Josh Brookes
127mph for the rookie in 2013. So, 2014?
Since 2009 when I very first came to the island, I did a couple of laps that year on a bike, a few laps in a car and I went on a bus tour with a load of other people listening to John McGuinness talking his way round. I was just a tourist, you know? But from the moment I lined up on the startline I realised the TT was something special and knew I wanted to do it one day. I just thought ‘well, what have I got to know about the track, the racing’ and that sewed the seed.
In 2010 I came back and said I wanted to ride, and the team (HM Plant Honda) said no, don’t do anything silly like that. Anyway, I came to watch some racing and did some more laps in a car and on a bike. But it wasn’t until last year that I got the go ahead to race. Up until that point, I was just coming over during race weeks and learning while the much. I think once you’ve done laps as a racer, that’s when you can learn from a DVD. It all happens to quick, it’s just a blur, you see trees fly past, corners fly by and you don’t even know where you are on the track. After my first proper practice session last year, that evening I watched a DVD and it all made sense.
The best thing I did to prepare was to drive the course in a car because you’ve got the comfort of music and heat, a notepad to write down little things, and you’re trying to absorb as much info as you can.
That moment after the first practice session? It was quite overwhelming. The first lap I did, I followed Milky and that was easy. It was a very comfortable speed and I knew what was coming. We were barely over the speed limit in some areas, and when you’ve got someone to follow, you just mimic what they’re doing.
I didn’t watch a load of DVD s, i didn’t see how i’d learn much...”
event was on, but as soon as I got word that I was going to be competing, I came over on private weekends, got a hire car and just drove around, learning the track. I’d do maybe four or five laps in the morning, check the rest of the island out, and then do another four or five laps in the evening.
There was no set pattern on how I was learning. I just made sure my mind was fresh with more laps, and by the time I came here to race, I’d done somewhere in the vicinity of 100 laps. It was just homework. I didn’t watch a load of DVDs as I didn’t see how I’d learn that The problem with that is, if they get it wrong and go through the hedge, you go with them – although I had every confidence in Milky.
The next lap, you’re on your own. That becomes a challenge, as you’re riding by eyesight and not by sensation or knowledge. It’s purely about how much your eyes can take in. It’s so hard to visibly accept what you’re seeing and to mentally calculate how to operate the bike at these speeds.
The first lap was like, you know when you’re watching TV, and the speech of a person and video is out of sync? The lips are
moving and the sound is coming a split second later? That’s the same as my first lap by myself. Everything was coming at my eyes quicker than reality, but on my second lap, it was like the tracking had been corrected!
I’ve spent loads of time as a commuter on a motorcycle in Australia, but not so much here in the UK. It’s kind of halfway between what you do on a race track, where you find the absolute limit of your bike and its capability, completely ignoring the potential danger and running risks. You find the maximum of your tyres, suspension, your chassis and your ability. And then when you’re riding a street bike, I’m nowhere near the capabilities of the bike or myself; I’m literally riding at a speed where I can monitor what’s going on around me. The TT falls somewhere in between that. There aren’t the sheer unknown variables like traffic, lorries, dirt and potholes. But you’ve always got to be in that zone where you have to be ready for anything. It’s about finding that pace where you know you’re going to make it round each lap.
This year I’ll take it as it comes. Essentially, I’m only one day more experienced than I was last year. It’s a year on, but the first day (in 2014) on the track is only one more than last year. I’m still a newcomer, and I’ve got so much to take in. I guess the first few days are going to be getting up to speed from last year. I did a 127mph lap in 2013 but I’m not going to start by going in with a 127mph lap. I’ll probably start on a 115mph, then go to a 120mph, then a 125mph, I’d hope, and see where it goes from there.
If we progress in a similar pattern to last year, then yeah, I’d like to do a 130mph lap. I think the top boys will step it up again this year. I think you’ll see a 131mph lap as an old era time. I’m expecting 132s this year. I think that’s where it’s at, with the bikes, the guys, with the competition, everyone’s in good shape this year. But, yeah, I’d like to think the 130mph is possible at the end of race week...
i did a 127mph lap in 2013, but i’m not goin g to start 2014 by goin g in with another 127mph lap...”