Saturday 5th July and it was time to give the bike a last run through before she was loaded up to head for the island. After running her up to temperature twice, Wayne noticed a bit of smoke from the exhaust and the breather pipe, so he decided to change the oil and filter. Something which would have been done anyway but the presence of smoke made it more of an urgency!
So, oil and filter changed, 2 more runs up to temperature, but more smoke!!! Arrrggghh! Only one thing.......
Yep, engine blown!!
A phone call to a legend of engines, the one and only Mr Horst Walczak, who was, at this point, already on the boat heading for the Isle of Man, and Wayne had an engine to borrow!
If Horst or Wayne had needed a spare, there was only Wayne's standard left which would of had to of been Horsts firsts.
By Sunday morning, the bike was loaded and all spares boxed up. Hope the weather holds up!!
Meeting Mark and Sarah at Liverpool Docks ready to go, they discussed the problems and decided on an early start to get the borrowed engine fitted!
Garage set up and spanners out! First practice at 7.45pm ish, so no stopping.
The weather was good and a steady run was all that was needed to bed the engine in and settle Wayne and Mark for their first Southern 100 together. After a good run, they reflected on the practice commenting on how sweet the engine was running and what a selfless gesture it was for Horst to lend it! Hopefully they could do it justice!! Out for second practice and another good run, tyres bedding in well, liking the road, getting good grip, bike smooth and the boys eager to get on!
Tuesday, rain and lots of it! However, it dried up enough in the evening for the third practice which saw the team have an even smoother run.
Wednesday, race day.
Weather was beautiful all day which, in turn, led to low sun for the late starting race. The race was predominately 6 outfits in front of Wayne, Bells, Holden, Molyneux, Harrison, Bryan and Bennett, Holden was forced to retire with electrical problems which left the grid open for Wayne and Mark. An incident involving Bryan and Bennett, saw Wayne nudge the back end of Carls outfit, which meant some traffic got passed. Although there was a hard fought battle with some eye squinting manoeuvres by the number 21 outfit of Lindley, Wayne managed to hang on to 5th place which was not an altogether pleasing result but a top six finish was a good start.
Thursday, 2nd race.
A consolation race for the outfits who finished outside the top ten from race 1, meant we all had the chance to watch some cracking racing and cheer on our Mr Horst who was putting on a great show and giving the race of his life!! His ambition over the many years of racing at the Southern 100, has been to do a lap at 90+ mph, having ever only got up to 89. Something the last couple of years, we all cheered him on so loudly!!
So when Horst and his passenger Shaggy, made it across the line in 2nd place with a time of 89.997, we we're all so proud but knew he had one more chance in the championship race to do it!
Championship Race....
Wayne and Mark got ready for the off, sun high in the sky and a very hot day. Starting in row 4, nice and quick, 2nd place away first lap, round again the 4.250 mile course, all smooth, engine good. Lost a couple of places due to the heat, but still having a good race. The usual outfits up front, however, Holden once again had to retire, leaving Conrad in first Wayne back up to second and Moly third. Last couple of laps saw another eye squinting move by Moly around the back of the course and after a slight coming together, Wayne let the experienced old fella past, proving to be the right move as he was out of sight pretty quickly!! An incident with Darren Hope meant that the race was red flagged on the last lap, thankfully, driver and passenger ok, arm and leg injuries but will mend. Best wishes boys!
Across the finish line in....
1st... Conrad and Jason
2nd.....Moly and Benjamin
3rd......Wayne and Mark
A PODIUM FINISH!!!!!
Fastest lap time was 96.425 on lap 4 and average speed of 95.112. All lap times down slightly due to the heat of the day but good results!
Well done from us all!! You both deserved that place and deserve to be up there!
And Horst........ 9th place with a lap time of 90.358!!!!!!!! You BEAUTY!! Well done Horst and Shaggy!! Well earn't!!
Thank you to all involved in this meet, especially Horst. We couldn't of done it without you!!
Sarah.... Thanks soo much for my party! Awesome!! Dawn..... Thanks for the cups of tea!
Great to see Jonny, Gaz and little Dong, Cloey! Hope you've changed your screen saver on the mobile Cloey!!! You lucky thing!!!
Southern 100 .....2014.... 3rd place..... Wayne Lockey and Mark Sayers.... Ireson WRP Honda
See you at Cadwell!!