It’s been a hectic couple of days on the Island. The weather has been superb as it always seems to be (for me at least) and the action both on the track and behind the scenes, has been hot. Let me see if I can summarise Thursday (Practice Day and Friday, Qualifying and race day).
Team GB were fast straight out of the blocks as expected. Despite no electronic timing for the morning it was clear that pre-race favourite, Jeremy McWilliams, was going to be the man to beat (remembering that it’s not individual performances that matter as much as stacking up the points for the team.) Michael Rutter had a big “off” but didn’t do any damage to himself. His mechanics, however had to pull a later nighter to have his bike ready for Friday.
All in all it was a pretty uneventful day. Carry Andrew and the Hypercycle team worked hard all day shaking down Colin Edwards’s brand new bike with a limited degree of success. Handling was the issue and, when I left the track late it was still being troublesome.
Today was Qualifying and the first races for the weekend. Again, McWilliams was fast but, by the time qualifying was over for the day it was Aussies 1 and 3, Dave Johnson and Paul Byrne, respectively. Team GB’s Lee Johnston had a huge off, hurting his elbow and trashing his bike. As one of the Team GB mechanics said to me, “I’m glad it’s not me who’s going to have to fix that one.”
I’ve got some good interviews in the bag including one with a rider who I know will be an unfamiliar name to you but whose story is an absolute cracker.
Barrett Long’s TZ played up again today (gearbox failure yesterday). It ate a piston and TZ Mike Studinsky and my good mate Martin Wilson have been pulling some long hours today.
You have heard me say many times that nobody looks after their mates like motorcyclists. This weekend I have seen a few examples of how true that is. Team USA rider Eirik Neilson brought 3 bikes to PI this year. His 250 twin, a spare twin 250 and his CMR-framed Yamaha superbike. Unfortunately his flight was cancelled and he didn’t get here till late yesterday evening with his bikes still sitting outside in their crates.
Discovering that Lorraine Crussell had have to leave her 200 Honda at home due to continuing gearbox issues, Eirik kindly offered the loan of his 250 to her so that she could ride. Reference Barrett Long’s issues, Eirik then offered the Yamaha to him so that he could qualify. In the mean time, he couldn’t even race his OWN bike as he still hasn’t received the necessary FIM medical clearance so his international licence could be ratified. He may yet not be able to ride at all, but such is the nature of motorcycling and the kind people who do it.
On Tuesday I received a message from another American buddy of mine asking me if I knew someone who could pick up he and his girlfriend from Melbourne airport and bring them to the track on Thursday morning. I didn’t but I posted up on Facebook and, sure enough, my good mate Ian Hopkins, from Cairns, answered that he was getting in late on Thursday evening and could pick them up if they wanted to wait.
So, first thing this morning Roger and his friend were almost the first to greet me at the track with tales of how well “Hoppy” had looked after them. Like I said, motorcyclists do it better.
Pardon my brevity but I’m shot, talk to you tomorrow, I hope.