, so the wheel was moving around on the sprocket. When one remembers what happened FORMULA ONE (Above) lain Duffus and his Ducatl916 negotiate the BllIck Dub on the Mounteln Course at the Isle of Man TT during the Senior TT; Duffus flnlshed second, but won the Junior TT on a Honda CBR600. (Right) Steve Ward leaves May Hili during the senior TT; Ward finished third on his Honda RC45 and also had a pair of fltlhs In the Junior and Formula One TTs, respectively. A telling indictment was the fact that the TI's biggest star, the only man surely capable of breaking the TT course lap record (Fogarty excluded),

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