Triumph TT600 Test Session Lydden Hill - Saturday 17th February 2001

As mentioned on earlier news releases we have been invited by Clive Wood of Jack Lilley Racing to race their Triumph TT600 in the MRO Supersport class at Donington Park on March 11th.

This was a fantastic opportunity to race for an established team and after a recent meeting with Clive, we left even more enthusiastic as his knowledge of the Triumph bikes and lengths at which they go to make the bike competitive was very impressive. I thought we had a good knowledge of suspension set up, but I was made to feel quite humble at the technical knowledge his team has in this area.

As it has been quite a few years since I have been on a track with a 4 Stroke I was very keen to have a test session before the Donington meeting. After all I would hate to be the one to walk back to pit lane with just the remains of a bike due to lack of time before being launched into the deep end.

 A test day at Lydden Hill was arranged and we all met up at 9am on Saturday 17th February.

It had been a frantic week for me as I had to rebuild my Honda RS250 from scratch and fit a new crank in just three days. The bodywork was being prepared by my mate Phil in Shaftsbury and he rang Wednesday to say it was all ready for collection, however I could not make it Wednesday so arranged to get down there Friday.

Unfortunately for me I had a meeting in Ipswich on Friday, so I had a hell of a drive from Ipswich to Shaftsbury and arrived down there for 7.30pm, tired and knackered. We loaded the parts into the car and had a quick bite to eat in the local pub with another mate, Nick (Cheers mate!) and made our way home. Arrived home at 11pm and rushed into the garage to fit the tank, fairing etc.

 Tried to get an early night, but I then received a call from my father at 12.30pm to say, "Ooops! Sorry son but I've got the door key of the transit van stuck in the ignition and it will not budge."

 So, we arrived at Lydden Hill without the 250..............Bummer!

As our first session drew nearer I felt more excited than nervous. I said to Clive, "Just for the record, I will be taking it very easy to start with as I have not been on a bike since October and also need to find my feet with the 600 as there will be a handling, weight and engine braking difference from the 250." Fortunately Clive reassured me and said there is no pressure to set the world on fire and he was keen to keep the bike in one piece. Phew!

 Well, after 5-6 laps I was slowly getting to grips with the bike and was amazed at the handling. I was still taking a few stabs at the slower corners where the engine braking was making progress a little jerky, but overall I was getting faster with every lap and adjusting the lines to suit the 600.

Exiting Devil's Elbow on one lap, I let the bike drift to the right on the power and as we raced over a small rise in the tarmac the front wheel lifted and power wheelied up the hill 250 style. What a laugh! Big grin inside the helmet at this point.

 The second session was even better and I was now feeling quite at home and passing numerous riders on other 600 machinery with the occasional R1 thrown in for good measure. I was again impressed with the handling and could not stop smiling at the fact that it really did not feel like a sloppy, lardy road bike, but a true racer. The bike tracked the circuit faultlessly and even when I tried to induce a rear slide to see where the limit was, it just kept accelerating on line. Amazing!

The third session was a bit of a farce as it was red flagged and then when we restarted they allowed us to go for three more laps and then it was the end of session, so no rhythm or groove was found, however I was amazed at the number of people crashing today. Definatly no way to start a season on your arse as it will knock the confidence out of you before you even race for real.

The fourth and final session. I decided to see how far I could lean it before the bike protested, however it was proving to be a difficult task as the Triumph really handles superbly. I decided to attack the slow hairpin at the top of the hill 250 style (i.e.. lots of speed going in and trying to keep the speed high through the turn). Unfortunately on the approach a rider drifted right over to the left of the circuit and as I was passing him on the brakes I clouted his leg with the right handlebar....Ooops! Sorry mate. I then forced huge amounts of countersteer to get the bike on it's side as fast as possible and although there was a small amount of front end slide it stayed on line. Again.......amazing!

This was the final session and I set a time of 0:46.2s which I was very pleased with considering the best time we saw/heard of was only 7 tenths faster and this was our first time out on the bike. During this session, the only person to pass me on track was Jason Davis on the VTR1 Superbike he will be racing at BSB for the DBK team, but even then his times were only marginally quicker.

All in all a very enjoyable day out and time well spent. The Triumph was a joy to ride and actually felt easier to ride than the 250 as the power delivery is not so brutal on the 600 and is very easy to ride fast.

 I can't wait until Donington Park and get in amongst the 'Hard Core' 600 riders to see how I fair under race conditions as I am sure the handling and brakes will be the bikes biggest advantage on the fast sweeping circuit. The brakes are the best I have felt for a long time, and apparently they are the standard Triumph set up!!

Big thanks go out to Clive and Jack Lilley Racing for giving me the opportunity, plus Jill for the support and Tea. More thanks go out to Steve who turned up to mechanic with me on the 250 and of course Penny for the lap timing and cleaning of my helmet (Oh...Er...missus).

 Hope to see you at Donington on 11th March!!! Should be a Blinder!