Quarry Bends is a really important set of corners. All the speed you’ve been holding onto since cresting the Ballacrye jump can be thrown away if you get the entry line wrong. Worse still, if you don’t carry a lot of speed through the bends, your entry onto the Sulby Straight will be slow. Sulby Straight is the fastest part of the course and you have to make the most of this opportunity. In 2007, I took a GSXR750Y, by no means a new or especially fast machine, down through Sulby at an indicated 190mph (- a true 178.5mph) – great fun! Getting the line right through Quarry Bends made it possible.

On the approach to the first right hander, on anything bigger than a 400 you really need to come back a gear to 5th. Even on the smaller bikes, it's a good idea to come back to 5th just to get the bike driving on the back wheel. The bigger machines could possibly get through in 6th but it's better to get the revs up for the run onto Sulby. There are 5 bends in total and it's important to hit the apex on at least the first 4 otherwise you can end up out of position for the succeeding bend.

You have to work really hard to hit each successive apex and, as it's pretty quick, the margin for error is small. You can hear the revs rise as the bike rolls onto the edge of the tyre but even in 5th you'll not get near the limiter. It goes without saying that the first bend will set your speed and position for everything that follows.

If you've had a good run through Quarry, you should be able to hook 6th gear just after the last right hander. The first section of Sulby Straight up to the first left hand kink used to be very bumpy and there was no really smooth line. It was completely resurfaced over the winter of 1999/2000 and the last corner of Quarry Bends was reprofiled with a positive camber. As a result, this section of the road is now extremely smooth. As you round the left hander, the Sulby Straight opens out in front of you and is relatively smooth as it too was resurfaced in the mid-90’s and it’s still in pretty good condition. As you go round this left on the way onto Sulby Straight proper, the bike crosses the crown of the road because you’re aiming for the apex and this can cause a bit of a wobble (- it seems to tie Kawasaki ZXRs in knots at this point!) but you just drive straight through it.

Get everything tucked in and your chin on the tank under the bubble. It's incredibly quick down there and the sensation of speed is massive. The bike needs to be geared to just pull peak revs in 6th at this point. There is no obvious brake marker point for Sulby Bridge, you just need to hit the brakes where you feel comfortable. Both Nick Jefferies and Craig Atkinson (Senior MGP winner) said that they rolled off when they saw the sign for Sulby Bridge. Pop your head up into the slipstream and then get hard on the brakes – you'll need to get down to at least 3rd gear for the bridge and it's very easy to run wide and miss the apex.  

Accelerate smoothly over the bridge parapet up towards Ginger Hall Hotel and get over to the right hand side of the road. The left hander by the railings at Ginger Hall is actually the first part of a double apex bend. You need to take the first apex by the railings, sweep out all the way to the right hand kerb and then take the second apex by the shrubbery on the left as you head round the second part of the bend.

Just after the second left hand apex, the road starts to bear right over an apex. As you cross the crest there’s a new patch of tarmac on the right hand side of the road. It’s a bit smoother than the surrounding bumps so use it! Try to use a lot of engine braking around the Kerromoar section as using the brakes hard tends to soak up a lot of suspension movement which is better used dealing with the bumps.

The drop into Kerromoar is incredibly bumpy and can tie the front end of the bike in knots. After the long, relatively smooth section from Quarry Bends to Ginger Hall, this comes as an unpleasant surprise. I try to use mainly engine braking to slow the machine and then keep the bike in tight to the apex to get the camber to work for me in getting the bike through the first bend. After that I try to keep the bike on the right hand side of the road through the next few bends as the camber is so severe it feels as though the road is collapsing into the gutter. There's a small jump just as you run onto the Glen Duff straight so get the bike upright and the throttle nailed. This keeps the machine on the back wheel and helps with stability.

You need to be placing as much of your weight on the pegs as you can through this section and, on the Glen Duff straight, gripping the tank with your knees. If you try to ride the bike in anything like a normal style through here you’ll be out of the saddle all over the place and this will upset the handling. Ideally you want to keep driving hard through this section as this will keep the weight off the steering and allow the bike to ride the bumps better.

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• Ballacrye to Kerromoar