MARK CASTLE AT THE MANX GRAND PRIX 2006

The Manx Grand Prix was soon upon us and with having last year off I was looking forward to getting back to the Isle of Man.

I made a complete body work change to my RVF 400 including an RS250 GP top fairing and a radical GSXR K5 tail unit which required a new sub frame fabricating, otherwise the bike remained unaltered from the NW200. Kev Spurr helped with the final prep and took the bike across for me, with a Standard Yamaha R6 supplied by Pro Superbikes.

Brian Wyles collected my tools and kit etc on Thursday on his way to the ferry at Heysham, allowing me to travel on Friday in the car with Charlene and Jack.

I only just made the ferry though, having got tugged by the police on the way!!

Once on the IOM we met John and Vicky who were letting us stay in their flat, which was a godsend with our 1 year old. I went to the paddock to meet Brian and then to the garage to help Kev Spurr unload the race bikes.

Practice week was very frustrating, out of seven sessions three were cancelled, two were wet, and the two in good weather were delayed due to diesel spills!! I only lapped at 111.12mph on the 600 and 104.95mph on the 400, over 2 mph slower than previous best.

Wednesday evening was my best practice on the 600 and it seemed like an age until the following Wednesday afternoon, when the junior race finally started.

My number of 15 meant I was near the front and I was hoping for a clear track, I got away ahead of Kirk Farrow who then passed me on his tuned CBR on one of the long flat out sections through Crosby and I ended up behind him for miles, before passing on the brakes into Ballaugh Bridge.

Once clear I started reeling people in and my lap times shot up to nearly 116mph.

I got up to 6th place and had a brilliant race with Ryan McCay who I caught thanks to a brilliant pit stop by Kev, Ed & Mike. I finished the race in 5th place with an average speed of 113.95mph.

Thursday was spent preparing the RVF for the Ultralightweight Race on Friday.

I started away on my own; 10 seconds behind the first two. I lead the race and reeled in Graham Taubman on lap one.

We had a dice for a while until I caught Alan Oversby on the mountain on lap two, who fought me tooth and nail right to the pit stop where we entered the stop box together!!

Kev, Ed & Tim got my fuel in really fast but Alan did a splash and dash and was away. I shot off after him but a series of waved yellow flags made him impossible to catch.

I put in fastest lap of the race trying at 107.16mph.

I finished 2nd but really wanted the win!!

I’ll have to try harder next year!

Thanks to…

KS Performance: Kev Spurr & Andy March.

Richardsons Honda, Congleton: Brian & John.

Rampisham Garage: Brian Wyles.

MAG Sport Racing.

The Mike Hailwood Foundation.

Char, Jack & All the Castle Racing Team.