BREAKING NEWS: The planned post will continue below, but we would like to inform fans that Royce has changed numbers for the Junior races. Originally number 44 aboard his Suzuki GSX-R600, the officials have moved Royce to number 29. Although a tad frustrating to change fairings at the final hour, it does give Royce less traffic to deal with and a clearer run. Being a superstitious family, we were worried Royce’s favourite number of 4 (doubled in this case) was gone, along with his luck. But, Manx luck has it that champion Adelaide racer and long time friend, Bill Horsman has rode with number 29 all his life and also won a Classic TT here many years ago. Also, Andrea Iannone has recently earned stripes on board his Ducati winning a MotoGP race in Germany sporting number 29. At the end of the day, it’s up to Royce to make his own luck.

.
The Rowe Racing Team have a busy day of racing scheduled for Wednesday, with Royce competing in the Junior race at 10.15am (6.45pm ADL time) aboard his Suzuki GSX-R600, then hopping straight onto his Manx 650 Ducati alongside rider Paul for the Supertwins race at 1.15pm (9.45pm ADL time). Being a pretty friendly hour for our fans back home, we thought it’d be a good idea to give everyone a basic run-through of how they can be a part of the action! We realise technology can be a fickle mistress, so although this process worked for us, it may take an undefined amount of profanities and keyboard bashing to make it work for you! If worse comes to worst, tune into Manx Radio online to hear updates.

STEP ONE: Visit the webpage http://www.manxgrandprix.org and you should be shown the screen below. Click on the ‘Live Timing’ block to the right that we have circled below.

.
STEP TWO: After clicking on the ‘Live Timing’ link, you SHOULD be taken to the login screen below. Some people have just had an error page come up, but have then again tried closer to the racing time and the page has worked. Once at this login screen, type your email address that you can check straight away and a password of your choice. You only receive the one email, there’s no spam or constant hassling after signing up.

.
STEP THREE: Check your inbox for an email from the Isle of Man TT Live Team. It should look like the one below. Click the highlighted link, which will take you to the Live Timing page.

.
STEP FOUR: Now on the live timing page, you can follow riders as they pass through different areas of the track. As it refreshes, the top rider should appear with his/her lap time and bike number. This can also be done by smart phone, there’s just less detail shown on the live timing page. Grandstand mph is the actual speed the bikes pass at, while just ‘Grandstand’ is the final timing point, so the time given under this banner is the final lap time for the rider.

.
So, hopefully this makes following Royce back home a bit easier and enjoyable. And, to make it very clear, Royce is now number 29 for the Junior aboard the Suzuki. He remains number 11 for the Supertwin race, which takes place after the Junior race in the afternoon.

PIC: The Rowe boys visited the Governor’s House tonight, shaking hands and trading stories with local identities. The big question was will we be back…
.
In other news, the shock horror story involving the broken rear-shock on Royce’s Ducati after the crash and Paul’s leaking rear-shock has been resolved. Yesterday, Royce went out for one lap of practice before the team worked furiously to then rip it out and place it in Paul’s bike ready for his Newcomers B race, trying to give Paul the best steed possible. This obviously worked a treat as he came away with top spot!

The leaking shock, repaired with bits from the broken shock, is now ready to roll… or push. The spare, decent shock is now permanently in Royce’s bike. The whole team is now wondering how it’s possible we could have gone through that many shocks, of all the parts that could have possibly gone awry when Royce threw the Ducati into a gutter at speed.
We’ll be posting constant updates on our Facebook page tomorrow, but keep an eye out here for a full race wrap-up tomorrow night. Paul has a Newcomers function for the team to attend, so the wrap-up will be either later than usual, full of colourful language or both. We can’t wait to tackle a big day, bring it on!