After a relaxing Sunday taking in the ambience and rolling green hills that cover Ellan Vannin, the team were chomping at the bit to sort the Triumph’s issues at Monday night practice. Unfortunately, there’s a reason those hills are so green – hourly delays dragged on through the afternoon, until finally race control made the decision to call off practice due to relentless rain.

PIC: The team checking out a high-speed option for next year’s race

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The team had two laps of practice scheduled, which were really needed to try and resolve handling issues.

It didn’t look like practice would happen on Tuesday, as the roads usually remain open for locals before the full closure on Wednesday race day. If that was the case, the team would have to revert to the last settings used on the Triumph as at least Royce knows how the Triumph handled then.

PIC: With some free time up his sleeves, Royce visited the fairies for luck

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Fortunately, organisers have rescheduled the whole of Monday to Tuesday. So, all the classic races will go ahead and we will have practice at 7.40pm IOM time. While this is good news, due to time constraints the practice will incorporate all classes, meaning heavy traffic and the lost opportunity to further practice on the Ducati considering the Triumph takes priority.

As well as this, only one lap has been allocated. This is far from ideal as the bike still had some issues at high speeds. But, we’ve learnt to roll with the punches over here!

PIC: The team when they first arrived… all sun and smiles

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After practice, the team will start preparing both bikes for Wednesday’s racing. It’s going to be a long day for Royce, having both the Lightweight and Junior race in the one day.

Just to add to the commotion, the team ran out of the oil we use and couldn’t source any on the Isle of Man, so our friend Ali scoured the mainland. She travelled from John O’ Groats to Lands End and managed to find some for us, then caught the midnight ferry from Liverpool to get it to us first thing this morning. This isn’t the first time Ali has come to the rescue. For those playing along at home, Ali was the hero last year that sourced a Ducati frame from England and brought it over on the ferry after Royce bent the previous one in a high-speed accident. Once again, thanks for saving our behinds, Ali!

PIC: We rewarded Ali for her efforts with a lap around the backyard on the Duke… what could go wrong?!