Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

City people (McCallen's team) told me to pack it in if the hand became too painful, but it was no problem, really." Rutter gave the V&M team the final podium position with a fine and (so he said) uneventful ride to third. It couldn't have been that uneventful, however, as Rutter turned a five-second deficit to D~rek Young into a :2-of-a-second advantage in his favor over the final 15 miles. In fairness to Young, his CBR600 was overheating on the final lap, and' this no doubt slowed the Irishman somewhat. Joey Dunlop had what was arguably his best-ever. ride on a 600, a type of machine he admits he doesn't really enjoy riding. But he finished a good fifth on this day, despite overshooting the Braddan Bridge ess-bend on lap one. Jackson continued with his good IT performances, finishing sixth on his CBR600. Just a quick mention about the performance of another American (and another Californian) in this race: Thomas Montano from Berkeley lapped at over 115 mph on his way to a very creditable 10th place on a standard Honda CBR600. His race average for the four laps was over 114 mph. Montano's performance in qualifying was also impressive, as he took the same CBR to 20th fastest overall - not class - qualifier. And remember, that includes all the superbikes and SOOcc Grand Prix bikes. Are the Americans about to give the IT the international boost it so badly needs? PRODUCTION RACE With a further two days to rest, McCallen was expected to shine again on the final day of racing. In the Production race, he turned the tables on Simpson (who was on a temporary transfer to the Red Bull Ducati team for this race) and won the two-lap race by nine seconds from the Scot. In truth, it was a dull event - the organizers had reduced the race distance over fears for the first time all week of approaching bad weather - fears wl:Uch turned out to be unfounded - and most riders found it hard to get any kind of rhythm going. McCallen felt that the two extra days of physical therapy had put him at 100 percent fitness again, and although he took it easy for the first half lap, he was soon up to speed. "I didn't overdo it, though," McCallen said. "I had the Senior race coming up in the afternoon, and that was an important race for me. Because the roads were damp in places, everyone had to be careful - especially on the first lap, because you didn't know where the wet patches would be. "This is the second year in a row we've won this race, and I think it proves that the Honda fireblade (CBR900RR) is the best superbike in the world." One is sure that Honda appreciated McCallen's PR skills. Simpson admitted that he was surprised tha t McCallen had ridden so quickly, but was happy with second place on the Ducati. "Phillip must have been going at some pace, because I really tried hard in that race," Simpson said. Proceedings were livened up by the antics of Flynn, who was running third on his 750cc Suzuki GSXR when a bird glanced off his helmet. In fact, the bird only narrowly missed hitting Flynn in the face, which obviously would have been catastrophic. Having survived that incident, Flynn then fell from the Suzuki at Ramsey Hairpin after the front end tucked under on a wet patch of road. alter the suspension or geometry all week." Ian Simpson rounded up an excellent week for himself and the V&M team with third place. Bob Jackson had planned a clever strategy in fitting a 8.5-gallon tank to his Kawasaki ZXR, and planned to stop just once. It worked to a certain extent as he finished fourth, whereas he had been expecting to finish sixth or seventh with a standard tank. Simon Beck finished fifth. He had been running in third place early in the race aboard his Kawasaki ZXR, but he had a couple of "moments" when he ran wide and nearly hit a couple of walls. "That detuned me for the rest of the race, to be honest," Beck said. Derek Young brought home a privately entered Honda RC45 in sixth place. The Irish rider had his best TT ever in 1997 and his was a fine ride, finishing ahead of such luminaries as Joey Dunlop, who was seventh (he had carburetion problems with his RC45 and wasn't on the pace at all). (Above) Ian Lougher (pictured) came out on top of a race-long battle with Dennis McCullough in the 125cc race, winning by just over two seconds. (Right) Jim Moodie rode one of several Honda NSRSOOV V-twin Grand Prix bikes on hand for the TT. Moodie put it to good use In the Senior class, riding to second place behind McCallen and his RC45. His visor flew off in the accident and, although he remounted to finish fourth, his eyes were streaming at the end of the race, having ridden the last 15 miles without his visor. SENIOR The six-lap Senior race (basically an anything-goes Formula Libre event) was expected to be livened up by the appearance of three 500cc Grand Prix bikes. But this, like the day itself, turned out to be somewhat of a disappointment. Welsh rider Nigel Davies fell from his ex-John Reynolds Har~is-Yamaha in practice and put himself and the bike out of the event. Joey Dunlop couldn't get to grips with his NSR500 V-twin, claiming that the sheer power of the bike was "pulling my arms out of their sockets." Dunlop elected to revert to the tried and trusted RC45. Still, there was the one remaining NSR500V starting: that oJ Jim Moodie, who was looking to make up for a miserable week. Moodie took up the cudgel from the beginning and led initially at the first split time. At the second split, it looked like we may have had the makings of a top-notch race, as Michael Rutter took the works V&M RC45 into tlie lead. However, he crashed on the run down the Mountain on the first lap. It was that man McCallen who now took up the job as pacesetter, and a good job he made of it, too. He slowly began to inch out a few seconds at each split section, and although Moodie was keeping him within striking distance, it was hard to see how the Irishman would be beaten. Possibly in the pit stops? At each of his two refueling visits, the Honda Britain team changed the rear tire of the RC45, whereas the Pad- getts team of Moodie elected to stay with the same rubber for the entire race. The effect was that McCallen lost in excess of 2D seconds to Moodie in the pits. This eUectively ruled out any advantage he had prior to the stop. What McCallen didn't know, however, was that Moodie had been experiencing problems with fuel starvation from the beginning, and it was losing him time when exiting low-gear comers. So, while the Scot was always within range, he couldn't really attack McCallen, and Phillip was able to hang on to score his 11th IT win by nine seconds. "I rode very steadily for the first lap or so, as I didn't want to make any silly mistakes," McCallen said. "My signaling crews were excellent all 'round the cours~, so I knew when I had to up the pace and when I could ease back." Moodie, despite his problems, was just happy to finish after a wretched week. ." "I am just glad to get the thing home," Moodie said. " I tell you, honestly, we lost so much time in the slow corners becal.lse the engine just kept dying on me. We've been chasing a midrange misfire all week, but upon reflection I think it's fuel starvation. This is definitely the sort of bike to ride here, though. The handling was perfect. I never had to So it was McCallen's week. Sure, he didn't win the five IT races in one w.eek that many had been predicting, but a victory haul of three wasn't too bad. Considering the fact that he is 12 years younger than Dunlop - and considering the apparent lack of real competition Dunlop's win record is definitely in sight. CN Mountain Course Isle of Man Resuhs: May 31-June 6, 1997 f1: 1. Phillip McCallen (Hon); 2. Michael Rutter {Han); 3. Bob Jackson (Kaw); 4. Ian Simpson {Han); 5. Marc Aynn (Han); 6. Joey Dunlop {Han). FaslestLo!" Phillip McCallen. 18:24.4/122.98 mph. 25&. 1. Joey Dunlop {Han); 2. 1an Lougher (Han); 3. John McGuinness (Apr); 4. Shaun Harris (Hon); 5. Gary Dynes (Han); 6. Derek Young (Han). FasteSlLop: John McGuinness, 19:22.60/116.83. 125: 1. Ian Lougher (Hon); 2. Denis McCullough (Han); 3. Robert Dunlop (Han); 4. Glen English (Han); 5. Owen McNally (Hon); 6. Gavin Lee (Hon). Fastest up: Ian laugher, 20:43.2/109.25 - new record. 5GLS: 1. Dave Morris (BMW); 2. John Barton (Due); 3. Steve LinsdeU (Yam>;' 4. Johannes Keherer (MZ); S. Danny Shimmin (Mal); 6. Richard Hawkins (Rtx). Fastest lap: Dave Morris, 20:11.90/112.07. Jll 600: 1. Ian Simpson (Han); 2. Phillip McCallen (Han);.3. Michael Rutter (Han); 4. Derek Young (Hon); S. Joey Dunlop (Han); 6. Bob Jackson (Han). Fastest lap: Ian Simpson, 18:53.2/119.86 mph - new record. PROD TT: 1. Phillip McCallen (Hon); 2. Ian Simpson (Due); 3. Simon Beck (Han); 4. Marc Flynn (So2); S. Jim Hodson (Yam); 6. Derek Young (Han). Faste.Uap: Phillip McCallen. 19:15.6/11753 mph. Sa: 1. Phillip McCallen (Han); 2. Jim Moodie (Han); 3. Ian Simpson (Hoo); 4. Bob Jackson (Kaw); 5. 5;mon Beck (Kaw); 6. Derek Young (Hon), F.. lap: 1?llillip McCallen, 18:31 :3/122.22 mph. ,es. 37

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