Tom Stanford brings us up-to-date today with his experience at the Manx GP and how he got on with racing on the Isle of Man TT course.

 

First of all practice week went well, racking up ten laps in practice/qualifying gaining more and more experience on the circuit. Gradually getting down to a fastest lap time at an average of 93 mph.

The first race of the week was the newcomers’ race starting number 59, which was cut down from four to three laps due to poor weather causing the original race day being postponed until the following day.

The race started at 6.30 Tuesday evening, the track was completely dry, and the only complaint was the low sun made it impossible to see in certain parts of the 37.7 mile road. After getting away to a tentative start on the first lap still finding my way around the track. I managed to get my head down for the second lap improving my lap time to an average of 95 mph. At the end of the second lap I had to pit for refuelling as I didn’t have an enlarged tank to go the duration of the race without refuelling unlike some of the others.

Half way through the last lap I could see two riders in front of me which spurred me on to keep pushing hard. After passing the two in front the end of the race shortly followed and I crossed the line in eighth place, narrowly missing out on a replica trophy by no more than a matter of seconds.

The second and last race for me was on Wednesday afternoon in the Supertwin class starting number 48. Again starting a bit steady due to the extremely high winds and seeing many yellow flags, being passed by a couple of riders I managed to hang on to them, learn a lot about the circuit and again improve my lap time to an average of 97 mph.

Again with a perfect pit stop at the end of the second lap I continued to learn heaps about the track when I started missing gears and struggling to keep my foot on the foot peg. Along the mountain mile I managed to look down and see that the left hand footpeg assembly had vibrated loose. So I nursed the bike back to the pits for a second pit stop of the race where my team could resolve the issue.

Leaving the pit lane with the red mist on, I pushed on and beat my personal best sectors along the course and finished in 35th at the end of the race.

All in all my first taste of the mountain circuit was amazing. I learnt an enormous amount about the circuit, myself and my Suzuki SV650. I owe a massive thanks to everyone who made my first Manx Grand Prix possible.

N and J Stanford Suspended Ceilings & Partitioning

South East Concrete

Replicast UK Racing

GP Future

Andrea Hawley Photography

The Bike Experience

Padgetts

HiVis Graphics

Arai

Dunlop

Lauren Bunn

Liam Cosgrove

Sean Robertson

Anne and Roger Jennings

Dean Stimpson

Karyn Williamson

Angeline Evans

 

My thoughts go out to the families of the riders who sadly lost their lives during the event. And to those who are recovering in hospital from their injuries.

Pictures supplied by Andrea Hawley Photography.