GETTING THE
HANG OF IT
My second night of practice on
Tuesday was going brilliantly.
Coming in after two laps to get
a drink, a visor change and a
tank of fuel, I headed out, com-
pleted lap three at 113.15 mph and
thought a fourth-lap flyer would
put me at least into the 114-mph
bracket.
However, any thought of bet-
tering my speed was quickly
replaced with one of bewilder-
ment as coming over the jump at
Rhencullen, I felt a massive knock
coming from the front end of
the Suzuki. At first, I thought my
pleted lap three at 113.15 mph and
Rhencullen, I felt a massive knock
steering head was loose, then
I pushed on my left handlebar
and felt the knock again.
I pulled into the driveway of the
Bishopscourt section of the track,
a daunting, sixth gear thread-the-
needle section of the track that
for me is way more intimidating
than Bray Hill or even Ballagarey.
The marshal came up to me
with a concerned look on his face.
"What's the matter, lad?"
"I think my handlebar is loose,
mate."
"Really? No…"
He came up to the Suzuki,
gave the left handlebar a slight
tug, and out it popped from the
clamp.
Bishopscourt section of the track,
I nearly fainted, and the disbe-
lieving look on the few spectator's
faces that were there was all I
needed.
One of them rushed away to
find an allen key set so I could
tighten the bar back up, and I triple
checked everything else just so
I'd make it home okay. Furious, I
cruised back to the pits, shot Paul
a gnarly look as I handed him the
bike and told him, rather loudly,
"the f'ing handlebar fell off!"
Sometimes, one can TT
themselves too hard.
(Below) The
Barregarrow section
of the track is proper
gnarly as Rennie
totally G's out the
Suzuki with Gary
Vines in pursuit.
FEATURE I 2022 ISLE OF MAN TT: PART 2
P102
