Motorcycle Racing

Jack Fowlers second Manx Grand Prix August 2019 – With many Thanks to Middlesbrough and District Motor Club for their continued valued support

As with the previous years Manx (Jacks newcomer year) the weather was to play a major part in practice or the lack of it. Wet/Damp and misty conditions prevent any racing on the TT mountain course nowadays.
Jack had two machines available to race this year, his trusty 650 Kawasaki Supertwin which he had raced all season and the Triumph 675R Daytona Supersport machine which he had only raced once before at the Southern 100 giving him 2 lightweight, 1 Junior and 1 Senior Race.
It was hoped that with a full week of practice Jack would get sufficient time on the Triumph to get familiar with it but that wasn’t to be due to the weather
First practice was cancelled due to rain on the Saturday evening so it was the Monday night session before Jack managed to get to blow the cobwebs off and see the TT course from behind the screen of the 675 Triumph Daytona, unfortunately due to an unrelated incident during practice the session was cut short with a red flag, Jack managing just 1 steady lap.
The next 3 evening practice sessions were all cancelled due to inclement conditions and it was to be the Friday of Bank Holiday weekend (a full week after practice should have started) before the weather was to improve, remaining good for the rest of the Manx Grand Prix and allowing Jack to get a reasonable amount of practice under his belt on both machines.
Practice times on both machines crept up steadily on throughout practice finally manging to circulate at an average speed of over 107 Mph on the Kawasaki Supertwin and 112Mph on the Triumph and completing a total of 20 laps of practice, he would have liked a lot more track time but the weather played the trump card and nothing could be done about it

A great achievement for practice week resulted in Jack being awarded best prepared machine of the Manx Grand Prix festival by the Technical Officers (scrutineers) There were over 230 machines at the MGP so an award to be very proud of

Race week was to see perfect race conditions although Fridays closing day schedule was brought forward to the Thursday due to a poor weather forecast
Race day 1 was Wednesday with Jack competing in both Junior and Lightweight races finishing in a very creditable 14th Place (after starting 27th) in the lightweight race with a fastest lap of 106.7Mph and 34th in the Junior (starting 35th) with a fastest lap of 111Mph
Race day 2 saw an improved performance in the Lightweight race finishing in 11th position with a fastest lap of 107.6mph and 34th again in the Senior race with a fastest lap of 112Mph

The race results showed the lack of practice and time on the Triumph machine compared to the Supertwin however data from the Supertwin was showing the machine to be 8mph slower in a straight line compared to the previous years information due mainly to an exhaust problem which again was not picked up due to the lack of practice.

However with 4 creditable race finishes, gaining 4 Manx Silver Replicas and 34 laps (1280 miles) completed without 1 single break down, and winning the best prepared machine of the MGP, it was a fantastic fortnight, above all expectations!

Jack Fowlers second Manx Grand Prix August 2019 – With many Thanks to Middlesbrough and District Motor Club for their continued valued support

As with the previous years Manx (Jacks newcomer year) the weather was to play a major part in practice or the lack of it. Wet/Damp and misty conditions prevent any racing on the TT mountain course nowadays.
Jack had two machines available to race this year, his trusty 650 Kawasaki Supertwin which he had raced all season and the Triumph 675R Daytona Supersport machine which he had only raced once before at the Southern 100 giving him 2 lightweight, 1 Junior and 1 Senior Race.
It was hoped that with a full week of practice Jack would get sufficient time on the Triumph to get familiar with it but that wasn’t to be due to the weather
First practice was cancelled due to rain on the Saturday evening so it was the Monday night session before Jack managed to get to blow the cobwebs off and see the TT course from behind the screen of the 675 Triumph Daytona, unfortunately due to an unrelated incident during practice the session was cut short with a red flag, Jack managing just 1 steady lap.
The next 3 evening practice sessions were all cancelled due to inclement conditions and it was to be the Friday of Bank Holiday weekend (a full week after practice should have started) before the weather was to improve, remaining good for the rest of the Manx Grand Prix and allowing Jack to get a reasonable amount of practice under his belt on both machines.
Practice times on both machines crept up steadily on throughout practice finally manging to circulate at an average speed of over 107 Mph on the Kawasaki Supertwin and 112Mph on the Triumph and completing a total of 20 laps of practice, he would have liked a lot more track time but the weather played the trump card and nothing could be done about it

A great achievement for practice week resulted in Jack being awarded best prepared machine of the Manx Grand Prix festival by the Technical Officers (scrutineers) There were over 230 machines at the MGP so an award to be very proud of

Race week was to see perfect race conditions although Fridays closing day schedule was brought forward to the Thursday due to a poor weather forecast
Race day 1 was Wednesday with Jack competing in both Junior and Lightweight races finishing in a very creditable 14th Place (after starting 27th) in the lightweight race with a fastest lap of 106.7Mph and 34th in the Junior (starting 35th) with a fastest lap of 111Mph
Race day 2 saw an improved performance in the Lightweight race finishing in 11th position with a fastest lap of 107.6mph and 34th again in the Senior race with a fastest lap of 112Mph

The race results showed the lack of practice and time on the Triumph machine compared to the Supertwin however data from the Supertwin was showing the machine to be 8mph slower in a straight line compared to the previous years information due mainly to an exhaust problem which again was not picked up due to the lack of practice.

However with 4 creditable race finishes, gaining 4 Manx Silver Replicas and 34 laps (1280 miles) completed without 1 single break down, and winning the best prepared machine of the MGP, it was a fantastic fortnight, above all expectations!

The other competitor was long standing Club member Grant Sellars, who, at 73, was competing in his 50th consecutive TT Meeting- a feat for which he was awarded the “Spirit of the Manx” Trophy. This is an incredible achievement for Grant, and one which is unlikely to ever be repeated.

On Saturday 25th, in the Senior Race, Grant was on his very original 1960’s 500cc Manx Norton. After overcoming a little mishap at the beginning of the race, Grant did extremely well to bring the Norton home at an average speed of over 91mph.

On the 29th, the Bank Holiday Monday, in the Junior race he was on his 350cc Manx Norton and finished a creditable 26th. Not bad for a senior citizen.

Well done to both of you!