Pembrey was the first of the Classic Racing motorcycle club rounds; I had not been able to get together with Vanni Jenson (the owner of the Norton’s) to do any testing so it was down to a practice session on the Friday before the inaugural event to have my first outing on his Manx Nortons.

I had met Vanni a few months before in Copenhagen to discuss our arrangements but as yet, I hadn’t ridden with him.

Andy Molnar the builder of the machines was on hand to guide me through the ‘complexities’ of these truly exotic machines, and would prove invaluable throughout the weekends racing.

Judging by the weather forecast Friday’s test day was due to be very wet and cold but in the morning the sun was out but it was on a low setting and bloody freezing.

First thing I learnt about classic bikes, in such weather they take up to 20 minutes to warm up! Using a vegetable based oil, that is very thick it needs careful treatment, like the motor in the warming up process or it will result in engine damage. Apparently something to do with the growth rate of magnesium…

Being Classic machines the gear lever is on the right hand side so the first thing was to fit the left hand gear lever assembly, whilst Andy did that I bumbled round on his own 500 to get the feel of things.

In the 50s and 60s these things were cutting edge GP winning machines but when trying to compare them directly to the modern equivalent I was struggling to adapt to the way they worked.

Item number one: Brakes - no disc or disc’s here. Twin leading drum brakes, in these conditions, damp and cold they can be grabby just what you need for smooth braking…NOT.
However, once up to temperature they are surprisingly good and managed to haul the bike to a stop for the slower corners.

Item two: Handling - here too, it seems to be all about evolution, and a modern machine does just about everything for you, these machines need a style modification to start with then a large slice of big balls to finish off.

It was clear I had my work cut out to adapt to the challenge of racing the Manx.

The weather was not so kind to us and as a result I only managed one session on the 500 and two on the 350 on Friday but we came away with a base setting for Saturdays races.

Saturday was very windy and cold all day, with the gusts of wind up to 36mph and very strong - still learning a new machine and having to adapt to it so quickly would obviously compromise my performance so we decided to use the whole weekend - all 10 races just to get used to the new machines.

Vanni was very helpful and pointed out starting and riding techniques then helped me set the machine upto my weight and fitment.

Andy changed the fork oil on both machines which helped but there was obviously more to come from the setup. Looking at the lap record for these machines it was obvious that they were able to lap quickly, the 500 lap record is 1:03.4 and that is with only 50bhp!

However the weather was so against us windy, wet and cold we would never get anywhere near those times. So as a bench mark I could only use other riders to assess my progress, and the man to beat here was Lea Gourlay. He is multiple Champion over the last few years, and one hell of a quick bloke make no mistake, and as I quickly found out, I would be seeing quite a bit of him over the weekend.

Right from the first few races I felt more confident on the 350 and was able to push Lea hard, finishing a close second to him a couple of times. But the 500 with more power, pushed the handling further and I just couldn’t seem to find the confidence on it; although finishing second behind him a couple of time it was clear I was struggling.

The first days tally; four second places, not a bad start but plenty to learn yet.

Sunday was less windy, but we woke to a soaking wet day; just as the track started to dry rain or snow would dampen things down again. I don’t normally mind the rain but it was just so biting cold as well. We missed our slot in the tyre changing queue and had to do the first race with the tyre we had used on Friday and Saturday and to be honest, they were knackered, no option just get on with it and do my best.

Off the line and straight into the lead, end on lap one and I had about 200 yards on Lea and felt good, however entering the first right hander after the hairpin the front washed from under me and down I went.

Part two of the learning curve, where is the limit?

Well I had just found it!

I had been chatting with Lea the day before and he said the Avon tyre we were using were fantastic and in the rain and “you can get ye knee down no bother” he said he forgot to tell me it would be followed by my elbow then my bum!

By now the 350 had new rubber and they were much better and in the following 350 race I secured my first win and putting in the fastest lap.

Vanni must have felt a bit left out and to keep me company, so he slid off in the 350 race - luckily without injury.

My confidence was building for the following 500 race, I was pushing Lea so hard he highsided on the third lap gifting my win number two.

By the end of the weekend I had notched up four 2^nd places on Saturday and one DNF, two wins, and three 2^nd places on Sunday.

Not a bad start to the calendar, everyone involved although freezing cold, seemed to have a good time and the results were testament to a smashing weekends racing.

It still goes without saying, although I'm very lucky being asked to ride other people's bikes, I need substantial financial support to get me through this very busy season, we have already done two events now, with another 17 to go!

Any offers of support at this point will be gratefully received.

Action photo by Russell Lee www.sport-pics.co.uk

Action photo by Derek Gallon www.djg-photography.co.uk