The Isle of Man TT – fast and dangerous
It has another claim to fame that sees the population double in May and June every year when a unique and dangerous sporting event takes place.
The International Isle of Man TT (Tourist Trophy) Race is an annual motorcycle sport event run on the Isle of Man in May or June of most years since its inaugural race in 1907.
Traditionally run in a time-trial format on public roads closed for racing – The track is closed to general traffic at specific times so if you live on the course you will not get access in or out of your house during those times.
The event consists of one week of practice sessions followed by one week of racing. It has been a tradition perhaps started by racing competitors in the early 1920s for spectators to tour the Snaefell Mountain Course on motorcycles during the Isle of Man TT on "Mad Sunday", an informal and unofficial sanctioned event held on the Sunday between 'Practice Week' and 'Race Week.'
The race has been held in its various formats since 1907. From 1911 the TT transferred to the much longer Snaefell Mountain Course of 37.40 miles (current length 37.73 miles). The race programme developed from a single race with two classes for the 1907 Isle of Man TT, and now encompasses a range of events based on Bike size, amateurs and professionals and also includes sidecars.
The TT became part of the FIM Motor-cycle Grand Prix World Championship (now MotoGP) as the British round of the World Motor-Cycling Championship during the period 1949–1976. Following safety concerns with the Snaefell Mountain Course and problems over inadequate 'start-money' for competitors, a boycott of the races occurred for a period from the early 1970s by many of the leading competitors, motorcycle manufacturers and national motorcycle sporting federations.
It is still billed in popular culture as the most dangerous motorsport event in the world, with the New York Times stating the number of deaths "to 146 since it was first run in 1907; if one includes fatal accidents occurring during the Manx Grand Prix, the amateur races held later in the summer on the same Snaefell Mountain Course, the figure rises above 250 fatalities in its history.’’
Despite the accidents and danger’s it remains hugely popular with motorcycle enthusiasts and is a major contributor to the local economies on the island. If you do not like the sound of motorbike engines or the inconvenience it is not the place to be.
An on-site account of the 2003 race by Sports Illustrated writer Franz Lidz called the spectacle "38 Miles of Terror... a test of nerves and speed that may be sports' most dangerous event."
The current Lap distance is 37.4 miles of open road. The lap record of 16 minutes and 53.9 seconds is held by Michael Dunlop and was set in 2016. His average speed was 133.96 MPH (215.59 kmh) so in places his speed was much, much quicker.
Even the helicopters that film the bikers on the mountain road cannot keep up with them!!
There are some well-known sections and names of the route – the Ramsay hairpin, Gooseneck, the bungalow, Sulby straight
You tube will feature a lap should you care to see what it looks like.
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