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RACE WATCH
Men at The Isle
I figured I knew everything there was to know about the Isle of Man TT. But when I arrived in Douglas this past June just in time to catch Suzukimounted Open Production win ner Bruce Anstey explode over Ago's Leap at 165 miles per hour while only 3 feet away from a wall made from bricks as sharp as razor blades, I realized right then and there I knew absolutely nothing about this nearly centuryold roadrace. Absolutely nothing at all.
TheTT intimidates more than just journal ists. A world champion both on bikes and in cars, John Surtees has said or ganizers should change the format of the event in order to reduce speeds. The late Barry Sheene, himself a two-time 50()cc titlist, absolutely detested the place. At this year’s event, after lapping the island for the first time, former world champion sidecar racer Klaus Klaffenbock admitted, “1 was close to stopping. 1 just couldn’t believe how fast everyone was going.” On roads that normally serve as the island’s main thoroughfares.
Why all the trepidation?
Well, take Bray Hill. Seemingly innocuous in photographs, Bray is actually steep enough to make a decent intermediate ski hill. What’s more, it’s preceded
by more than a mile of faceshield-flattening straightaway, which means top racers like Anstey approach speeds of 175 mph before plunging toward the right-hand kink at the bottom of the hill where the leaned-over bikes bottom out their undercarriages and gouge the tarmac. Then, of course, it’s slightly uphill to that 165-mph wheel ie over Ago’s Leap...
Because the race is run on public roads, memorizing every bump, dip and turn is a daunting task. Learn by heart Kirk Michael’s famed high-speed double-apex right-hander and you, too,
could be a TT god. Get it wrong, however, and you could end up in the parking lot of a car dealership. Peel into CregNy-Baa’s slow right-hander just so and hundreds will cheer your prowess. Miss the apex and that same throng will scatter amidst gallons of spilled Guinness as you rocket through the front hall of the famed bar. Over the incredibly rough tarmac between Sulby Bridge and Ramsey, the fastest riders are reputed to brace their feet under the footpegs in an effort to simply hang on to their bouncing, gyrating machines.
Each year, the 37.73-mile course swallows up the careless. This time around, the tally included three racers and eight bike-riding tourists, though it’s far from the worst body count the island has produced. Serge Le Moal, an experienced Swiss racer, was just 2 miles into his first lap of the TT course when he mistook Braddon Bridge’s sharp left for a straightaway, and was killed.
Statistics aside, there are manifold reasons to participate in the TT. First, there are the Manx people. Self-described as “70,000 alcoholics clinging to a rock,” the Manx are surely some of the most welcoming folk on the planet. Now that most of the hotels have gone out of business, a good chunk of the 40,000-plus spectators the TT draws board with locals like my hosts Clair and Simon Murray, who open up their homes, not so much for the minuscule 20 pounds per night they charge, but because it is the Manx way.
And then, of course, there’s the history: Giacomo Agostini. Mike Hailwood, Phil Read. Jim Redman, Surtees and. of course, “Yer Maun’’ Joey Dunlop, the winningest rider in TT history, arc all past champs. More recently, Carl Fogarty, Steve Hislop, Phillip McCallen and the late David Jeffries all made names for themselves on the island.
The latest rider to enjoy exalted status is John McGuinness (whose name on the back of his leathers is spelled “Me” followed by an image of his native Ireland’s favorite brew). En route to a hat trick of wins in the Junior. Lightweight and Formula 1 races, he raised the outright lap record to an incredible 127.68 mph-from a standing start! Besides his estimated $90,000 in winnings, the previously unheralded McGuinness will likely get sponsorship to run in the British Superbike Championship. Talk about earning
your ride!
David Booth
