Rowe Racing has hit the Isle of Man for 2019!

The flight over was as tedious as ever, with probably 27 hours spent in transit all up.

As expected, the whole team are still adjusting to the time difference and coping with jet lag. Initially, the coffee was being brewed at 5am each morning, but having settled over the past few days, the team seem to be getting back into a more sociable routine.

The boys were sent down to collect all the bikes and gear on Monday, then the task of setting up our makeshift garage at the cottage homestead began.

PIC: Picking up the bikes and gear from Island Express

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Over the past day or so, the team have started preparing the bikes and collecting all of the tyres, oil and sundry materials.

We all feel quite at home being back on The Island, with family friends the Kneens collecting us from the airport and everyone we meet offering any assistance they can.

Just one example being that some frame work within the crates had fractured during the long-haul freight over from Aus. A local engineering firm stopped everything to weld it back together free of charge, which was hugely appreciated. However, they did warn Les to keep his distance from the power tools.

PIC: This is ‘Rowe Racing HQ’ for the next fortnight or so

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The weather has unfortunately been all over the place but hopefully first practice on tomorrow (Saturday) will be okay – the last thing we need is more delayed practice time!

Yesterday, the team attended sign-in and all went well. A number of officials welcomed Royce back and were very pleased to see him.

PIC: Hopefully Royce picks up the pace on track if his mowing skills are anything to go by!

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Royce has also been doing a few laps of the course in the car to check out surface changes. This also helps him familiarise with visual cues and distances between markers.

Royce still watches a lot of on board footage to get in the zone. One of which has been posted to YouTube and shows just how fast certain sections of the Mountain Course are! You can watch it here.

PIC: Popping in to see the fairies for luck!

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And now with everything in place… we wait for the riding to start!

For those interested in our schedule for the next fortnight, the 2019 Manx GP programme can be found here. Keep in mind there’s approximately an eight-hour time difference between the Australian eastern states and Douglas, IOM.

 

The Manx GP website has also updated their live streaming platform, so the Aussies can follow Royce in his races. Visit https://manxgrandprix.tvfor more info.

 

Manx Radio will have coverage from the get-go and are great to listen to for instant updates during the actual races. Visit https://www.manxradio.com to listen.