5 June: Practice makes perfect

Published: Friday, 5 June 2009, 10:20AM

The start of the 2009 TT is yet to arrive, but the practice sessions alone are enough to satisfy any adrenaline junkie's appetite.

And we were all caught out by a flying Australian last night who is clearly no stranger to the odd rush of adrenaline.

Just as we were packing our bags for the day Cameron Donald, on his Relentless Suzuki, ripped his final lap to become the fastest rider ever around the Mountain Course - at an average speed of 131.4 mph, simply unbelievable.

It has shaken things up around here as people thought John McGuinness was untouchable - this is set to be an unbelievable TT.

Steve Parrish and I watched the riders roar across the finish last night with one eye on the speed clock opposite - 160mph ... 170mph ... 182mph. It's incredible to see at close quarters what these machines can do.

Bear in mind, on the same stretch of road only a couple of hours earlier, mothers were driving their kids home from school while tourists were pootling along in Nissan Micras at 20 miles an hour.

The roads are closed an hour before practice starts, so time it right and you can do a lap in your hire car behind the police bike, and get a little (and I do mean little) taste of what the racing is like.

The headline so far has been John McGuinness breaking the 130mph mark on a practice lap. The crowds went crazy as he came back into the pit lane, and this is before the racing has even started.

I met him this morning as he stepped out of his enormous motor home.

It's the coolest vehicle I have ever seen, new rooms come out of the side by the press of a button, and he said it's so big you can't even hear the frustrated drivers blasting their horns behind you on country roads.

Incredibly, he said his windscreen shattered half way around on that flying lap, which had him bouncing around the place like, well a very bouncy thing on a very fast bike. He reckons he could have gone three seconds faster if it hadn't happened, so the former cockle picker looks odds on to add to his 14 TT race wins.

There was an incident during the side car practice which epitomised what this incredible event is all about.

Multi world champion Tim Reeves and his crazy mate Patrick Farrance, who has the job of hanging out of the side bit, (sorry if I'm being too technical) were out on their practice lap.

All was going well until they hit Quarry Bends and a cable snapped, only for Reeves to borrow the starter cable from a nearby lawnmower - and off they went gain. That is a pure TT experience.

Our first show went out last night so it's all a bit chaotic at the moment - thankfully we are in the safe hands of North One television, who won many awards for their F1 coverage on ITV.

So watch, enjoy and get a taste of this amazing event. I was going to post a pic of me here but couldn't find a camera, so here's a picture of my dog - he is really fast!