Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

said J effries . "At 140 mph o n the long straights it was v ery , very da n gero us. " SEN IORTT The appall ing cond it io ns of F riday forced th e o rg an izers to move th e tra d iti ona 'B lue Rib and ' Senio r event to th e ens u in g Satu rd ay . Fo r o nce, th e da y d awned b righ t a nd sun ny and th e rid er s looked fo rwa rd to an elementfr ee ra ce . All except fo r o ne tha t is: for se n sationa lly H o n d a an nounced late o n t he eve of the race that Ho nd a Bri t ain supre m o B ob M c M ill a n had f i re d Ji m Moodie. The Sc o ttish rider w h o i s le a din g t h e B riti s h 600cc Champ io ns h ip for t he Castrol -backed tea m had apparently refused to ri de t he tuned CBR929 in th e Sen io r race, a nd H ond a ' s h i era r ch y took a d i m view and subseque ntly termina ted his contra ct , not j ust for th e IT but fo r the re mainder of the season too. Tr ue, Mood ie had see med il l at ease with the bi k e in p racti ce and was an u nh appy an d uncom petitive fifth o n the b ik e in the previous weekend's Fl r ac e, but w e w er e all unprepared fo r this . B oth parties remained tightlipped . M ood ie m ad e no statement o ve r th e rac e w eek end , while McMill an re ite rat ed th e r e a so n stated a s t he roo t o f Honda 's d ecision. The cy n ics believe d th er e might hav e bee n a little m o re to it t ha n t hat. Ho nda ha d other rid ers o n man to lap th e 38-mile c o u rse at over 12 5 m ph . Obviously , much had been expected of Dun lop. Would he t ak e a fourth vi ctory of the w ee k, and h is secon d a b o ard the W orld S up erbi ke - sp e c RC5 1? E arl y in th e ra c e, Dunlop wa s right on th e p ace, and it seemed th at we woul d b e in for a re peat of th e ea rli er F ormul a O n e race. Ho wev er , Jefferies had other id eas th is day. Look - b ro ke th e m ystica l 125 mph b arri er. Jefferies was obviously ecs tatic at co m pl eti n g h is second IT hat trick of w in s in as m any y ears. "It wa s a little slippery o n that last lap ," said Jefferies. "T h ere must have b e en so me c ra s he s o r som ething because th ere w as fuel o n t he m ou n - Mountain Course Isle of Man Results: May 27· June 9, 20UO ta in i n v a r iou s p lac~s, upon sa ying th at I fe lt th at th e las t lap w as q u ic k . I in g to score h is th ird win o f the week and eq ua l D u n lop's tally , the young En glish m an was m o re confident in the completely dry conditions than he had been durin g th e F I event. B y the end of t h e f ir st lap , Jeffe rie s le d b y 14 seconds o ver team m at e Ru tter w ho had displa ced Dun - 250cc IT: 1. J oey Dunlop (Honda ); 2. Bruce Anstey must a dmit t he ti r es [Pi re ll i ] wo rked really well again and I h ad no probRunner up Rutter accep ted secon d best again in good fas h io n , at ra ce 's en d he was 4] seconds ad r ift: " It was lo p for second p lac e. M cG uiness , o n t he sec o nd RC51, wa s f ourth . T h e orde r remained th e same fo r m u ch of th e second la p . Then it got intere sting. Lo ugher was ga m b li ng o n us in g a large r fue l tan k , thus o p t i ng f o r a o n e- p it- sto p strategy , a nd o n t he c ruci al third lap ( w hile Jefferi es , et a l , h ad stopped at th e end of Ja p tw o ) , th e Wel shman wa s but six se c o nd s be hind Je ffe r ies . At h is pit st o p h e w as 15 sec onds back , but co ns ider ing th at Jefferies w ould hav e to stop a gain it see m ed that L ough er w o ul d h a v e a fa i r c h a nc e a t c a u s i n g an m ore compe titi ve mach ine ry (so w hy th e p re ss u re o n Jim?) wh i le s urely th ey must h av e tak en into cons ide ra ti on M oo di e' s p osition in th e Nat ional upset. It was n ot to b e . Pi t wo r k e rs n o ti ced th e priv at e ly en t e red ' R71's r e ar br ake l i n kag e was d an gl in g Championship? T his enti re preamble t o ok awa y from the build up t o the r a c e . T w o hou rs la ter , however , only the raci n g somewhat da ngerously fr om the ba c k of the mach ine and he wa s forced to was o n everyone 's m in d . J efferi es and Rutter and th e V&M Yamah a R 1 tea m scored a se nsational o n e -t w o , and fit. W it h Lou g h er ' s dem ise. Rutter wa s promoted again to second place, bu t he was half a m inute b eh in d his f ly ing t ea m m at e . Despite his heal thy lead Jeffe ries di dn 't ho ld b ac k , and it was J efferies b ro k e th e out rig ht lap record o n t he f in a l lap, b ec om i n g t h e first (Ab ov e left) John McGuiness d idn't have the best of l u c k at the TT, but he still managed to win the Singles TT and also fared well in the c lasses that he didn't break down in. (Abov e) Ian Lougher at speed on h is Yam aha. Lougherwasfourth i n Fo rmula One, third in the 250cc TT and t hird in the Jun ior TT. on t h e s i xth a n d final l ap th a t h e (Yam); 3. Ian Lougher (Hen); 4. Shaun Hams (Han); 5. Ja son Griffiths (Yam ); 6 . Richard Quayle (Han). Time: 58 min.. 32 .2 sec. Distance: 3 laps, t 13 mil es Average speed: 116 .0 1 mph lems of note at a ll." Fastest lap : Joey Dunlop. 19:25.4 /11 6.55mph SENIOR IT: 1. David J efferies (Yam) ; 2. Michael Ru tt er ( Yam); 3 . J oe y Du n lo p ( Ha n) ; 4 . J ohn Mc Guin ess ( Han) ; '5. A dria n Ar chibal d (Han) ; 6 . J ason Griffiths (Yam). Ti me: I hour, 5 1 m in., 22 .8 sec. Distance : 6 laps. 22 6 m iles. Average speed: J 21.95 mph Fastest lap : David Je fferi es. 18:00 .6/1 25 .69 mph 12 5 c c TT : 1. J oey Du nl op ( Ha n ) ; 2 . Den ni s McCullo ugh (Han) ; 3. Robert Dunlop (Han ); 4. Gary Dynes (Hen): 5. Darran Lindsay (Hon) ;6. Ian Laugher (Hon). Time : 1 hour, 24 min ., 30.8 sec. Dist ance : 4 laps, J5 1 m iles Average speed : 107. 14 mp h Fa ste st lap: J oey Dunl op , 20:5 1.1/108.56 mph SINGLES TT : 1. J ohn McGuine ss (Chr) ; 2. J ason Griffit hs (Cry); 3. J ohn Bart on (Duc). Time: 1 hour, 15 min ., 52 .8 sec. Dist ance : 4 laps 151 mil es Average speed : 109 .63 m ph Fastest lap: J ohn McGuiness, 20 : 18.9/1 11.43 m ph J UNIO R 600 IT: 1. Dav id J ef feri es ( Yam); 2. Ad ri an A rchibal d (Han): 3. Ian Laugher (Yam); 4 . Joey Dun lop (Han) ; 5. Micha el Rutter (Yam ); 6. Jim Moodie (Han) . Tim e: 1 hour, 15 min .• 52. 8 sec. Dist ance: 4 laps . 151 mil es Average speed: 119 .33 mp h Fast est lap : Adri an Ar ch ibald . 18:41. 1/ 121. 15 mph PRODUCTION TT : 1. David J efferies (Yam): 2. Rich ard Qua yle ( Han) ; 3 . Micha el Rutte r ( Yam); 4.. Richard Britton (Yam ): 5. lain Duffu s (Han); 6 . Ad rian Ar chibald (Han) . Tim e: 45 m in.. 55.6 sec. Di stan ce: 2 laps, 75 m iles Average speed: 98 .58 mph Fast est lap: David J efferies. 22 :47.3/ 99 .34 m ph FO RMU LA O N E: J . Joey Dun lop ( Ho n) ; 2 . Michael Rutter ( Yam); 3. Jo hn McGuiness (Han) ; 4 , Ian Laug her (Han); 5 . Jim Mood ie (Han); 6. Jas on Griffiths (Yam). Time : 1 hour, 52 m in., 15.3 sec. Distan ce: 6 laps, 226 mil es Average speed: 120.99 mp h a g ood race actua lly . Joey and I w er e t oge th e r o n the roads f or a w hile s w a p p i n g p la ces whi ch was g o od fun ... Dun lop , obvious ly , co u ld n' t fi nd it w it h i n hims elf to pull out a nother sensa tional v ictory, but th i rd p lace a n d his f a s t e s t e v e r lap of the c o u r se ( 123 .87 mph) p r o v id ed yet a n o t h er cre di b le r esult for t h is TT leg en d . A nd so en ded th e firs t T T o f th e new m ill ennium. W h il e th e eve nt, as a wh ol e , co n t i n ue s t o s t r uggl e t o rema in in t he sp ot lig ht o f m oto rc ycl e ro ad rac in g t he r e is ne v er a lack o f s t o r i e s . D u n l o p an d J e ff er i e s , a t o p po si t e en d s o f t h e a g e spect rum , a t tra cted eno u g h c o v e r ag e t o pro m o t e t h e eV,e n t f or t he fo re see a b le future, bo th w inn in g three rac es , an d J efferie s' 125 m p h la p w ill g o d own in leg en d. eN stop. Thereafter it was a Jefferies b ene - Practi ce week had started well as far as the weather was concerned. The first three session s were held in glo rio us sunshine. Th e last thr ee days, however, were compl etely destroyed by mist and rain. Some riders had sti ll not sorted their set ups, and the loss of three days of decent practice was a m ajor disadvantage. This had not affected the V&M team and David Jefferies, however. The Englishman cam e cl ose to breaking the lap record twi ce early in the week and he was over 34 seconds quicker than anyone else in qualifying - his best lap being 124.43 mph . Jason Grifiths took his private R1 to second fastest qualify ing spot - some 4 mph slower. Michael Rutter couldn't match his teammate's pace and was five mph slower than Jefferies. Honda was seemingly in trouble during qualifying. The Re51 riders both complained of weaving on the straights which was a little disconcerting considering the track is lined with brick walls, lamp posts, etc. In a last-minute effort to cure the problem, Joey Dunlop had a 1999-compound Dunlop (of the tired variety) flown in for Friday's final session - held in teem ing rain. Despite the elements, Dunlop felt that the change might do the trick come race day. Although he had excelled ill 600cc qualifying, his practice times on the Superbike seemed to be way off, he was expected top six for sure, but would he be a factor come race week? The two weeks of IT were again blighted by serious acci dents. Three riders were kille d in the early part of practice week, and a fourth rider died after crashing in the Production race at the end of race week. Steve Wood, 40 , a sidecar passenger died in the opening session of the meeting when he hit a sign board after being thrown from his outfi t after it hit a bump. Chris Ascott. 36, died when he fell from his 400cc Kawasaki just before Kirk Michael after clipping the back of a machine he was following. Raymon d Hanna, a IT veteran at 49, died after being hit by his 250cc Yamaha at Greeba follow ing a fall . Lee Will iams, 42, died in the Production race after a fail near Ballaugh. There was also a lot of constema tion about the inadequacies of the marshaling. While everyone applauded the comer work ers for their voluntary work , it has to be remembe red that the IT is supposed to be a professional event, and on such a course as the Mountain Circu it the need for fuily train ed and skille d marshals is a mu st as the dangers will never dissipate. One example of this concem occurred in the Formula One race and was relayed to this writer by a spectator. Apparently, a number of the leading riders had gott en int o some very big slides under the trees at Ballaspur as the road was either still very wet or some sort of substance was on. the road making it somewhat dangerous . The spectator, fearing an acci dent was waiting to happen on this high-sp eed part of the course, approa ched the flag m arshal and advised that the oil flag should be shown to the riders. The marsh al apparently seemed unsure what to do (I), and the spectator returned to his vantage point , whereupon the next batch of riders continued to experience the same probl ems. Again the spectator returned to the marshal and this time expressed his views more VO Ciferously . Unfortunately, it was too late. Scott Richardson, starting at number 38, crashed heavily . Richardson suffered serious leg injuries and at the tim e of writing and in serious but stable condition in an Isle of Man hospital. The spectato r felt that the accid ent was 'avoidable.' cu c l e n e _ S • JUNE 28 .2000 35

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