Ready to race, by Jamie Robinson
After competing in his first Isle of Man TT, Jamie Robinson put pen to paper to record his experience exclusively for iomtt.com.
This is the third and final instalment of story of the terrifying yet exhilarating thrill of taking on the Isle of Man TT for the first time.
We missed a couple of nights practice due to the bad weather and that hurt progress as every lap you do around here is a lesson learnt and you can never do too many laps around the Island. On the last night’s practice I got a bit giddy and was swiftly reminded that you don’t get giddy around here and the walls will win every time.
An experienced TT rider came by and signalled for me to tuck in and I happily started to follow, look and learn. He caught a slower rider and slipped past while I got held up for a mile or so and got a bit frustrated and chose Ballacraine, a second gear right-hander, braking hard from flat in top, as my passing place.
As I jumped on the brakes to slip by, and also make up a bit of lost ground, I soon realised that the new front brake pads weren’t fully scrubbed in and I was running in a bit quicker than I had previously been doing.
As soon as I got a glimpse of the hay bales halfway around the corner I knew I was going to hit one and I just froze. I daren’t grab the brake in case it tucked the front and I didn’t want to lean it over any more as the corner always felt dirty and slippy.
The stack of bales quickly got closer and I braced myself for impact as the inevitable was going to happen. I clipped the bale with my foot and peg and, to my astonishment, stayed upright and on the bike. I quickly looked down to see hay sticking out of my boots and the foot peg slightly bent, but that was it, a proper lucky escape.
That fired a warning shot right through me and as I knocked it down to first and got going again, guess who blasted passed?
Yeah, just about the worst person on the planet apart from my dad or Clive Padgett being behind me and seeing it and it had to be my new teammate and absolute TT legend John McGuinness! As soon as he was passed he gave me a little sign and pointed to his head, a little reminder for me to think about what I am doing as he had a bird’s eye view and was obviously less than impressed.
The next time I was on track was for my first of two Supersport 600cc races and after getting a few b*ll*ckings from team members and a size 10 boot up the backside from my dad’s right foot for the bent peg, I had settled down and was looking forward to the four lappers.
The amazing thing about the TT is the way the riders are with each other just minutes before they blast off at full chat to tackle the most dangerous and challenging motorcycle circuit on the planet.
I’ve always been used to riders in a focused trance, wearing sunglasses and trying to look cool. Now it was handshakes and best wishes and your competitors coming up to you saying ‘Av a good’un and see you after for a pint’.
(Photo courtesy of Isle of Man Newspapers. To view more pictures from TT2008 visit the website.)
Both races were incredible and my pit stops slick as they come as my dad refuelled me as Digger ran around like a headless chicken, changing my visor, cleaning the screen, giving me a drink and getting me back out there as fast as possible.
The Padgett’s Honda ran like a dream and I had no moments in either race or close calls, a real team effort and I couldn’t have asked for a better team around me.
My ultimate goal from my first TT was to do a 120mph lap and I ended up just four seconds short, doing a 119.6mph lap, which was to Milky’s (TT winner Richard Quayle) amusement. He laughed out loud when he found out as we had a £100 wager on it.
After my first lap I felt that this was probably the most ridiculous, foolish and exciting thing I could ever do with my clothes on.
Two weeks later, I left the Island feeling this was the ultimate test of man and machine and the TT course is the best racetrack in the world.
Part one and part two of Jamie’s story are still available to read.