By Whilst Brad Binder carries the South African flag strong in Moto GP, AJ Venter does likewise at roads ‘Major’ events.
Forty-four times to date a TT race starter, the top five finisher in the 2019 TT Zero race, upped his personal best lap-speed on Sunday into the 127-mph range.
Reflecting upon this achievement, Venter (P22 finisher – RST Superbike race) aboard the Future Exotics BMW, stated:
“I’m happy, very happy, we had a very tricky practice week and more because we did not have staff.
We had visa issues with a few of the mechanics getting over, made it trickier for us because you work harder, you ride the bike, work on the bike, makes you appreciate having your team around you and the problem was, you always think you have a perfect TT coming here, then things creep up on you.
So, practice week was a bit tricky the race was good and to tick off the last lap, with a step forward, the PB lap is always the target but a safe finish and another step forward for me is what’s important, so am over the moon with that.”
Stating nothing but warmth about Supersport/Sportbike suitors, TH Racing, he said:
“The TH Racing stuff is good, Trevor and Willis run a fantastic set-up, I think this is my third or fourth year with them and the reason behind it is, it’s a home away from home.
The Northwest went well, I got there late, so same thing on our side the immigration side made it difficult, they were accommodating regardless of the instances we had.
At the TT now, we haven’t done many laps on the Twin, more to save it, don’t change something that’s working, I did my three qualifying laps, I parked the bike, the 600 is a different 600 to what we rode at the Northwest, so it was a new bike for me.”
“But the TH Racing guys are a dream, they make the rider’s job a lot easier because they are giving you the tools and it’s up to you work them and they are also really accommodating to my guys.
At any given time, they’ve welcomed, my dad came over, came to the Northwest 200 and he came to the TT this year, to help us with the electrics because we felt that was a limiting factor on the bikes.
Every year there is a step forward and you’ve got to go with that generation, so my dad he brought over a ray of sunshine to the team and they’ve welcomed him. They’ve welcomed me, they’ve welcomed my other mechanics on the big bikes, so it’s become one big contribution.”
Tenth quickest on the Sportbike qualifying leaderboard, narrowly behind TH Racing team-mate Joey Thompson, Venter is full of confidence with RS660 Aprilia metal.
“It’s a tricky one because I did a very good lap on the Twin the other night, I think it was 118 mph, which was three mph quicker than I did last year and if I was to ask you how did I go any quicker, the bike’s good, when I jumped on the bike at the Northwest 200, the first thing I said to Trevor and them, was this bike’s definitely a lot stronger than last year’s bike.
So that’s credit to them, for going home, call it going home and coming back this year, making another step. Everybody knows the Aprilia’s are the bikes to have, it’s definitely-a lot better bike and it’s better because it’s newer.
But you can’t take away what they’ve put into this bike, this is a 2012 ER6 (Kawasaki), Ryan Farquhar dug deep, I always give Ryan credit because you can’t take away what Ryan has done to this bike, so the Twin surprised me with a good lap time.”
Looking forward to the rest of race week, the Africa continent’s fastest Mountain Course exponent said:
“We normally struggle and I’m sure every team struggles because that’s what the TT throws at you. We’ve got the struggles out the way in practice week and now we feel like going into race week, we need to now get to the limit and then make a change.
When I rode the BM the other day, I sat down, the team said OK, you’ve done your best lap what are we changing, I said the bike is still better than me, I found some time in myself.
When I jumped on the Twin other day, we did a lap time and I was genuinely surprised by the lap time because I was riding it hard, we have to ride hard but I was in control, so I was surprised but over the moon with the lap-time and I’m hoping I can replicate it in the races because that’s where it counts.
Then with the 600, my second lap the other day, my first lap I had to stop on the course because I thought they black-flagged me, so I lost that lap, then got one flying lap in and I felt really good. So, for me the enjoyment factor is the most important and the safety factor is the most important and the results will come.”
AJ Continued:
“The TT is a funny place and this year, I got taught a big lesson this year in the sense of we came here with a bike from last year, the big bike, we hadn’t touched, I took it home from the Isle of Man, I put it in my office, I put a cover over it, I didn’t touch it because it was that good.
I came back this year, and we had a pile of issues and there has been a few incidents and that just always reminds you that the TT is a place that can change, it can really dig you deep and then it can really put you up there and then in five minutes, it can drop you again, it’s two weeks of that and I’m not sure if that is what maybe sucks us in.
The other day, I had my hands between my head because I was just battling and when you battle your head is not in there, you have moments on the track, then I came back the next day, just a change of mindset and it worked nicely, so it’s a funny place, this place you know.”
Words by Stevie Rial #dontletfearcontrolyou
