Cruikshanks/May Hill is now very rough again as the road surface has deteriorated. The turn-in point for the first right hander is the ornamental gateway to the park on the right. Aim for the kerb on the first part of the right hander and let the bike run out to the left hand side of the road – it’s smoother than the right, where all the traffic braking downhill has rippled the tarmac. It's a lot faster than using what looks like the natural racing line and doesn't really cost any time.

Get the bike back over to the right for the entry to the left hander at Whitegates. The road was resurfaced a couple of years back and is now really smooth. The apex of the turn used to be sharply cambered but is now absolutely flat and you can end up running wide on the exit as there's nothing to hold you into the corner. The road is fairly wide as there's an entry into a housing estate but try to hold the bike out of the road junction as you need to get back over to the left for the right hander at Stella Maris .

The corner at Stella Maris is fairly smooth and can be tackled just like a short circuit corner. You can't run too wide to the left before the entry to the corner as the camber on the approach is a bit steep and the road has become bumpy. The bend itself is very smooth and banked inwards and fires you up the hill towards Ramsey Hairpin.  

There isn't really a correct line into the hairpin but some care is needed with the brakes on the approach. It's a 1st gear corner and the temptation is to leave your braking too late and you end up missing the apex. The most important thing is to get a smooth drive exiting the hairpin as this speed is carried all the way up the hill to Waterworks.

Get on the power smoothly as you exit the hairpin and just throw gears at it as you accelerate up the hill towards Waterworks. The bends are smooth and sweeping but the road is completely overshadowed by trees – this means it takes a very long time to dry out if there's been any rainfall.

Waterworks is actually a pair of bends – the first is quite quick and the second is very slow. The second bend is also very tight indeed and crashes by riders who've simply run out of road are commonplace.

The succession of bends after Waterworks are called Tower Bends, named after the folly on the hill, and can be ridden apex to apex. The line through each of them is fairly clear and they flow into one another. If you make a mistake in one, it will propagate onwards for several more turns. The secret, as Nick Jefferies says, is “don't make mistakes!”

More than anywhere else on the 37.73 miles of the course, the mountain section rewards smooth lines with rapid progress. As you climb up out of Waterworks through Tower Bends, the road starts to open up and the bends really start to become flowing lines. You can see many of the corners in advance and the line through many of them is readily apparent. Modern 600s and 750 s are so powerful that they easily take what is a fairly steep climb in their stride without seeming to lack any acceleration or speed. Smaller bikes such as 400s, 250s and 125s struggle a bit on the climb so you have to pay greater attention to your lines if you're racing in these classes.

The approach to the Gooseneck is round a pretty quick left – get the bike upright, hard on the brakes and down 3 gears for what is effectively a hairpin corner. The road surface is worn smooth by the downhill traffic but there are very few bumps to upset the handling of the bike. You'll end up running out wide to the grass banking on the exit and using all the road. The exit of the Gooseneck is what many riders consider to be the start of the Mountain proper. It's a steep incline and wide open so get on the gas hard.

There are a couple of left handers as you make your way up the hill towards the 26th Milestone but there's no need to shut off for either of them. You do need to use all of the road in order to maintain corner and exit speed – because the incline is so steep, shutting the throttle loses loads of speed very quickly. The approach to the 26th Milestone is tight on the left and you will need to come back a gear for it. The fence posts on the inside of this right hander are very close to the edge of the road so don't get too close to them – they're not very forgiving! It’s a very fast corner and it can catch you out. The exit of the bend takes you very close to the grass banking so it's all a compromise between corner speed and road space.

The three left handers on the approach to Guthrie's are very fast and you can carry a lot of speed through there. You apex the first corner and just drive hard through the second and third. As you come round the third apex, you can see the entrance to Guthrie's and you straightline the kinks on the way in. As soon as the bike is upright, you need to downshift two gears immediately and then another gear just before you put the bike into the right hander. That way you can get on the power to drive out of the corner up the hill.

• Return to Course Notes page
• Gutheries to Verandah