Follow Team Wood

Follow Team Wood & Allstar Motorsports rider Uel Duncan at the 1998 Manx Grand Prix.

We left Sally's at ten thirty and made our way to Belfast and the joys of the Isle of Man Steam Packet's Sea Cat crossing to Douglas. We arrived on the island on time at three o'clock, what do you do when you get off the ferry ? You have to go for a round the course completely oblivious of the fact that Alastair was sitting in Douglas wondering where we were. After the tour of the circuit I had to attend the riders briefing at the grandstand before finally arriving at Phil & Janette's our home for next couple of days. We unloaded the the van, you could almost hear the old transit sigh as
everything was taken off her. Kenneth set about getting the bike ready for morning practice and we sent Alastair to McDonalds for the hell of it ! We all hit the sack at around midnight and slept like logs dreaming of carefree laps round the mountain circuit.

There are definitely two four o'clocks in the day, its very dark for the first one but we were all up and raring to go. Up to the Grandstand bike unloaded and ready for scrutineering, no problem except the long wait while the scrutineers mulled over the alloy bolts on the Suzuki which was of course in front of us ! Kenneth and Alastair took the bike up to the holding area while I climbed into my cold leathers, an exercise guaranteed to wake anyone up.

Up to Glencrutchery Road and I was around mid pack for the first lap of the course. When we finally got underway I did two laps and used them to re familiarize myself with the circuit and James Courtney's CBR. The power of the machine was undeniable but to a great extent unusable as I had tremendous difficulty with the handling properties of James's choice of tyres. They did not suit me at all. On returning to the paddock I had a word with Kenneth and decided that we should put on a set of Pirelli's for the next session, at least I know how they work on the bike as they are the tyres I use.

David and Lee arrived during the afternoon and filled us in with stories of exploding planes and the like ( good old Jersey European ). I in return filled David in with all the information we had gathered. We decided that we would only change the tyres for this evenings practice and see what the bike felt like on familiar rubber.

Monday evening practice got underway slightly early, probably to make up for the delay this morning. The weather was fine but there were still damp patches around the course. The bike was handling a whole lot better and the confidence was coming back. My flying lap was 22:08.9 @ 102.21mph which put me 36th for the session. Considering we had only changed the tyres and now had to set about a few suspension alterations we were all happy enough. Fastest in
the Junior session was Alastair Howarth on a Kawasaki with a lap at 20:11.1 @ 112.15 mph. I still have a bit to do but there is plenty more to come from the bike and I feel I am getting into the groove.

After practice all the team went to Ramsey and toured the mountain section studying braking markers & peel in points, walking a few of the corners to get a good look at different angles of entry and exit routes. Now I can really feel confident about attacking certain sections. My only other problem is the stiffness and discomfort in my left leg following my get off at Bishopscourt.

I have however started a course of Physio with Johnny Barton at the Mike Hailwood centre, and a great job he is doing. The night was finished off at John & Belinda's with David in the chair entertaining us with a restricted joke telling session, and highly amusing it was too.

     In the morning David took me round the course to iron out a couple of areas I was a little unsure about. Then it was off for more physio with Johnny.

    If I had been here on my own I don't think I would have even thought about things like physio, it just shows that having the support of someone like David is very important. there is so much to remember at an event like the Manx you really need a well organized team if you are making a serious attempt on a course like this.

    Kenneth & Alastair were again left to make sure the bike was ready for practice but when we eventually got up to the paddock everything was very quiet. We didn't know it but practice had been cancelled at three thirty, the organizers were getting twitchy about a possible worsening of the weather. In the end they need not have cancelled but you always have to err on the side of safety especially here on the island.

We decided to have a look at the mountain section of the course in the evening and worked our way ( several times ) from Ramsey to the Creg. David worked out with me some of the more suitable braking points and peel in places by standing Kenneth & Alastair on parts of corners while he tore round them in the car, frightening, that is if you were Kenneth or Alastair.

Confidence took another major upswing. I was really looking forward to the next practice session as we had now adjusted the suspension settings to the same as our own machine. The evening was rounded off in a little restaurant with Lee and Sally who seems to be one of a very few who act as a steadying influence on David.

    Wednesday morning at four o'clock was just as dark as Monday. No surprise there then. Practice went off ok but parts of the course were quite damp The bike behaved perfectly in the tricky conditions. I still only managed two laps.

    After practice the chance of a lifetime came my way. A lap round the circuit with Nick Jefferies. Nick told us how he rides the course but said we should continue just to gradually build up our own circuit knowledge.

   Nick shared his vast experience as we headed out round the course pointing out mostly the best lines through some of the trickier sections and emphasized the fact that you have to be thinking at least three corners ahead of you. He made the circuit safer by the way he pointed out the importance of keeping to correct lines. When you put this experience together with the information that David has given to me I now feel really happy in myself about the task ahead.

   After the trip with Nick I went for more physio with Johnny Barton, that in itself is doing me a power of good. In the afternoon the bike went through a couple of suspension adjustments and was ready for scrutineering and practice.

    Practice was again ok but I still didn't manage that third lap, Alastair reckons I am superstitious about the number three and David is getting fed up carrying the full fuel can up and down the paddock. The bike handles fine it's certainly getting better by the day. The better the bike feels the happier and more confidant I am. I have managed to improve my times again, my lap time is now 21:12.8 @ 106.72 mph. So steady improvement looks like the way we are heading.

No practice this morning so we all had a bit of a lie in. When we eventually got up there was plenty to do, we sorted the garage and stripped the bike ( though not the engine ) and cleaned wheels put in new brake pads and put on another set of Pirelli's, though we were to find out something about the tyres which we had no idea about. The Pirelli tyres we are using here are slightly different from the ones we use back home and we have been running the front tyres at the wrong pressure. Pirelli now have a different construction for the fronts which run at a higher pressure but we were not
made aware of this, you learn something new every day !

The bike was taken up to the paddock for afternoon practice which was run in absolutely perfect conditions.

The power of the bike never ceases to amaze me, it's giving me everything I am asking it for. I am enjoying steady improvement in my lap times throughout the week and everything is going well out on the track apart from the CDI unit coming loose on the run into Ramsey, a minor hitch and after scrounging a couple of cable ties I was off again over the mountain, but unfortunately I once again failed to get that elusive third lap in. I still managed to improve my lap times. I am now doing 21:00.6 @ 107.75 mph so we are on the right track. After practice we retired to Molly's restaurant and were treated to a lovely meal by Sally before turning in for a good nights sleep.

No early morning practice so we had the luxury of yet another lie in. After breakfast David took me round on a search for digs for the Donegal crew who are arriving today.

Kenneth & Alastair again got the bike ready for practice while I went for another dose of physio. Alastair was designated taxi driver and shot off to pick up David Lappin from the airport.

We were out in the second group tonight and all went well apart from problems with fly's on the ( wait for it ) third lap. Yes David finally got to carry an empty fuel can back to the van. I had another big improvement in lap times tonight managing 20:41.0 @ 109.45 mph. Even though the lap times are improving we are still working on minor adjustments, at the moment we are definitely going in the right direction but the chances are that we will eventually take a step in the wrong direction. The important thing is that we have to make sure we are getting optimum performance from the machine on race day.

Friday night disappeared in a haze for some of us. Kenneth & Davy Lappin took to the drink while I stuck to the orange juice ( well nearly ). Suffice to say it's a good job there is no early morning practice.

Well we have reached the last day of practice without any real problems or drama's. The lap times are going the right way and now we had the bike's regular mechanic David to strip it down and give it the once over before the race. I have been having minor problems with gear ratio's at just a couple of places round the circuit so we are going to try a change of rear sprocket tonight just for peace of mind.

The weather is still unbelievable compared with the dismal conditions we have had to endure throughout the rest of the season, I only hope race week is as good, since all the setting up has been done in ideal conditions nobody will have
worked out a wet weather set up. Practice was ok but for the fact that I failed to improve my lap times and only managed a 21:00.3 lap at 107.67 mph. We now know what gearing to run in the race and I am pleased to say my start number has been changed from 55 to 25 giving me a much improved incentive for the race. I am certainly going to give both races my best possible shot, and while I am fully aware that the mountain course is very hard on both riders and machinery I am confident that the bike has had the very best possible people working on it for me. For this I am eternally grateful to David Wood, David Lappin, James Courtney, Johnny Barton and of course my brother and long suffering mechanic Kenneth.

    In the afternoon we went up to the pits for the David Wood Show, or, how to do a decent pit stop in several easy lessons. There was quite a crowd of us and even though pit stops are a very important part of racing on the island, David still managed to inject a fair amount of hilarity into the proceedings.

    In the afternoon I had the luxury of a lap of the course with James Courtney, though I doubt if I will be going just as quick as he does on Wednesday. While all this was going on David Lappin was busy going over the bike checking shims, valve clearances and the like, all very technical.

    After the weeks hard but gratifying work it was time to have some rest and recuperation with my long suffering girlfriend Kitty and the rest of the Donegal contingent. So it was off to enjoy the nightlife of Douglas. Tomorrow the bike will be handed over to it's regular rider James Courtney for the parade lap of past winners and I will be able to relax and watch as some of the masters circulate the Isle of Man's famous mountain course.

This is it then, this is what we have been working towards. The Junior Manx Grand Prix. Scrutineering between 0700 and 0730 then the long wait, everyone crossing their fingers that the weather is going to hold. Before the races got
underway I was treated to yet another lap, this time by Ricky Mitchell who despite not riding here since his accident during practice for the 1997 TT certainly knows his way round, more valuable information for the locker.

The weather incidentally is much better than the forecasts suggested. Finally after the excitement of the Classic 250 / 350 race has died away, we are ready for the mad dash along Glencrutchery Road and four adrenalin pumping laps round the mountain course.

    I set off at a steady pace trying to remember as much of the information I had been given as I could, I felt fairly comfortable on the run away from Douglas. I was catching and passing a surprising number of riders and was extremely pleased that David had managed to get my start number changed. The run through Glen Helen to Ramsey on the first lap felt smooth but I nearly fell off the bike when I got my first signal from Seamus Greene at the Gooseneck. I was in sixth place, the time being taken from Glen Helen. The MSR Lee Cooper Honda was running beautifully as I headed over the mountain, the only trouble I was having was breathing. I like nearly all the team was suffering from some kind of throat infection or virus, which together with the lingering injuries sustained at Bishopscourt were beginning to take their toll. By the end of the first lap I had dropped back to ninth, but I was still pushing. I caught up with Norman Gordon and he upped his pace as we started to dice together on the road, which we did all the way to the pit stop. We both had good pit stops but Norman was away two seconds in front of me. I caught him at Greeba Castle and we swapped places right through to Ramsey on the last lap.

     By now my throat was giving a fair bit of grief, in fact I was having trouble just swallowing. As Norman started just to edge away I just concentrated on getting over the mountain to the finish.

    The team were brilliant, I got good signals during the race from Seamus and John while David, Kenneth and Brian played their part perfectly. James Courtney's Tony Scott tuned Honda was absolutely perfect, and though I was suitably crestfallen that I had slipped back to 12th place at the finish.

    I know I had made no mistakes in the race, which gave me confidence for the future. I have to say that all the information and advice I have received since I arrived on the island has been spot on. Nick Jefferies, James Courtney, David Wood and last but certainly not least Ricky Mitchell's help has been one hundred per cent invaluable to me.

Results for the 1998 Junior Manx Grand Prix.

1. Chris Hook. 600 Honda. 1:19.18.1 - 114.18 mph.

2. Gordon Blackley. 600 Honda. 1:19.38.8. - 113.69 mph.

3. Keith Townsend. 600 Honda. 1:20.45.6. - 112.12 mph.

4. Darren Lindsay. 600 Honda.1:20.51.5. - 111.98 mph.

5. Alastair Howarth. 600 Kawasaki. 1:21.09.1. - 111.58 mph.

6. Richard Quayle. 600 Honda. 1:21.23.6. - 111.25 mph.

7. Ian Pattinson. 600 Kawasaki. 1:21.45.3. - 110.76 mph.

8. David Black. 600 Honda. 1:21.51.0. - 110.63 mph.

9. Norman Kneen. 600 Kawasaki. 1:21.57.4. - 110.48 mph.

10. Les Williams. 600 Honda. 1:22.05.5. - 110.30 mph.

11. Scott Richardson. 600 Honda. 1:22.10.8. - 110.18 mph.

12. Uel Duncan. 600 Honda. 1:22.13.6. - 110.12 mph.

13. Marc McDonald. 600 Honda. 1:22.19.1. - 110.00 mph.

14. Alan Bennie. 600 Honda. 1:22.21.4. - 109.95 mph.

15. Martin Smith. 600 Honda. 1:22.39.6. - 109.54 mph.

16. Chris Bray. 600 Honda. 1:22.43.2. - 109.46 mph.

17. Pete Turnbull. 250 Yamaha. 1:22.50.3. - 109.31 mph.

18. Adam Nowell. 600 Honda. 1:22.54.5. - 109.21 mph.

19. Norman Gordon. 600 Honda. 1:23.10.3. - 108.87 mph.

20. Tommy Diver. 250 Honda. 1:23.29.9. - 108.44 mph.

Thursday was greeted by much analysis of the previous day's race by David and me, while Kenneth and Brian worked away on the bike before the afternoon trek to Jurby and a tyre scrubbing session ( really a chance for David to play on the Honda ). It was again a glorious day and a good chance to rest and take in the previous weeks events. Tomorrow would be another hard day. The weather forecast was not good and we were all concerned that the race would be delayed until Saturday, when we should be back at the Carrowdore Races in Ireland. If the race was to be postponed we would stay on the island, we had put too much work into this to turn our backs on the Senior race at the last minute.

Thursday was rounded off at the Creg for a meal thank John & Belinda for all their fantastic support while we have been here. and so to bed.

Senior Race day and while the weather in Douglas seemed ok, there was considerable mist on the mountain section of the course, which meant the helicopter could not operate. No helicopter, No race. We had then to endure delay after delay, as everyone hoped for a suitable gap in the weather.

In the end the lightweight race was shortened to two laps. The great Tommy Diver won the race and had more trouble opening the champagne than he did getting his ex James Courtney 250 Honda round the mountain course. Tommy's win had special significance for us, as Kenneth has in the past been Tommy's mechanic. The fact that Tommy and Dave Madsen Mygdal spent all Thursday night rebuilding the engine made it all that bit extra special.

The Senior race finally got underway at four o'clock, only two and three quarter hours late, and cut to three laps!. I set off from the line but didn't get dialled in quick enough to make a challenge for the top places. Before the race we had agreed that we would gamble on a pit stop at the end of the first lap, hoping the weather held off. The weather did hold but unfortunately my pace didn't and I was never in with a realistic shout at a top six finish.

I repeated my result from the Junior with twelfth place, but I had gone faster than I had for the entire two weeks with a best lap of 20:06.0 at 112.62 mph. and a race average of 110.59 mph.

Senior Manx Grand Prix Results.

1. Gordon Blackley. 600 Intersport Honda. 59:18.2. - 114.516 mph.

2. Colin Breeze. 750 Kawasaki. 59.26.7. - 114.24 mph.

3. Keith Townsend. 600 Honda. 59:32.7. - 114.05 mph.

4. Alastair Howarth. 600 Kawasaki. 59:39.4. - 113.84 mph.

5. Marc McDonald. 750 Yamaha. 1:00.02.0 - 113.12 mph.

6. Dean Nelson. 750 Yamaha. 1:00.44.6. - 111.80 mph.

7. Phil Stewart. 600 Honda. 1:00.48.2. - 111.69 mph.

8. Alan Bennie. 600 Honda. 1:01.00.5. - 111.31 mph.

9. Chris Bray. 750 Kawasaki. 1:01.04.5. - 111.19 mph.

10. Paul Duckett. 750 Kawasaki. 1:01.07.6. - 111.10 mph.

11. Les Williams. 600 Honda. 1:01.09.3. - 111.05 mph.

12. Uel Duncan. Team Wood Honda 600. 1:01.24.6. - 110.59 mph.

13. Martin Smith. 600 Honda. 1:01.36.1. - 110.24 mph.

14. Scott Richardson. 600 R&D Honda. 1:01.44.7. - 109.99 mph.

15. Ken Davies. 600 Chaintec Honda. 1:02.16.6. - 109.05 mph.

After waiting for what seemed like an eternity we finally got the bike back from Parc Ferme and headed back to John & Belinda's to pack our gear and head for the airport.

Last year David formulated a three year plan for taking on the Manx and hopefully next year I will be back to finish the off the job. If I have the right machinery and arrive on the island free from injury. I feel I have learnt so much this year, that I could face the task with a lot more confidence.

All in all, I was disappointed with my results, I wanted to do so much better but doesn't everyone ? With the support I now have in the sport, I can look forward to improving my riding and my results more than I could ever have dreamed of.

Special thanks to David & Lee Wood, Sally Best, Brian & Alana for everything.

John & Belinda Hockney for their warm & generous hospitality.

Seamus Greene & Willy for their help on the boards.

Kenneth, Davy Lappin, Brian and Alastair for all their hard work on the bike.

Nick Jefferies, James Courtney and Ricky Mitchell for the grand tours.

Johnny Barton for the Physiotherapy.

All my sponsors without who's help I would not have been here.

Alastair without who's help I couldn't have written this.

Special thanks to James Courtney for the generous loan of his superb CBR600.