Race day tickets are about £40, a good score and more cheaper than the MotoGP event at Silverstone, and at Donington you’re also closer to the action. And in WSB, you’re not shut out of cool areas like the paddock a la MotoGP, the riders and teams are all accessible, and nearly to a man friendly and always full of smiles. That’s only partly why we adore WSB, the fact the racing is the best in the world is yet another bonus.

So get along there if you can and support Tom Sykes, Eugene Laverty, Jonny Rea, Leon Camier among many others, and of course our own Chaz Davies. A Brit could easily win it this year, the more support they have, the more likely it is of happening. Plus it looks like it may be sunny, so it’ll be a great day out.

If, on the other hand, you prefer to watch men with giant noses jump over mountains, our own Andrew ‘Beaky’ Saunders will be racing at Cadwell Park in the Thundersport series. Plenty of action in the various classes to behold there will be to admire, or just go and give Andy a cheer.

There’s a trackday on at Anglesey today (Friday), one on Saturday at Lydden and another on Sunday at Rockingham, details of which can be found here.

As for shows, there’s the Southern Classic Bike Show & Jumble on Saturday, details here

Otherwise, with the weather not looking quite as bad as originally predicted (though this could change, granted), what better time to get out on your bike, solo or with your mates?

Have a great weekend, y’all!

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1. Friday Round-Up
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Static shots can fill pages and even double-pages so we have to make them worth looking at, and other than the shallow bike-porn aspect the challenge is to hint at what the situation is. There’s a couple of points here.

 
The Grouptest can take many formats, and one of them is New Arrival vs Old Lags. I thought I heard Simon say the CBR is the most updated of the supersports for oh-thirteen (he heard wrong – Rootsy), so after the traditional group shot was done I pulled it forward so that I could do a longer shot through the fence, with the other bikes a bit blurry in the background. Pretty simple idea and it only took a minute, so a double win here.

I quite like this shot as it combines two ideas that don’t often go together. The first is the ain’t-it-pretty landscape standard misty sun through trees, the other is the less obvious narrative pointers. The bike is tilted down toward the road slightly to imply where it’s going to go, and included in the corner are the curved white lines to show what it’s going to do when it gets there. Also the bike is pointing slightly away from us – it’s going to go Up The Road – which is always a sign that a picture isn’t just a “look at this object” image.

So even though nothing’s moving, you can still give the impression there’s something going on, illustrate a point, or lead the viewer towards what’s about to happen – the static shot can always move the viewer forward or backward in time.

Jonny Gawler

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Big Nose says, “The fit of the Shoei is amazing and feels super comfy on, really plush and hugs my head all over. I didn’t have chance to ride in prior to sending it to Rich-Art Concepts for the work to be done on it, so tonight I will know more about how well it performs.

“Rich has done an awesome job on the design, proper contemporary whilst keeping strong Shoei design values, I love it. Check out the rest of his work.”

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First up is the North West 200 which runs on Saturday, and should be viewable via the BBC’s red button or BBC Northern Ireland. It’s looking like another cracking meeting, so long as the weather plays ball, as there’s rain mooted in many areas by the Met Office right now (Friday morning), along with strong northeasterly winds and a lot of cloud. Fingers crossed!

Mickey D, massive plums

Of course, the big story is Tyco Suzuki’s BSB charger, Josh Brookes, taking part in his first road race. And he’s not done too badly, either, qualifying on the second row of the grid for the Superbike outing. Not bad at all Josh! And kudos to the guy for putting his unmentionables on the line, away from ‘safe’ short circuits. Let’s hope he sticks it in amongst the regulars, if anyone can catch Michael Dunlop, that is, who is flying at the moment. The NW200′s top six in Superbike practice are below.

1 Michael Dunlop
2 Bruce Anstey
3 Guy Martin
4 Dean Harrison
5 Josh Brookes
6 William Dunlop

We look forward to perhaps what’s the equal of the TT in terms of spectacle, mostly because it’s an actual race rather than a time-trial. Bring on the madness, and the best of luck to the JHS Racing crew, too! View it live, here

Of course, we also have MotoGP from Le Mans this weekend which we imagine quite a few of you will be whizzing down to attend. Not to worry those travelling on Saturday, but there’s a chance of thunderstorms to the South and East of Le Mans, which may spill over, although temperatures should be around 16-deg’. For race day it’s cloudy with a chance of rain, surprise surprise. Well, it is Le Mans after all, it’s either wet or baking and rarely in between.

Dani P won in Jerez and was fastest this morning

So what will happen with Rossi this weekend? He’s claimed the place as one of ‘his’ circuits, and needs to reaffirm his fans’ faith in him as being back for good. Austin and Jerez were not great, they simply implied that he’s going to struggle to catch the top three of Marquez, Lorenzo and Pedrosa. We’d love to see a great result from Cal Crutchlow this weekend, but the aforementioned four could all be described as Le Mans ‘experts’ so it’s a tough ask, no matter how hard he’s charging. Rossi is his target, who he needs to aim for, especially with rumours suggesting he’s gobbed himself out of a Yamaha seat next year to make way for Pol Espagaro. Proving his worth on track is the key, good luck to Cal, Bradley, Scott, Michael, Danny and all of the other Brits racing in France – kick some arse, lads!

And let’s enjoy it while we can, while it is free and millions of people can, and do, watch it. Back to the ‘specialist sport’ dark ages next year and beyond potentially, we’re afraid. Can all be viewed via BBC, Moto2/3 online or on the Red Button and MotoGP live on BBC2, while Eurosport UK will show Moto2/3 live with delayed MotoGP coverage. And don’t forget practice and qualifying either, all sessions live across the previously mentioned platforms in the UK.

Most UK bike track days running this weekend are fully booked so far as we can see, although California Superbike School has a day at the Megara circuit in Greece, if anyone fancies a last minute jaunt and some guaranteed sun! Head to the website to find out more.

There is a novice-only day at Snetterton on Sunday via MSVR though. Never been on track before? Maybe now is the time, details here and have fun!

And there’s an ACU testing day at Cadwell Park on Saturday, if you enjoy watching guys bounding over the mountain for a few hours, with a ride there up and down the swooping surrounding roads.

As for shows, there’s the BMF Show on in Peterborough during Saturday and Sunday, where doubtless there’ll be dozens of glove-crammed bins with £20 tags on them!

The second Monks Rally is also on, at The Barn @ Beal, just off the A1 on the road to Holy Island: www.berwick.org.uk/bmc/

And a there’s a bunch of other stuff you can find online just by using search terms such as UK, Motorcycle Shows, 2013.

If quick fixes are your thing, don’t forget to watch our exclusive Tommy Bridewell blogs and latest videos here. It’s going to be really interesting to see how Tommy’s blogs progress as he gets more comfy in front of the camera. Bridewell for Kiyonari’s ride? A swap, take the pressure off Kiyo in a private team, give Tommy a chance with the best equipment? Wouldn’t hurt, we say.

TB46 is hungry

And apparently there’s some football on this weekend, and then there won’t be any for ages. Boo hoo. At least we won’t have to listen to a constant stream of “One team in North London!” by the only man in the office with his shirt off. Yes, the one in the McDonalds wrapper strewn corner…

Anyhoo, plenty to see, watch and do for you and if none of that suits, there’s nothing wrong with going for a bit of a ride, is there? Aside from that big rain front set to hit us on Saturday and Sunday. Do us a favour eh Mr Rain Front – push off, there’s a good chap.

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“As you can probably imagine, lots of people want to know why I want to race at the TT. Some common questions/comments include, ‘you’ve got bigger balls than me’ and ‘you must be frigging mental!’ or ‘have you got a death wish?’

He may have been packing some timber last year but Nibbo is super-fit for 2013…

“The last one does throw up a good conversation point. Yes, every competitor and I fully understand the risk associated with racing at the TT, so why do we do it? The stats don’t lie: it is an incredibly dangerous event. A cheesy phrase really sums it up for me – ‘If you are not living on the edge you are taking up too much room’. The buzz I get going around the TT cannot be replicated anywhere else, simple as that, and it is mainly down to the fact it is so dangerous! I am a bit of an adrenaline junkie and love anything to get the pulse going, be it mountain biking, bungee jumping, rollercoasters, winding up my wife or riding on public roads at 195mph (my top speed last year on Sulby Straight).

Pic by: Gert Meulman

“The TT is the ultimate adrenaline fix and while most of what Guy Martin says is complete rubbish, I share his view on the dangers of the TT and what he said after his infamous fireball crash. We don’t go out there to kill ourselves, far from it, and we all know the risks but you cannot get the buzz you get from the racing the TT anywhere else.

“I lost my best friend a few years ago racing. It wasn’t at the TT but in his very first novice race at Mallory Park in a freak accident, where he got hit by another rider after he fell from his bike. For some that might put them off racing or riding forever, but in fact the opposite happened for me and Rick inspires me to live life to the full, follow my dreams, and not waste a moment in life. All he wanted to do was to go racing and he did it, albeit only the once, which is just the cruelty of life I guess? That is why you will see a little Rick 23 sticker on my helmet.

Pic by: Gert Meulman

“So after getting all a bit serious and sentimental, what is my point?! Well, if someone thinks I’m crazy racing at the TT, I would say I’m no way near as crazy as the man who wants to race at the TT but doesn’t do it…”

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Now, it’s his first ever go at something like this, so give the lad some time and do hang on to watch it all. The most amusing part of this, for us, was watching someone who can’t normally shut up, clam up initially in front of the camera. Anyone out there who knows Tommy, also knows this usually isn’t an easy feat! It’s also brilliant to listen to Tommy without a single F-bomb being thrown in the mix! But as his blog goes on, true Tommy shines through now and then, and are moments to be savoured.

Anyway, we love Tommy here at FB, he’s always been a breath of fresh air and his ascendancy up the BSB ranks means there’ll soon be another straight-talking, exciting competitor hopefully looking at wins in the near future. We want Tommy on a ‘factory’ seat eventually, or at least the closest thing to one because we believe that’s all that’s missing, to make that next step up for regular podiums.

Click here to view in YouTube. Enjoy!

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“So for this week’s blog we’re discussing the budget for competing in the TT. Great idea: I just hope my wife doesn’t read this…

“Now you might guess that racing at the TT is fairly expensive? Well you would be half right: it’s fecking expensive! You might also assume the organisers pay for all the riders to compete? Well on that one you would be wrong, very wrong. Many competitors like myself this year totally fund racing at the TT themselves except for a nominal travel allowance that doesn’t even cover your ferry. To give you an idea the cost to get my race van and camper van to the island this year is £744!

Exemplary landing at Ballaugh

“Motorcycle racing at any level is expensive but the TT really does strain the purse strings. Due to the nature of the circuit, you need your bike to be in top condition, you need lots of spares for when things break, and you do a year’s worth of racing miles in two weeks! Every night of practice sees you burn a tank of fuel and a set of tyres. You need a few chains, various sets of brake pads, bodywork and screens get destroyed, and the list goes on. So how on earth does a working Joe like me afford this madness? Sponsors!

“I am lucky to have two great mates helping me with supplying the bikes. I have a ZX-10R from my good friend Stuart Tromans of Astro Racing, who has previously run bikes at BSB. And a Triumph 675 from my friend, sponsor and Manx GP competitor, Les Liney Vehicle Hire. Without them I wouldn’t be doing the TT, simple as that, and an ingenious sponsorship idea has got me to the Ulster GP, 2012 TT and now this years TT.

Onnit…

“I kept pestering my boss for some sponsorship (which worked to a degree to be fair) and he said why don’t you get your mates to give you a small amount of cash for their name on the bike? Well, why not indeed! So this year, through my Facebook page, I have arranged a load people to have their names on my bikes and a signed photo from the TT for £50. That money is a big help towards the costs and it is a cool way of friends, family and supporters can get involved at an affordable cost. The total cost of the TT is probably between £2000 and £5000, excluding buying and preparing bikes – my ZX10R stands in around £12k and the Triumph about the same, not helped by when I stuck it into Mallory Park’s tyre wall in fifth gear which almost wrote the thing off. That has been a £2000 unplanned bill I could have done without and fortunate for me, my friend Rob runs RJS Superbike at Mallory, and he’s taken on the job of a full rebuild project ready for the TT. Once the frame was straightened, the forks, tank, swing arm and anything that bolts to it got replaced.

“Basically without my friends, family, sponsors, supporters and work I wouldn’t be at the TT so when I pick up my replica and get some beer down my neck at the presentation, it’s going to taste pretty sweet! Only 3 weeks to go…”

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He doesn’t just spin tyres. James Packwood is also a DJ, don’t you know

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With only a few weeks until practice week kicks off, we thought we’d treat you to first-hand insights on what it’s like to race the Mountain Course, and what it’s like to prepare for the toughest race in the world.

Nibbo at Cadwell in the R6 Cup…

Most racing fans will already know Mr Michael Niblett. ‘Nibbo’ came to fame in the early days of the R6 Cup but spent most of the following years smashing himself up and trying to imitate Jorge Lorenzo in his early MotoGP seasons. Famous for gargantuan crashes and paddock banter, Nibbo realised that racing was becoming an expensive hobby and is now a dealer manager at Stratstone Triumph. But he still wants to race and last year, he completed his first TT. He’s returning in 2013…

Nibbo’s infamous crash at Paddock Hill, Brands Hatch

“Going to TT 2012 was a very surreal experience.  The build-up is incredibly stressful because there is just so much to prepare for a whole two weeks of racing around a 37 mile road circuit.  For months I would spend every spare hour watching on-board laps, playing the Playstation game or reading my notes I had scribbled on previous visits.

“What both my family and I found odd was that once I was at the TT, I was not nervous at all!  I was calm and relaxed and just looking forward to getting on with it.  The feeling sat on the bike and working your way down Glencrutchery road to be set out for your first lap was pretty surreal though.  My group of four riders did our controlled lap following Keith Amor, who was thrashing the tits off a FZ1S road bike decking it out everywhere. The first lap on the next night when you head off from the start/finish alone was weird, but by the time the front wheel comes up as you past St Ninnians your mind is totally focused on the job!

It’s ok. He’s leaving the 40mph zone

“The overall experience was awesome but there were some hard lessons learnt: don’t use an old shonky bike for one.  The TT course will soon wear out any tired out parts not up to the job!  I love the mountain section but the worst part is from Ginger Hall to Ramsey because the road is that bad your whole bike is shaking like a sh**ting dog, and it is a job just to see which way you are going.  My favourite corner is probably on the end of the Cronk y Voddy, where you flick the bike right in top gear and you pull a massive wheelie.  There are not many places you can do that!

Low rider…

“Preparation for the TT this year has been hard work. For your TT Mountain Course license, you need to compete in 6 races in the 12-month period running up to the TT, so this meant I had to plan some racing early in the season. Unfortunately this meant I ended up riding my Triumph at Mallory Park in the snow during March, which was about as much fun as pushing piles back in.  My ZX10R preparation was being seriously hampered by short supply on engine parts needed to carry out a blue-print tune.

“In April with my ZX10R still in component kit form, I decided to try and get some laps under my belt on the Triumph in the dry on a Wednesday afternoon at Mallory.  It was a bit cold so I took it easy. Obviously not easy enough because on the 4th lap I lost the rear exiting The Esses: one of the fastest bits of the circuit.  It was a pretty spectacular get off with the poor little Trumpy nailing the track side barrier pretty hard.  The damage was pretty severe with a bent frame, bent forks, smashed tank, bent exhaust, bent Subframe, ripped brake lines, smashed air duct, smashed clocks, bent bars, bent footrest and of course destroyed bodywork.  Not cool.  The net effect of this is that the final few weeks of preparation for the TT, rather than fine fettling, have been full rebuilding of a bike which is far from ideal.”

Next week in The Weekly Nibbo, we’ll talk budgets…

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The last two years have seen around 2000 riders congregate for a 70 mile thrash over some of Lee’s favourite roads, including Cheddar Gorge. As you can see, it’ll be a lively ride.

As well as the morning ride-out, there’s plenty going on back at base in Glastonbury, with an auction, live music, kids entertainment, and a load more. Lee himself was a keen charity supporter and the legacy will continue. Go to the RITS website and have a gander…

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