From: bspahh@gdr.bath.ac.uk (Andrew Henry)
Newsgroups: rec.motorcycles.racing
Subject: Irish Road Racing - The Skerries 100
Date: 2 Oct 92 09:25:43 GMT
Organization: School of Biological Sciences, University of Bath, UK

This is copied without permission from the Motor Cycle News TT Special
May 27, 1992.

When it come to true road racing, no-one does it better than the
barmy Irish - as Joey Dunlop and Phillip McCallen have shown.
Piloting 180mph superbikes between telegraph poles, brick walls
and all is not enough.  They prefer their circuits really tough.

At its tightest, the Skerries course, north of Dublin, is three
metres narrow - but only if you include the dusty gutters. The
surface is coarse, the bumps mountainous, the cambers precipitous
and, except at road junctions, run-offs amount to a few yards of
grass at best, an unyielding wall at worst.  There are no kerbs to
clip only because the roads don't have them.  Even the people who
ride there think the Skerries is one seriously crazy place.

[snip]

"Aye, it can be a wee bit hairy at times, especially when you
have to go on the grass to get past somebody," admits (Isle of
Man) TT winner Robert Dunlop.  But its only from the outside
that this sounds recklessly heroic: Robert, like the majority
of Skerries riders, grew up thinking this was normal.

There are around a dozen such circuits scattered around the
Emerald Isle, enough to keep any walls-and-hedges addict well
stocked on adrenalin.  Indeed some of the Skerries riders
have never ridden a 'conventional' short circuit.  For some,
in fact, this event is their first competitive outing - 
a daunting prospect for those of us raised on the run-off and
gravel-traps of what the Irish call the 'shorts'.  No wonder
they invariably do well on the Isle of Man ... after this,
the TT circuit must look like an Autobahn.

[snip]

Chief among those putting two fingers up to fate is Phillip
McCallen.  The record shows that he won three of the day's
five main races, posting an outright lap record (on his 250)
in the process.  Even spectators hardened to road racing's
risks whistle at McCallen's sheer audacity.  Opponents speak
in awe of his unrelenting determination.  "He's so hard,
so persistent ... always showing you his front wheel, always
putting pressure on you.  It really grinds you down.

[snip]

First-time racers at Skerries often provide a greater insight
into the demands of the circuit.  Yorkshireman Tim Wild, who
had never road raced before confessed himself  "amazed when
I first saw the place - back home we drive sheep on places
like these.  It was really really frightening to start with,
but once you get into a rhythm ... the faster you go, the less
the bumps bother you.

"Steve Cull showed me the way around.  Basically, conventional
racing lines don't count.  The trick is how to miss the bumps
and make the best of the cambers, and when you can go flat stick.
It takes a bit of bottle, but it works."

In fact it worked well enough to earn Wild the distinction of 
being the first Englishman ever to win the newcomers race, and
he'll be back.  He added, "I was scared but you just can't describe
the thrill of being airborne all the time.  I have nothing but
admiration for the guys who go really fast - Dunlop, Leach, Cully
and them.  And I want an ounce of whatever McCallen's smoking."

[snip]

While the competitors get breathalysed before they take part, there
is no such restriction on spectators. ...  Superficially, the 
unrelenting battle between officials and the crowd seemingly 
indifferent to their own safety gives the racing a folksy air
of shambolic non-organisation.  The commentary alternates between
urging miscreants to "put an inch into your step" to outright
threats to cancel the meeting.  In fact despite stoppages, the 
meeting ended 35 minutes early, and was conducted throughout 
with a regard for the riders safety.  The racing is stopped
and an ambulance despatched at even a hint of an injury. Maybe
this is why, in over 60 years of competition, the Skerries has
only seen four fatalities. 

[snip]

It is also possible that the riders have a better developed
sense of self-preservation than is immediately obvious. Crashes
are few and most overtaking is done on the brakes where there's
usually a slip road (leading variously, to Dublin, Loughshinney
or Skerries town itself).  The major exception was the newcomers
race, which seemed for the most part to be conducted on grass.

By the racing's end, there were no serious injuries and the
business of self-inflicting bodily harm could begin in earnest.
In the Yacht Bar, ten-tenths racing gave way to eleven-tenths
drinking to a background hubbub of twelve-tenths reminiscences.
The locals were at their gregarious, hospitable best.

A thousand miles from the nearest Winnebago, the Irish racing
heroes were meeting their public, and it wasn't very long before
there was nothing to choose from them.  Truly they are the
people's champions.


			Andrew  Henry
Sempre  Gilles					bspahh@gdr.bath.ac.uk