Double for Oversby at pre-TT Classic meeting
Alan Oversby took his Norton to a victory double at the Pre-TT Classic meeting, setting lap records in each. Roy Richardson, Terry Kermode and Nick Houghton/Paul Thomas took one victory each.
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 Blackford Financial Service Pre-TT Classic Races A full day’s programme of races was provided for spectators alongside the 4.25mile Billown Circuit, at the ancient capital of Mann; Castletown. The day was sunny, but with a cold north easterly wind that kept coats on most of the spectators. The early start seemed to catch out spectators as there were as many officials and catering staff as spectators at Cross Four Ways when the action began. That situation was soon corrected and a decent sized crowd assembled through the morning. First away was the Lightweight Race for which Bob Jackson’s lap and race records were from 1997. His brother Alan ‘Bud’ was the ante-post favourite for honours in this. When the lights changed to set the race in motion it was Bud who grabbed an early advantage. Through Cross Four Ways he had a narrow lead over newcomer Dave Edwards, Peter Wakefield and Terry Kermode; who won this race in 1991. Bud’s lead proved to be short lived; as they slowed for the tight right hander on lap 2 it was Peter Wakefield who had the lead by 20 metres from Edwards, Kermode and Bud Jackson; with Geoff Hadwin and Tom Jackson completing the leader board placings. Lap three saw Terry Kermode at the head of events and with the aid of the fastest lap of the race he managed to put 50 meters between himself and his pursuers who were led by Edwards. Lap four saw no change in the leading positions as the filed raced past us and on towards the S bends at Malew Church. Lap 5 saw the same order but Wakefield was right on the rear wheel of Edwards and putting him under some pressure. On lap 6 the pressure told; Edwards over shot at Castletown Corner; gifting second place to Wakefield. Down the field Tom Jackson had managed to take fifth place from Geoff Hadwin. At the head of the field Kermode eased his pace a little; this allowed Wakefield to begin to close the gap in the last couple of laps. As they screamed past us for the final time the order was unchanged but the gap at the front was noticeably smaller with Wakefield piling on the coals to set his best lap of the race. On the final straight Kermode slowed to allow a lapped rider to unlap himself and so be able to complete the full race distance; this act of charity allowed Wakefield to close to within a second of him at the chequered flag. 1. Terry Kermode Yamaha 80.469mph 2. Peter Wakefield Suzuki 80.425mph 3. Dave Edwards Yamaha 79.774mph 4. Bud Jackson Suzuki 78.853mph 5. Tom Jackson Suzuki 77.005mph 6. Geoff Hadwin Suzuki 76.970mph The practice times suggested that the Senior Race would be a dust up between the Nortons of Alan Oversby and Chris Palmer and the Honda of Roy Richardson; all of whom had lapped at over 90mph. One disappointment was that Bill Swallow was a non-starter; but with strength in depth a cracking race seemed assured. From the lights it was the three practice leaders who took charge of events. Leading the charge as they passed us was former British 125cc champion Chris Palmer, with Oversby and Richardson barely a machine’s length astern of him. Such was their pace that they had six seconds advantage over a chasing group that consisted of Mark Parrett, who was taking a break from duties on the Mountain Circuit; Paul Coward and the impressive newcomer Chris Swallow on his unfaired Manx Norton. Behind him was a scrap involving Alec Whitwell, Brian Nichol, Bud Jackson and Dave Madsen-Mygdal. One of the expected front runners Wattie Brown was an early retirement. Lap 2 saw the same order at the front as the pace increased to threaten the lap record. Then came the news that Richardson’s Honda had cried enough at Castletown Corner, leaving Oversby and Palmer to continue what proved to be a record breaking duel in the sunshine. Palmer was first on the road again on lap 3 with Oversby just a couple of metres astern. Such was their pace that they were now over 20 seconds clear of the chasing pack led by Paul Coward on the Nourish Weslake. This lap proved to the last one for Bud Jackson whose machine expired. The lap record fell to Oversby as he took over at the front; he led Palmer by 15 metres as they thundered past us on the fifth tour. Behind them a good fight for fifth between Nichol and Madsen-Mygdal provided a good spectacle for the crowd. Lap record pace continued as Oversby tried everything he knew to try to break away from Palmer. On lap 6 he had an advantage of just under 3 seconds; with Palmer in turn having 42 seconds in hand over Coward; who had a six seconds cushion over Parrett. It was on this lap that Oversby set the best lap of the race; lifting the lap record to 93.609mph. The battle for fifth saw the two protagonists almost collide as they tried to outbreak each other. Nichol encountered a problem towards the end of the race and had to settle for an 8th place finish. The leader continued at a frenetic pace to eventually take a very hard earned victory by 14.9 seconds from Palmer who settled for a safe second over the final two laps. Coward duly took the final podium place 56 seconds behind Palmer. This had been a great race with some close dices right through the field providing great entertainment for those privileged to see it. 1. Alan Oversby Norton 92.081mph 2. Chris Palmer Norton 91.113mph 3. Paul Coward Weslake 87.826mph 4. Mark Parrett Matchless 87.421mph 5. Dave Madsen-Mygdal Honda 84.761mph 6. Chris Swallow Norton 84.727mph The final race before the lunch break was the Sidecar Race for which last year’s winners Nick Houghton / Paul Thomas were the favourites for honours. Right from the lights they grabbed the initiative and by our vantage point roughly half way around the circuit they had opened a gap of 6.5 seconds over the gorgeous sounding BMW of 2006 winner Ralf Engelhardt and Winfried Viecenz; who had Eddy Wright / Martin Hull mere inches behind. Behind them came Bernard Collonge / Fabrice Durantet; Dick Hawes / Tim Dixon on the faster of their two BMW outfits; with Kobus Bouman / Sam Kiers completing the leader board placings. As the leaders increased their advantage on lap 2 Hawes moved up a place and Lenny Pallister / Ian Marriner were also on the move after a slow start. Lap three saw the end of Engelhardt’s race as he pulled off the track at Cross Four ways; a sad ending for a man who has supported these races for many years. Lap 4 saw a spate of retirements amongst those not on the leader board. Houghton and Thomas duly completed the race as comfortable winners; however Wright was overhauled by Hawes on the final half lap. Wright will be back and fully intends to take victory in the future. The performance of newcomers Bouman / Kiers was noteworthy and they could be serious challengers for a victory next year. 1. Houghton/ Thomas Windle 91.470mph 2. Hawes / Dixon BMW 77.146mph 3. Wright / Hull Imp 76.894mph 4. Bouman / Kiers Weslake 73.046mph 5. Pallister / Marriner Triumph 72.826mph 6. Collonge / Durantet BSA 72.621mph Following the lunch break; the afternoon programme began with the Junior Race which promised to be a very close race with five previous winners in the cast and the battle between Honda twins and Italian singles adding to the interest. Expecting that this could come down to a last lap dive into the final corner we had moved to the tight right hander at Alexander Bridge. However Roy Richardson had other ideas and took the race by the scruff of the neck right from the change of the lights. He was over six seconds in the lead from the chasing pack of Alan Oversby, Paul Coward, Mike Hose and Bill Swallow; whose dicing was slowing their progress as they passed us and charged down the bypass. Behind them we had Allan Brew, Rich Hawkins and Paul Dobbs. Lap 2 saw the lead stretched out to almost 11 seconds; Oversby was second with Swallow third on the first of the single cylinder machines. Coward, Dobbs and Dave Madsen-Mygdal completed the leader board; but none could feel secure in their placing. Lap 3 saw Swallow in second from Oversby and Coward; then it was Madsen-Mygdal from Dobbs who now had Mark Parrett alongside him. This race for the podium places was providing an exciting spectacle for the full grandstand. Coward ran wide on lap 3; this was a prelude to a leisurely drive to the pits to retire. Lap five saw some drama at Cross Four Ways as Swallow was black flagged to have what appeared to be a loose exhaust checked by the travelling marshal. The exhaust was not completely tight but as it posed no danger Swallow was allowed to continue after losing 73 seconds. Richardson set a new lap record at 89.074mph on lap 7 after a pit board indicated that he had eased his pace too much and had allowed his pursuers to close the gap. Lap 8 saw the lead at just under 10 seconds; with Oversby in turn having over 11 seconds in hand on Parrett. The final lap proved trouble free for Richardson who made up for his disappointment in the Senior with his second Junior win in succession. Oversby took second place; Parrett fended of the attentions of Madsen-Mygdal to cross the line in third place after a great dice. Paul Dobbs and Rich Hawkins were the fifth and sixth finishers. Then came confirmation that Swallow had been credited with the time lost under the black flag and this had elevated a very surprised but delighted Bill to third place on corrected time and gave him some unexpected prize money for the beer tent. 1. Roy Richardson Honda 86.661mph 2. Alan Oversby Honda 85.896mph 3. Bill Swallow Aermacchi 85.632mph 4. Mark Parrett Honda 85.479mph 5. Dave M-M Honda 85.477mph 6. Paul Dobbs Honda 85.167mph The next race on the programme was the combined 850cc Classic and up to 1000cc Post Classic Superbike Race. This pitted the Senior Nortons against larger capacity classic machines such as Triumph/BSA triples and Weslakes in the Classic section; whilst the Post-classics included Yamaha twins, Suzuki and Kawasaki fours, plus some big Italian twins. Favourite for the overall win was Guy Martin, another having a bit of light relief from more serious business on the Mountain Circuit. Right from the lights Guy was in a class of his own, he grabbed the lead and then continued to build it; setting a new class lap record at 94.569mph on his second lap. At Castletown Corner on lap 1 he had over 3 seconds in hand over Chris Palmer’s Norton. Alan Oversby was third on his Norton; fourth was held by Weslake mounted Paul Coward; fifth was the first of the Yamaha twins in the hands of Dave Spencer; with Frank James sixth on the big Kawasaki. Coward was out of luck, he was forced out on the next lap. As they passed us for the second time Guy had increased his lead, leaving the main interest on the battle behind. By lap 3 his lead was up to 9 seconds; but it was from Oversby who had just edged past Palmer. These were again lapping at record pace in their battle for second place; the record finally rested in the name of Alan Oversby at 93.887mph set on the fifth lap; with Palmer just a whisker behind at 93.790mph; amazing speeds for 500cc singles. The lap 3 leader board was completed by Dave M-M (Trident), Mark Parrett (Norton) and the leading Yamaha twin of ex-Team Green works rider Roger Hurst who enjoyed a good dice with Stephen Walls for much of the race. Just when it seemed that the matter had been settled Guy Martin was missing when the field hammered past commentator Charlie Williams at Cross Four Ways on the final circuit. Then came the news that the battery on Guy’s machine had become detached and lodged on the back wheel, locking it as he began to slow on the approach to Cross Four Ways. Thankfully Guy escaped his mishap without injury and was able to practice later in the day on the Mountain Course; in fact setting the fastest lap of the session; some man. Guy’s misfortune gifted victory to Oversby; who was just 0.4s outside of Palmer’s race record. Chris duly took second place, with Dave M-M third. Stephen Walls just managed to hold off Roger Hurst to take the honours in the Post-Classic section. 1. Alan Oversby Norton 91.791mph 2. Chris Palmer Norton 91.533mph 3. Dave M-M Triumph 86.828mph 4. Mark Parrett Norton 86.644mph 5. Stephen Walls Suzuki 83.722mph 6. Roger Hurst Yamaha 83.518mph So ended a wonderful day’s racing. The event was superbly organised event by the hardworking committee who make everything look easy. The marshals around the circuit carried out their duties in exemplary fashion, making everyone feel welcome and taking care of incidents very professionally. I look forward to the Steam Packet meeting which will incorporate the 125cc and 250cc TT races. Purists may view these with scepticism but no one questions the validity of Clypse Course victories so should these be different?
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