Cycle News

Cycle News 2022 Issue 28 July 12

Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles

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FEATURE I 2022 ISLE OF MAN TT: PART 2 P106 one else did. I peaked too early, and the TT Mountain Course slapped me firmly into place. Then on the final lap, coming into Joey's on the Mountain, I saw an explosion of haybales. Bits of bike, too smashed to be recognizable, were strewn across the track, and I could vaguely make out the mangled figure of a rider on the side of the road. Thankfully, I couldn't see who it was, and with the medics at- tending, I put it out of my mind and got back on with the job of finishing the lap and the night. On returning to the pits, my mate Al Fagan from 44 Teeth rushed up to me, concern writ- ten across his face. "Have you seen Boothy?" Turns out that figure on the ground was my colleague Mike Booth from 44teeth.com, the British bike review website and YouTube channel that's one of my favorites in this industry. "No, mate, I couldn't see it was him, all I could see was a rider and bits of bike every- where." Honestly, it didn't look good, and it wasn't. Boothy, the man who just two days ago was hugging me and giving me tips and pointers as a fellow journo and TT rider, had suffered very serious leg injuries, his right leg subsequently being amputated below the knee, among other major leg complications. Suffice it to say, it took whatever wind was in my sails firmly out. A BIT OF R&R? That was it for practice, but I noticed the Suzuki jumped out of gear a couple of times over the course of that final lap. Report- ing this back to Paul and the team, they changed the height of the gearshifter and we de- cided on a preload and gearing change for the Saturday warm- up lap as a bit of a tester for the race. After all, it was the only track time we had left before our race on Monday. Lining up on Saturday morn- ing, I dumped the clutch and sped through first gear, went for second gear and—nothing. With THANKS AND CHEERS T o make something of this magnitude happen, it takes more than just a want to do the TT. This endeavor never would have come to fruition without Paul Phil- lips at the Isle of Man TT, the man who first gave me the TT green light and who has been at the cen- ter of this program since 2019, when I was due to race the TT in 2020. Thanks must also go Johnny Barton and Milky Quale for their fountains of track knowledge and their advice they gave me while at the track, and my good mate Davo Johnson for putting my name forward as a possible TT racer. Paul Rennie and Scott Compsty from PRF Racing worked their guts out the whole two weeks and, while it was a shame not to have Paul at the finish, I was incredibly thankful for their time and effort. We had a number of me- chanical troubles, but the boys kept charging and gave me a bike I could complete this dream on, so thank you, guys. Oscar Solis from Pirelli/ Metzeler USA was abso- lutely worth his weight in gold. Not just a sponsor, he helped in so many ways from technical to just being a good ear to listen to my complaining across the two weeks. I thank this guy so much for everything he did. You're a great mate, Oscar. Also, thanks to Cristi Farrell, who came over to be a general help and Cristi Farrell (left) and Oscar Solis (right), two essential members of Rennie's TT inner circle.

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