My previous article described just how badly things could go wrong. In this piece, I described some of the things we experienced with various ‘incidents’ that took place over two consecutive practices. Some fairly typical events, albeit circumstances will vary by incident. Others are slightly less common. It’s fair to say those two nights were eventful! These events were the Thursday and Friday evenings in practice week…
Well thankfully the weather was a bit kinder than previous days, and that meant that at last we would get a proper practice, and finally the big beasts would get out and stretch their legs. It was also the second clear run for the sidecars, but more about that later.
Again, I made my way to Kirk Michael, and got myself settled in at my friends house. She has guests arriving Saturday, so had stuff to do, so I got my brew and took my spot outside. I had my instructions to look out for various people and let them know how they looked, so I had my eyes peeled. It was so great to see the bikes finally flying past – no wet, no controlled laps, just a proper full on practice session. It was just a shame we had to wait until so late in the week. In the Superbikes, the usual suspects were all at the top of the table – John McGuinness at the head of the list with a lap time of 17:30.299 with Anstey, Rutter, Guy Martin and Michael Dunlop hot on his heels. He really is a joy to watch round here, smooth as you like, and seems to hit the same line without fail. Superstocks, Supersport & Lightweights were also out, and then Sidecars were out.
If you’ve read my previous blogs you’ll know this year my best mates brother is racing his outfit for the first time, so as they started to come through, she left the housework behind and joined me outside to watch them through. We mentally ticked the numbers off waiting for him to appear and saw him through on his first lap. As usual we had various media set up (the app, the website, Manx RadioTT and Twitter) to keep an eye on their progress. We clocked them back through the Grandstand, and before too long they were passing us again. As they were towards the back of the pack, we headed inside to get a fresh brew and a warm (it gets very chilly as the sun goes down!) and saw them through the Ramsey on the live timings. Then we heard the words we dread at the TT….. session red flagged.
At first, the reports said due to an incident at Ramsey, so our initial feeling was relief as we knew they had gone through there. However, information then came through that the incident had been by Graham’s and the relief turned to a sick fear….the boys were likely to be near there, and all we could do was wait. We put word out on Twitter for any sightings of the boys, and sent numerous texts and messages to anyone we could think of that may have seen anything. Whereas on Monday we were cursing the use of social media to speculate on the sad events of Monday evening, on Thursday it was most definitely our friend. Finally word came through that the incident involved outfit #57 and that the team of David Saunders & Anne Garnish were conscious and talking to medics at the scene. I can’t describe the feeling of utter relief once we found out our boys were okay (suffice to say there were almost tears!)
Later, we realised that what had felt like hours was just 22 minutes. They were easily the longest 22 minutes of my entire life, and it’s not an experience I wished to repeat in a hurry…. We would later discover that the incident had happened just in front of our lads, and they did what they could to help at the scene. There but for the grace of god (or whatever else you believe in)…. We wish David and Anne a speedy and full recovery.
Move the clock on 24 hours and after a day that started out with the Island bathed in glorious sunshine, which turned to cloud & drizzle, and then back to the sun again, Friday evening practice gets underway. We have tickets to see Foggy and Whit at the Gaiety Theatre at 9pm, so given the logistics of closed roads and child care we decide we will venture up to the Grandstand and base camp, and then head to the Theatre from there. Due to a slight delay on my part (I fell asleep!) we don’t leave Peel until gone 6pm.
As the sidecars are out first, we tune the car radio to Manx RadioTT and I bring up the live timings on my phone. We see that the team are making decent time, and complete a lap, and go straight through for a second. As we make our way through Douglas we hear those dreaded words again….red flag sectors 1-6…..we know they are out there somewhere. Oh my god, 2 nights in a row…why does this keep happening?! The next announcement is a surprise – the reason for the red flag is a house fire in Kirk Michael. Bestie makes a joke about leaving the gas on, and as she’s driving I’m scrolling through Twitter. I’m seeing tweets indicating that the fire is in the vicinity of her house, so seeing as she’s driving I lie that there is no more information….
After parking at the Grandstand and arranging the handover of a batch of Krispy Kreme doughnuts that my dear friends Bruce and Keri have brought over for me (we can’t get them here!!!) Bestie is looking a bit worried. She’s got her phone in her hand, and tells me she’s looking at a picture of a fire engine….OUTSIDE HER HOUSE!!!! It turns out that it is actually her next door neighbours house that has had a fire. Honestly, you couldn’t make this stuff up. Thankfully the family who live there have got out okay, but there is damage to the house.
My Twitter friends who know I’ve started blogging about TT are asking me if I have enough to write about, will there be a sitcom, and will it all become a book. Some of my friends are texting me asking if I’ve had quite enough drama now….believe me, I have! As all this is going on, we’re wondering where the lads had got to, when another Twitter friend asks us what number our boys are. I tell her, and in return get a picture of them parked outside the pub she’s watching at (not far before the house, and handy for them to be there as the flags were waved)! At least we know they’re safe! With that in mind, Bestie and I head off to the theatre, we’ve had quite enough for one night. Foggy and Whit were very funny, and the G&T in the interval was most welcome, I can tell you.
So for now, I’m off to bed. It’s first race day tomorrow, but due to lack of track time, the decision has been made to put an additional practice session for the solos in tomorrow morning, and run the first sidecar race at 12.30. There will then be more track time for solo classes, and the first Superbike will be run on Sunday. It must be noted that the job of Clerk of Course this year so far has not been easy, and I don’t think many would disagree he’s doing his utmost to ensure we get good, safe racing. He’s had some tough calls to make, and I for one don’t envy him.
Here’s hoping the weekend runs smoothly, and we can get back on track for the rest of race week.