Fast men bag Barbon
Fastest time of the day (FTD) was set by Taunton rider Tommy Hodges in the top ten run off at the Westmorland Club’s Barbon Hill Climb on July 22, where despite the conditions in which it rained for most of the day and when the 890 yard hill was never dry at anytime, the Somerset rider posted a time just a fraction under two seconds slower than the hill record set 12 years earlier by Matt Winstanley.
The time set by Hodges was 27.14 seconds whilst Winstanley’s time in 2011 was 25.28.
Despite the conditions which greatly affected the attendance by spectators, the meeting was considered very successful with nearly 60 riders enjoying a minimum of five attempts at the hill and up to eight goes if the rider was amongst the fastest fifteen.
One fact possibly missed was that there were riders in attendance who between them have won 45 TT races – John McGuinness (23) who was also second fastest on the day, sidecar supremo Ben Birchall (14), 250 class winner Steve Tonkin (1) and the club’s guest of honour and who also presented the end of day trophies, Mick Grant (7).
Our lead picture is of Ben Birchall and John McGuinness. And now, a few pictures in the gallery from Eric Kitchen. Sorry for the delay but other things took over for a day or so!
All told, a good day was had by all.