Lucky Leprechaun required…

Lucky Leprechaun required for weekend work once a year, must be professional, hardworking, self motivating, waterproof, lucky and be based in the Mondello Park Region. Lucky charms can be supplied if required.
All applicants please contact www.tomtunstall.com

I won’t remember the last round at Mondello as one of the highlights of the season!

In fact it turned out to be a mixed weekend – good for experience – not great for results.

As you’re probably aware it rained from when our ferry docked in Dublin [Wednesday] till Sunday morning.
Having never turned a wheel on a wet track with the superbike the positive side of all the rain was getting plenty of experience. The fireblade is a bit of a handful in the dry so you can imagine what it’s like in the wet…

I’m not going to harp on about my lack of experience at Mondello [oh look I just have done] but combine that with no wet experience and it gave me a lot to think about.

The first time I was on dry track was the sighting lap of race 1 – which went ok to be honest. Mondello is a funny place on a superbike, virtually all corners are either 1st or 2nd and it’s so tight you only need 4 gears at the most. I’m sure I hardly got chance to see full throttle much at all. Bit of a kart track really – but yeh yeh it’s the same for everyone!!

Anyway onto knockhill now – the last time I was there the supersport race was postponed for…. yep that’s right rain!

Still at least I’ve got an idea what to expect and I know the track a bit more, and after the flooding we’ve been having here in Yorkshire the past few days it cant be that bad….. Can it….????!

TT#21

Mondello Musings

Well it’s nearly time to jump in the truck & head across the Irish sea to Mondello, I’ve not been there since 2004.

After last year when the race was cancelled with a washed out track I’ve heard that the track has been re-surfaced with better drainage. Still the person that told me that also said they’d had two races cancelled for the same reasons since.

I remember the track being pretty slippy so hopefully the new surface has more grip – the old one was made up from 19 different types of tarmac – cue jokes about Irish tarmac layers!

The mini break has been good and has flown by.

Rest assured we’ve used the time well….

After the “issues” we had at Oulton Park and some extra support from Hardinge Machine Tools we’ve managed to get a second bike together – not quite the same spec but still very good and a lot better than standing watching from pit lane!!

I also got chance to do a bit of testing (more needed) which lead to one of the strangest things I’ve seen in racing. As anyone who has been to a Mallory Park Wednesday afternoon test will know, a BIG spread of ability and machinery turn up. But I don’t think it’s possible to get a bigger difference than a racing scooter V’s a Moto GP bike.

Yep that’s right a racing scooter and an ex-Loris Capirossi Ducati 990cc Desmosedici – on track – at the same time….

The 990 who has been bought by an enthusiast for around £250,000 was being prepped for a demo at Mallory that weekend, and I’ve got to say fair play for using the bike and showing it – rather than standing it in a museum etc. As you’d expect it looked and sounded fantastic.

Also in the break I finally got chance to get out on my enduro bike, I’d forgotten how go a workout I get from it.

Anyway of to Ireland & hopefully we’ll get a bit of the Irish luck…..

Cheers

TT