Barregarrow to Rhencullen

Competitor Guide with Steve Hislop

It's so bumpy on the approach to the 13th that you can't use the full natural racing line.

You drop down through the bottom of Westwood and the exit at the bottom. It's quite dark under the trees and as you come out into the daylight again there is such an abrasive corner, it's like a short-circuit corner. You're right over on your knee, really getting the gas on hard there. As you come out there's quite a lot of lads using signals along the right hand side. It's quite good for seeing signals because you're looking straight at that hedge and you often get your signallers there, although it's quite hard to get your times from Glen Helen. Years ago when it was Ballacraine you could just get it but now you're cutting it fine.

Then you've got the long drop down into towards Douglas Road corner, which is a scary one for me. I remember back in 1989 as I approached there I had such a tank-slapper coming down. Because the front wheel had been twisting away in the forks on the spindle, it had kicked the pads back. I had to brake for Douglas Road corner and by the time I'd pumped the brake up I was into the corner and I ran wide and I went right up onto the kerb! Between Douglas Road corner and the Mitre I was going along on the middle of the pavement, and you know how wide the pavement is! Somebody told me after that who saw me do it, said that Luigi Taveria had done that many years before. He obviously had a similar problem. Very scary!

There's a little bit of a funny camber there at Douglas Road corner, it's fallen away because of the junction onto the Peel Road. The road does tend to fall away but it's so ripply through there. If you actually get it correct you should approach smoothly enough so that you can drive through the very first bit, right out to the left kerb almost between there, and the little right at the Mitre that should be on camber. The two corners should become one, but even as you pass the Mitre your kicking up 5th and then into 6th gear as you go into Kirk Michael but the whole bike is jumping all over the road.

It's quite an experience going through the village because you probably get the best sensation of speed that you'll ever get. You get the ribbon effect because it's so narrow and there's a fair drop through the middle. Driving through Kirk Michael you know that there's a dip in the middle past the little shop, but on a big bike especially, you actually come over the zebra crossing and then it suddenly drops off and the whole thing goes quite light and twitchy, then just settles itself before you have to really concentrate on the next little left. You nearly have to touch the kerb because they've painted a double yellow line and you actually have to run over the lines, so you're just about kissing the kerb on the left, to give yourself ample road through the right to get round that next left without really shutting the throttle too much. The white line is quite critical through the end of Kirk Michael village to give yourself plenty of road to run wide then the next bit I love.

Rhencullen - it's one of my favourite places. I tend to show off there a bit - I always have done! It gives me a personal buzz. You approach parallel with the kerb on the left, which sticks out a bit just as you approach the rise with the 30 signs and I usually just hook back. Some riders tend to keep the throttle wound on, then when they go over the rise, they shut the throttle. This tends to make the bike weave all the way through the right and then on through. They're in trouble right away. What I try to get through to young riders that I have taken round, or any newcomers, is although it seems that you have to scream your engine, it is best to actually shut the throttle, hook back a gear and drive it over the rise. If you shut a throttle on a motorcross bike, you know that before you go over a jump, give it some gas over the rise. The tendency is to get mega-big wheelies but over the years I've sort of perfected it. It gave me a buzz to actually do a wheelie there. You have ample time to drop it and it sets you up perfectly to throw it into the right, through the left, hook another gear just as you're going over the rise. Years ago, I used to make a big effort to turn in to the corner and you could get into all sorts of shapes as you went over the top. I only discovered a few years ago that you could just go straight over past the little cottage on the right. The wall was quite a way back down the hill, so you had plenty of road and it's so smooth. It took me years to learn! It's things like that you learn. Every year you ride, the course changes from bump to bump.