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First a little about me
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My name is John Read. I was born in Worksop in England. My father Tom Read from Barnsley in Yorkshire raced during the sixties. He raced in six TT's and was up to forth in the Senior TT one year. He failed to finish a TT on his Manx Norton. He said it was because he wore the bike out doing too many practice laps. He crashed one year when it rained, the sponge in the bottom of the fairing got wet and allowed the oil onto the back wheel.
In 1974 our family moved to South Africa. I started racing in 1985 on a Honda 500 Single. In 1989 we missed the first three races and then bought a second hand Honda NS400. I finished second in the Transvaal 600 championship and Brad Anassis finished forth. He got a RGV250 Shell Suzuki ride for 1990 and has been a professional racer ever since. My father took out a second mortgage and bought a Honda NSR250. The rules did not allow you to change the gearing. The Honda was geared for 185 kph. The Suzuki was clocked at 217 kph. We had backed a donkey. The only option was to upgrade the bike to race it in the GP class, an even bigger mistake which broke the bank and started a argument with my father. We didn't speak for three and a half years.
I didn't race again until 1997, I took third place in my first race. I married my wife Alett in May and we raced at the TT for our honeymoon. I said I would win a TT by 2000, my father said I had left it too late in life. We haven't spoken since. After the 1998 TT, we sold everything to pay off our racing debts and we moved to England. At least its closer to the Isle of Man.
In 1999 I bought a Leyland Race Transporter and a Yamaha R1. I did a session of the British Sports Production Championship, to learn the circuits and to get used to riding in the wet.
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Isle of Man Races
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1997 Junior TT
This was my first year at the TT. I rode a 1997 Suzuki GSXR 600 in the Junior race. I crashed at Ballaugh Bridge in practice. This cost me two days of practice and you only get five days per year. The course being 37,75 miles long, you need every lap you can get. My fastest lap (which was before I crashed) was 93,71 mph. In the race I finished 52nd from 88 entries.
1998 Formula 1 TT
I rode a Suzuki GSXR 750 in the Formula 1 race. I took it easy in practice, only going out in the dry sessions. I needed all five days of practice, so I could learn a lot. My fastest lap in practice was 101,75mph. My bike had a modified ram air system with the funnel cut out of the airbox. This helped top end power and improved acceleration in the lower gears, where the ram air has little effect, with the restriction of the funnel cut out of the air-box. But during the race it began to rain and not having the funnel, allowed the water to clog the air-filter. This made the bike misfire and splutter. I was lucky to finish at all, so 30th place was amazing.
1999 Formula 1 and Production TT
My first race of the week was the Formula 1. This was the first time I was doing a TT on slicks and they are great. Through the start/finish my bike was clocked at 142mph. David Jefferies who won the race was clocked at 162mph on his modified R1. My bike was standard so 20mph in a straight line was fair. I was credited with a fastest lap of 107,53mph.
My second and final race of the week was the Production TT. I was back on treaded tyres, but to help my times I used my start money from the Formula 1 race and had a Micron exhaust and a Dynojet kit fitted. It felt a lot better and even though I couldn't come through the final corner onto the start/finish straight as fast as on slicks, the bike was clocked at 145mph. Once again David Jefferies won and was clocked at 154mph through the start/finish on his R1. This time only 9mph slower! Anyway I was credited with a fastest lap of 110,6mph and I got a Bronze Replica.
2000 Formula 1, 400 Supersport, Single Cylinder, Junior, Production and Senior TT
This is the year I hope to get my first TT win. I feel that I have the best chance of winning in the 400 and Single classes. Hopefully it will get me noticed.
My friend Tyron van der Merwe will be coming over from South Africa, to race his first TT. I have put in three weeks leave, so I will be able to teach Tyron the course before practice week starts.
I have already entered all the above classes. This will give me double the amount of practice laps. I have put our house on the market to finance the racing. I still have the R1, but will have to wait for the sale of our house to go through, to get the other bikes.
2001
Hopefully I will be giving up my Job and start racing semi-professionally. Working occasionally to top up the bank balance and take my wife on a proper honeymoon.
I will be targeting the races in Europe that pay and the TT. Tyron might join me, but nothing is certain at this stage.
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