Hi All,
Apologies for getting the updates from the IOM on here, the wi fi connection in the paddock wasn't all that great and it was a very difficult time for us.
The following has been written by Paul Owen and is in his on words....
Paul Owen so were do i start,
this years t.t. has been very different from the last 4 years racing in the isle of man, as iv had 22 starts and 21 finishes in 4 years, but this year just hasnt gone to plan with struggleing at scarborough and nw200, on the 1st nights practice at the isle of man t.t. races i lapped 119.2 and was 5th fastest which is only 6 seconds of my personal best lap time around the 37.78mile track on a 600cc. but that was when things started going wrong, i think i was trying to hard and i just couldnt get to the 120mph lap that i wanted, the 1000cc speedycom kawasaki was having some supsension trouble at speed of around 150mph to 190mph and was trying to buck me of the bike , so after everynights practice i was removing the suspension and giving it to the technitions to improve, but instead of making it softer they were making it harder, it was only after the 4th day that i was told that so we went the total opposite way on the setting and the bike was great apart from an electrical problem that now started which ment the bike couldnt rev over 10.500rpm but when we had it on the rolling road the bike revved to 13000rpm, we did everything possible to get the bike sorted for the superbike race and everything felt fine until i got 12mile around the track and the problem struck again, the same happend in the superstock race aswell, i wasnt a happy bunny.
the 1st 600cc race was mega and id lapped 119.7 and had a really good race on the roads with paul dobbs , john burrows and ben wylie and finished in 20th place and recieved my first trophey of the week, so things were looking up, in the 2nd 600cc race the organisers decided with 30mins before the race to bring it forward by 15minutes so it was panic stations allround and nobody was ready to start, my tyres were still cold and pit crew were in pitlane working there balls off getting fuel into the refill tanks, i left park ferme and it was mayhem on the start line, nobody was ready and i was just hoping my tyre were going to be o.k. so we all lined up and i shouted to paul dobbs infront of me "im only 10 seconds behind you mate" as i had caught him in the 1st 600cc race , he just turned his head and smilled , so i set of the line and had 2 big slides in the first couple of mile but i was gaining time on dobsy and as i approuch ballygairy the waved yellow flags had just come out and i knew something had happend to dobsy,
sadly paul had lost his life in something he loved doing, and as a racer myself i knew he loved every minute of the mountain course,
i was ment to be in the ttx electic bike race later that day and im so sorry for the lads at brunel university who had work the nuts off getting the bike ready for me to race, but it wasnt to be, sorry again lads.
my mechanics had prepared the superbike for the last race of the week and i knew that if i didnt get back on a bike that that would have been the end , so i picked up all my courage and got to the start line, everyone was wishing me all the best and saying they were so proud of what id done for dobsy, and i knew that he'd want me up there thrashing around at high speed in the pursuit off the ultimate pleasure that only us races get. i had a tear in my eye as i set off for the hardest race iv ever had to do and i finished it in 33place and almost lapped 120mph on the speedycom kawasaki.
im sat at home writing this and its been really hard putting my thoughts on here,
i like to thank everyone for all the help and support to the dobbs family, rest in peace mate and say hi to the pearly racers in the sky, your in good company up there mate,
i'll never forget you dobsy, you were my friend and rival, and i know that your only 10 seconds away.
Hopefully all will be somewhat better for the Ulster GP in 6 weeks time...
Cheers all
Mark@speedycom
