Irish Adventures – Cookstown and Tandragee!

Hi Guys,

Well I’m back from a ten day stint in Northern Ireland and its about time I let you know how it went. Cookstown and Tandragee were the first two opening rounds of the Irish road racing championship and being just a week apart I stayed over to work on the bikes and catch up with some friends. It was great to see all of the guys after the winter and catch up on their plans for the year.

Cookstown

The weather was kind to us all for the first road race of the year and it stayed dry both friday and saturday. Practice went well and I got to grips with the track pretty quickly. I’m still getting used to the bikes as the only testing ive done on them was the first scarborough meet but its all coming together.

I qualified reasonably on the r6 with mid pack results in the race. It’s a big change riding the 600 – im getting used to revving it now but its taking some time! The 650 went well with a second row qualification in the junior support and pole on the grid for the supertwin b race. Due to some over exuberance from me and a some questionable marshalling I didn’t finish the junior support race but made up for it by winning the supertwin b race! All in all a good result and a positive start to the roads.

Tandragee

Having studied the weather forecast in the week we were prepared for rain and were not disappointed on our arrival! Tandragee is just under 5 1/2 miles long so as you can imagine it takes some time to learn. I tried to get as many laps as possible in on the thursday with different experienced people to get a good idea of where I was going. This really paid off and during practice I felt reasonable confident about lines etc. The first two practice sessions were dry thankfully but unfortunately we were blessed with rain after that. The rain meant controlled practice so no chance of a qualifying position for the races on the 600 unfortunately.

My first race on the saturday was the junior support and I was fifth on the grid. Unfortunately the race was red flagged and result declared after two laps but I was awarded 3rd so it wasnt a bad start to the day. Next was the 600ss race and I was way back on the grid for that one. I grew in confidence and speed in the race and managed good finish towards the back of the pack. My last race of the day was the supertwins and starting at the front of the second wave on the 15th row of the grid I had a good start. I finished 11th which I’m really pleased with considering the competition!

Tandragee is a fantastic place but deserves a great deal of respect. You can really see the difference in lap times between the experienced riders and newcomers – knowledge is everything. Everyone says it’s a 3 year rule to get the place right and I believe that! I Cant wait to go back!

All in all a great 10 days and a big thanks to Billy McKinstry for the bikes and Ricky for all of his help! It was good to see all the Skerries boys again and I’m glad everyone’s home safe.

Next on the calendar is Bush in a few weeks and I can’t wait!

Cheers

Tommy

Tommy on BikerFM – Listen again

If you missed Tommy’s interview with Gail “the catlass” on Friday 22nd April follow the link, download the mp3 file.

http://www.roadracingsupporters.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=673

Sunny Scarborough!

Well my season has finally started and I hit the ground running at Scarborough last weekend. After not having sat on a bike since the Grand last year I borrowed a friends bike to ride on a test day at Cadwell last friday. Having blown some of the cobwebs out I went from there up to Scarborough.

It was a weekend of firsts as I had never ridden at Scarborough before and hadn’t been out on the McKinstry racing r6 or er6 yet. Needless to say I was pretty nervous but looking forward to  the challenge.

I arrived at Oliver’s Mount in good time, managed to get a few laps round in the van and get the bikes through scrutineering that evening. All that was left to do now was catch up with folks in the paddock, have a cup of tea and of course sample the local fish and chips! (an essential part of a healthy racers diet!)

The weather was on our side race day as I woke up to clear blue skies and the sun had his hat on all day. Getting used to the circuit and the bikes was a big challenge but we made steady progress through out the day and didn’t have any moments! There was great racing from everyone and the spectators would not have been disappointed. Oliver’s Mounts a great place and I am really looking forward to racing there again.  

Big thanks to Billy McKinstry for the bikes and sorting everything out. Thanks also to Dave bell and Paul Owen for showing me round. The auto66 club put on a great meeting and I can’t wait for the next visit.

I have done a short interview about the spring cup with Gail ‘the Catlass’ Richards for www.bikerfm.co.uk and it will be on this friday 22nd April at 8pm! Tune in and have a listen, it’s a great show!

Next on the card is Cookstown road races for the first round of the national road racing championship on the 29th and 30th April. I cant wait to get going again!!

Until then……

Tick Tock!

Hi Guys,

Sorry I’ve not updated the blog in a few weeks! I havent really had much to report to be honest!

I’m chomping at the bit to get racing but I havent even ridden a bike yet this year!! My season kicks off at Scarborough on the 17th of april – will need to get out on the bikes before then that’s for sure!! I’ve never been to Scarborough so I am starting the season in the deep end – but we all know it’s the best way in!

I was over in Northern Ireland the weekend before last helping Billy get the bikes up together for this season. They are great bikes and im really looking forward to racing them. Unfortunately we couldn’t quite get the bikes ready in time for a track day whilst i was over there but I’ll get out before Scarborough.

I’ve got a pretty full calendar of racing on the roads this year and I hope everything goes well and we get some good results!

I’ve been trying to get the my bikerfm interview on here but having some technical difficulties. I will sort it very soon.

Looking forward to seeing you all at the races soon!

Tommy

Thank you!

Howdy,

I would just like to say a big thanks to Gail from www.bikerfm.co.uk for the interview on the show last night. I can’t wait to catch up with her through out the season and report on how everyone’s getting along.

Thanks also to all of the friends and family that listened in and sent their supporting messages – you’re the best!

I’m off to Mallory again tomorrow to watch the second day of Thundersport GB racing so I will let you know how it went.

Tommy

www.bikerfm.co.uk interview!!!

Hi guys!

Just thought I would fill you in on some recent exciting news. This friday I will be on Gail “the catlass” Richards show on www.bikerfm.co.uk !

Gail approached me a few weeks ago following the post that Mike Yiend put on the www.roadracingsupporters.com forum about my racing. To my great surprised she asked me if I would like to do an interview with her on her radio show.

This interview will be the first of many as Gail’s show will follow my progress through the season and catch up on some banter going on in the paddock!! It’s a great honour and would like to thank Gail for taking the time to chat with me – she’s a top girl!

If you get the chance, get on the website and have a listen friday night. It’s a great show dedicated to racing, chat and tunes – a perfect combination!

Let me know what you think….

Cheers guys,

Tommy

A Good Days Racing…

Well the season has well and truly started! – but not for me sadly

I spent the day spectating at a newly surfaced and dry Mallory Park. A good days racing was had by pretty much everyone and even the sun came out to play! Hats off to all the guys and girls racing today as the morning practice started off very cold and damp.

Well done to my mate Wayne Lockey for a full house of victories in the sidecar races! and well done to the girls in the cafe for a cracking lunch!

Todays racing has fired me up to really get things going and I cant wait to get over to Ireland and do some testing and work on Billy McKinstrys bikes. He’s been working really hard over the winter and I would like to repay that with some good results this year! – Fingers crossed.

Well Done to everyone out racing this weekend!

Tommy