Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/146662
final Friday practice with the Loctite Yamaha but he was uncertail). of his race setup, having hit suspension problem~ mid-week. Just before the start, Fogarty said practice times would be no real guide, he would go faster in the race. ' Fogarty had only been third fastest. Just ahead' of him was Phillip McCallen, the 28-year-old Ulsterman who has been hailed as the new 'Joey Dunlop' for the past two years but never quite cracked the big time on the Isle of Man. He came to the TT on a roll having WOl). a record breaking five races at the North West 200 in Ireland with his Castrol Honda machines. His practice best was 120.48 mph with the RC30. Fogarty and McCallen made the eSirly running while Hislop got reacquainted with the Norton tendency to 'run-on' into corners, having ridden Supersport machines during Friday's final practice day. He said Norton didn't have the resources to allow him to clock further laps on the rotary during practice. At Ramsey, Fogarty and McCallen were equal on time, but at the end of the first lap, Fogarty was 11 seconds clear having made all his time over the mountain section - his favorite part of the course. ' Fogarty set a blistering pace with a 122.30 mph second lap and even after stalling coming into the pit lane, he held a 15 second lead over McCallen at the end, of the lap. Hislop also had a disastrous first pit stop. First he stopped in the wrong pit, confusing a· sea of black T -shirted mechanics on Steve Hazlett's team with those of the Norton team further down pit road. Then the Norton crew had to remove the front mudguard to help get some air into the overheating rotary. Hislop's Norton 'teammate' had already retiredwith a seized motor, caused by overheating. Fogarty continued with his display and was 34 seconds clear and in cruise mode on the fifth lap when the gearbox suddenly let go just before the Bungalow. "I changed down to second at the Bungalow and something made a real bad noise and then I had no drive," Fogarty revealed. "I decided to tour around to the Creg but I decided to carryon and clipped a straw bale there and bent the gear level around. It hurts pretty bad to be leading by that much and then breaking down, especially for Yamaha who have worked so hard to win here." That left McCallen 15 seconds up on Hislop who was now flying on the Norton. But it was too much to expect the Scot to catch the leader. Even a blistering 123.30 mph final lap (outside his own lap record on the RVF last year by 1.6 seconds) wasn't enough to prevent McCallen from scoring his first-ever TT victory when the Honda rider produced a 122.54 mph last lap. "I can't believe it," said the victorious Ulsterman. "I've been trying for this a long time. Maybe I can talk to Honda about some special bikes for next timel" After that reference to Honda only giving him standard, run of the mill machinery for the past two seasons, he added: '1 took it steady the whole way. I didn't want to go too fast and risk falling off and I got out of my rhythm when I passed people on the road. It. seemed to take several miles to get a good line again." . Hislop finished 12 seconds adrift, let down by an overheating motor and some handling problems. "I thought we had cured the handling in practice. but the difference between 119 mph Brian Reid jumps his Yamaha FZR400 at Ballaugh Bridge en route to the win in the Supersport 400 class. and 122 around here is a lot and I was having to roll off in places. And I took a full two laps to get used to the Norton again after practicing on my Supersport bike on Friday. "I used to be quick away but I was surprised to get a board saying fourth or fifth early on. Maybe everyone else is that much more determined nowl" he added.' At the age of 40, Joey Dunlop proved there is still life in the legendary TT star, taking third after grimly holding the Honda gas tank on with his knees after the fixing bracket had snapped off the frame on the second lap. He had to produce similar antics when he won his first TT race back in 1977 on the Rea Yamaha TZ750. Nick Jefferies, another 40-year-old, brought home the third Castrol Honda in fourth place while Mark Farmer (Loctite Yamaha) and RC30-mounted ~rivateerSteve Ward completed the top dell, on a Yamaha, completed the rostrum places. Nick Jefferies took his second fourth place in two races, this occasion a blocked fuel breather lost him time. "The engine died and I freewheeled to Glen Vine then in desperation I ripped off the breather and it fired up again," he said. "So I carried on, with petrol be,ing sprayed everywhere. " 125cc TT In winning, the 125cc TT, Joey Dunlop at last equalled Mike Hailwood's long standing record of 14 TT wins. But it was a hectic battle between him and younger brother Robert. Robert won the same race last year after Joey had led the first two laps then lost time· in the pits. This time it was Robert in trouble. He had pulled almost nine seconds back over the mountain on the second lap but the bike was running rich and refused to fire cleanly after his fuel stop. While he struggled to get the little Honda firing again, Joey took an eight second lead after the stops and that was the little boost 'Yer Maun' needed. He went on to extend his lead to 13.2 seconds and got the biggest cheer of the TT week. He set a new race average, 106.49 mph, some two ,minutes, 18 seconds faster than Robert recorded last year, and took the lap record to 108.69 mph. Joey revealed: "I didn't get one clear lap all practice, we had so much trouble with the bike. Last night we stripped it completely and rebuilt it. We didn't finish till 3:15 this morning but it was worth it. The bike didn't miss a beat during the race. I'm happy to have equalled the . record, though it wasn't that important to me." ' SIX. Superspor~ 400 TT Ulsterman Brian Reid scored his third career TT victory, taking his Yamaha FZR400RR SP to a 54.8 second victory in the Supersport 400 TT. Reid slashed almost three mph off the old race record and set a new lap recqrd at 112.27 mph, bettering Dave Leach's old record by 31.8 seconds. This despite swirling mist on the mountain virtually the entire race that had riders backing off to check out the raCing lin~1 Up to the mid-point of the four lapper, Reid was being shadowed by Carl Fogarty, also riding a Yamaha. Into ,Ramsey, Fogarty had closed to within 0.4 of a second on corrected time but went out at Hillberry with a suspected blown motor. "I pulled clear of McCallen and was getting into my rhythm when it made a horrible noise and lost power, I guess it's not my week but I'll be hard to beat in Friday's Senior TTl" warned Fogarty. That left Reid to score the 100th TT victory for Yamaha. The quietly spoken 35-year-old rider from Banbridge, Northern Ireland, said: "I sort of made a mess over the mountain in the fog but overall, my hardest job was keeping my concentration in the race, especially in the last two laps." Honda-mounted Phillip McCallen took second, and veteran Steve Lins- 19