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 Our Service Manager, Rob Jenner, will be working with Kawasaki Racing in the pits at the Isle Of Man Road Races this coming June.

The Isle Of Man is one of the most spectacular road race events anywhere in the world. Due to the constantly changing nature of the 38 Mile (61 Km) circuit, chassis geometry, engine tune and suspension set-up parameters are critical.

We're hoping Rob's expert knowledge and experience will be beneficial to the teams success. We're sure Kawasaki Racing are hoping so too.

We'll keep our faithful readers posted with an event diary which will begin in June.

21/5/7

Well, I just found out over this past weekend that the McAdoo Kawasaki deal has fallen through. Our rider, Ray Porter, retired from the series during last weeks North West 200 and the team is now in doubt for a start at the TT.

Luckily we have a back-up plan. Our next "pit-stop" will be with Irish road-racing and TT legend Martin Finnegan. This year Martin has been racing the Klaffi Honda CBR1000 and 600. He'll also race the MV Agusta at the TT in the 1000cc Superstock class.  RJ. 

27/5/7

Arrived in Ireland late yesterday. Staying in Bray. It's a beautiful coastal town not unlike Geelong. Smithwicks Ale is the cure for jetlag; must remember to trademark that when I get back.  I've got an Aprilia RSV1000 and a Ducati 748 to prep today and then we'll be on the Ferry to the Isle tomorrow. RJ.

29/5/7

The ferry crossing from Belfast was uneventful, although not nearly as well organised as Seacat Tas or Q/cliffe - Sorrento. This really is a beautiful country when you see it from the seat of a motorcycle. The roads follow the contour of the rolling green hills and I begin to understand the popularity of Irish road racing with the locals.

Met up with Martin Finnegan (#4) and the rest of the Round Tower Racing crew. I'll be working with my old mate Darren Fitzpatrick on the MV Agusta F4R 1000. Fitzy will be helping Martin with his fitness training and race preparation and doing suspension adjustments alongside ex TT winner and engineering legend Bill Simpson. I feel rather awestruck to be in such company, as Bill won a TT here in 1976 (his son Ian won 3 TT's) and has built and tuned bikes for the likes of Joey Dunlop, Wayne Gardner and just about every other famous racer you could think of. This is going to provide a huge learning curve for me as an engineer and rider and I can't wait to begin tomorrow. RJ.

30/5/7

Quarterbridge, The Highlander, Ballacraine, Quarry Bends, Joey's, Mountain Mile, The Creg, Brandish Corner. It's 6.55AM and as we roll across Governer's Bridge I'm overwhelmed with emotions. I've ridden the most famous race circuit in the world and I haven't the words to describe the experience. A boyhead dream has been realized after 30 plus years.

9.00AM start in the garage this morning. Martin has taken the MV Agusta out for practice. Fastest standing start lap is good but the bike runs dry of fuel at Signpost on the flying lap. We inspect the fuel system and mapping. Engine is as lean as it can be safely run so we decide to "blow" the tank to increase the fuel capacity. After 4 separate expansion procedures the capacity is increased to 22.2lt from the standard 19.8. This will be enough. RJ

2/6/7

Today's Superbike race has been cancelled. It's a beautiful day here in Douglas but there's plenty of fog up on the mountain section which has dropped the visibility. You need to be able to see a long way at 200mph and the helicopters need to be able to land in case of emergency which is a sobering thought.

I caught up with my old mate Ken Doherty ( Ken was the 2003 Irish Road Racing Champion and 2nd in '04. REAL road racing too I might add.) and we went for a cruise out to Laxey to see the big water wheel and do the tourist thing for the afternoon. Ken certainly knows how to throw a bike around as he was riding rings around the Gixxer and R1 boyos on  a borrowed KTM 520 SuperMoto. You could almost see the cartoon question marks above their helmets as Ken disappeared on the back wheel.

4/6/7

The Superbike TT ran today in 27 degrees of glorious sunshine. I went out to Brandish to the marshal post to watch. It's a very fast left which is knee-down at about 160mph. Martin finishes in 4th on the Klaffi Fireblade.

 5/6/7

Today is our Superstock TT race on the MV Agusta. There is plenty of excitement and anticipation in the pit awning. Well wishers, fans and MV enthusiasts stop by to offer greetings and luck. MV Agusta are returning to the Isle to race the TT after more than 35 years away so it's pretty special.The bike is as good as it can get. Martin is in a good place mentally and we are all confident. I go out to Ago's leap to watch.

Martin finishes 4th which is an incredibly good result. We're racing against some pretty stiff competition and many pundits didn't even tip the MV Agusta to finish, let alone miss out on a podium by a matter of a few tenths.

Win or 4th, I don't really care. It's been fantastic to be involved with such a great team and rider all of whom have made me feel welcome and very much at home. Hearing the MV growl as it rolls back through the gears down the hill to Quarterbridge is a sound I will never forget.