Martin Jessopp..................................
By the time you read this, Martin Jessopp will have tackled Bray Hill for the first time. Here’s what the TT newcomer has been up to in the closing weeks: hire cars, practice laps with the Dunlop brothers, karting and racing...
As the racing looms, the day job gets in the way...
Hi Fast Bikers, I guess we’ll start with the Isle of Man TT launch. As you’ve probably heard from Fagan, we all went karting at Jurby on the island. Al was surprised at the level of carnage, but that’s what happens when you put a load of bike racers in a cage. To be fair, it was pretty tame compared to what goes on in Macau... And it only took us three hours before getting kicked off!
They put me in a hotel room with Rutter, which was as miserable as ever! I got moaned at for everything I did. On the first night I went out with Rutter and Michael Dunlop, and met with John Barton for a few cheeky ones. Thankfully, they stopped serving at midnight... At the time it was shit, but looking back now it was a week before the first round of British Superbikes. I promised I’d behave myself, but going out with these road racers, well, they’re a different breed to the guys in the BSB paddock who mainly stay in their rooms and do press-ups.
I managed to get some laps in with James Hillier in a hire car. I’m so lucky, I’ve been out with the fastest guys round there, draining information from them. I also managed to get a lap in with the Dunlop brothers. I thought that’d be great, but in typical Michael Dunlop fashion he spent pretty much the whole time talking about shagging. It was the weekend before his first BSB race and he was more interested in the state of the girls in the paddock. When you’ve won four TTs in a week, it’s not going to be hard for a lad.
British superbikes at Brands Hatch wasn’t quite what we were looking for. I was running top-ten pace all weekend, but to come away with a 12th and a 14th meant points on the board and the bike has improved massively.
A few weeks later was round two at Oulton Park. It was another weekend where we didn’t quite fulfil our potential. We really struggled with getting the BMW off the line, but we only have to do it once at the TT!
From Oulton, it was straight to Gloucester airport and I jumped on a plane back to the island, going round and round in circles in a hire car. I even managed to do Phil Crowe just after the Creg heading into Brandish.
I did some laps with John Barton this time round. He has quite a different way of teaching to Milky Quayle. John gets less excited than Milky. When you’re in a car with Milky, he still thinks he’s on a bike. He gets so into it, giving you detail of every single bump on every corner. John highlights the important areas more, but both have been invaluable and I’m grateful.
I managed to get another six laps in during that 24-hour period, so that’s about 15 I’ve done in total. Not quite as much as Josh Brookes, who did 100 before he started. Peter Hickman is a newcomer this year too, and he’s done around 80. With all my commitments I haven’t had time.
But I’m at a stage now where I’m confident of getting on the bike and racing now. There were a few areas I wasn’t sure on but it’s nearly dialled in. Right, off to the North West 200. Busy, busy!
I thought a lap with Michael dunlop would be good but all he did was talk about shagging!”