Preparation & Practice Week

Preparation once again proved very hectic. Unlike last year, the Honda CBR1000RR Superstock bike wasn’t in Jenny’s possession until the end of the Cadwell Park BSB meeting, less than a week before the first day of practice on the Isle of Man. Kenny Gilbertson runs the bike in the National Superstock Championship, and to make matters worse, he suffered a crash during the Cadwell weekend. Trusty mechanic Steve Bradley was soon at work though, repairing the crash damage and preparing the machine for the grueling abuse it was about to suffer in the hands of our Ellesmere Port flyer! Such was the tight timescale; several essential parts had to be delivered to Jenny at the paddock in Douglas.


The first practice session (Saturday evening) was cancelled due to the weather which allowed a bit of extra time for preparation. Once practice did finally get underway on Monday, Jenny’s big grin was soon wiped off her face when she had a big moment descending down Bray Hill on her very first lap of the fortnight. After that things went reasonably ok through practice week on both machines, apart from dropping a valve near Ginger Hall on the Supersport machine and out braking herself at Sulby Bridge on the Superstock machine and ending up in a thorn bush. Fellow female racer, and Manx Grand Prix winner, Carolynn Sells, managed to source a replacement engine for the 600, for which Jenny was extremely grateful, so all was well, eventually!


Superbike TT

After having waited nervously in the queue before the start on the Glencrutchery Road, the Superbike TT got Jenny’s race week off to a good start. Her pit stops went very well, and the race allowed her further time to get properly dialed in. She would finish in 46th position with an average race speed of 113.090mph and a fastest lap of 116.425mph, all in all a good start to the week.


Supersport Races

The first of the two Supersport races took place on the Monday. Jenny had been looking forward to racing the CBR600RR as it was a little easier than the Fireblade. She made a good start but soon noticed what she initially thought was water on the inside of her screen. Progressively it became worse, getting on her helmet and visor, at this point she realized it was oil, so having put up with it until the pit stop she had no option but to change helmets, which unfortunately lost her vital time in the race. The oil problem didn’t go away, and she was also hampered by the bike jumping out of fifth gear intermittently, but she was able to complete the remaining two laps and finish the race in 45th position with a fastest lap of 113.046mph despite the vision problems.

The second Supersport race got underway on the Thursday, with a refreshed Jenny having a good crack at it on the opening two laps, despite the bike still jumping out of fifth gear. However, at the one and only pit stop during the four lap race, the engine failed to restart after taking on fuel, so it was to be the end of her race. It had been a problem ever since using the replacement engine, as the fuel map was set for the original engine, but she would live to fight another day and was grateful for the use of the loaned engine in the first place, otherwise she wouldn’t have competed in either Supersport race.


Superstock TT

The Superstock race went well and without any major issues, and like last year this proved to be the race where Jenny increased her pace. The pit stops went smoothly, and she came home in 42nd position with an average race speed of 114.451mph. More significantly, however, she had managed to improve her own existing lap record to 116.993mph.


TT Zero

This would be the first time Jenny had an opportunity to race an electric bike. She would partner Rob Barber on the Agni bike, but preparation and practice once again proved very hectic. After Jenny’s first race of the week, the Superbike TT she still hadn’t ridden an electric machine at all, in fact she went over to Jurby to have a go on Barber’s bike as hers hadn’t even been finished being built. She arrived at Jurby as the circuit was closing, so elected for a sneaky practice up and down a quiet lane, just to get a feel for the acceleration and braking etc. It was completely different to what she was used to and also different to the bike she would be racing, but it at least gave her some idea of what to expect.


On the Monday of race week Jenny’s bike still wasn’t complete, so it was just as well that the race was moved from Wednesday to Thursday due to the weather. Once on the start line Jenny would see what she could achieve, riding the machine for the very first time, and in a race situation at the TT… It took about half a lap to get used to the weight, handling and stopping capabilities as they have no engine braking. This proved frustrating for Jenny as she knew that with the benefit of more time on the bike the result could have been better. Nevertheless, she did finish in fourth position, just seven seconds off the podium, averaging 88.228mph, and was very grateful for the opportunity to race in the TT Zero with Rob Barber’s team.


Senior TT

Jenny admitted to feeling nervous on the start line for the Senior TT, but then again who wouldn’t be! She was a little unsettled during lap one as she believed she had an oil leak, but once she convinced herself that everything was fine she got more into her rhythm. During her second lap, however, the red flag was shown, and she would be taken off the course at Mountain Box due to there being a serious accident involving Guy Martin at Ballagery.


Upon the restart, Jenny had re-focused and put in a much better opening lap, the pit stop at the end of lap two once again went without any dramas, and she would be intent on building herself up for a big effort on the final true racing lap.

Having given it everything, she crossed the finish line hoping she had at least cracked 117mph. When Steve, her mechanic arrived and told her she had just done a 119.945mph lap she could hardly believe it!


“Well what a TT 2010, it was just awesome. It’s amazing, exhilarating and flipping scary, but I absolutely love it! There were many highs and lows but achieving the 119.945mph lap was really special. I just did all the things I had been telling myself I needed to do, like flat here, don’t roll off too much here, and just kept it all neat and tidy, I really enjoyed the lap.

Afterwards Brad told me that it was a 119.945mph lap, I couldn’t believe it, I was absolutely made up. I was hoping it would be quicker, but never expected it to be that much faster! The whole experience of TT fortnight was amazing, and I would like to say a huge thanks to everyone who helped me in any way, with special thanks to Manx Glass and sorrymate.com and my fantastic mechanic Steve! I would also like to offer my heartfelt condolences to the families and friends of Paul Dobbs and Martin Loicht who both lost their lives during the second Supersport race.”


You can next see Jenny Tinmouth in action in the sixth round of the Fuchs-Silkolene British Supersport Championship which takes place over the weekend of 2-4 July at Knockhill.