Great video on this past Isle of Mann TT that focuses more on the drivers and racing culture of this event. It never ceases to amaze me what these guys risk when they bolt out of the starting gate. They do it not for the money, but for their passion for racing and hopefully winning.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxFliqEK6wg

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John Kish
1971 240Z - original owner

The Isle of Man Tourist Trophy is, in my opinion, the greatest race in the world today. Half sport, half insanity, and almost NO money in it even if you win.

It's 37.5 miles of twists and turns at speeds over 200mph, and SIX laps averaging 135mph. No safety barriers on any part of the circuit. Elevation changes which throw a bike 7ft into the air at 190mph. Hard targets line every part of the road. A touch or a drop at 200mph is almost guaranteed to be fatal. Nothing stops spectators, animals or even kids from stepping out onto the track.

This is true motor racing in its rawest form.

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1970 240Z

The Isle of Man TT has finished for 2018. A new track record of 135.452 mph has been set by Dean Harrison on his Kawasaki. Two riders were killed this year, one from Scotland and the other a native of the IOM itself, bringing the total lives claimed at the IOM to 252.

Strap yourself in before you start these videos:

https://youtu.be/BVyIZD4Dn-o

https://youtu.be/iRWp9rhfS_0

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1970 240Z

Now that's a case of you gotta have SUPER SIZED ATOMIC BALLS!!
That is mind boggling...I must have said Holy S--- every second watching that.
Hope the comments are OK for this family web site
Colin
the older one

From the region who brings you the gentle game of "hurling".

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John Kish
1971 240Z - original owner

You only have to win at the IOM once to be immortalized. I sure wouldn't try it twice, but a few of my childhood heroes did.

Before I got into sports cars, I was deeply into sports motorcycles of all kinds.
My all-time favorite motorcycle hero is (was) Mike "the bike" Hailwood. He was just a natural racer who could do anything with a motorcycle. Mike most famously raced for MV Augusta, Honda, and even Bultaco (different classes). He won the world championship a number of times, but that's on proper racecourses. Mike won the Isle of Man TT, the Superbike and the Senior bike races 14 times. He died in a traffic accident taking his kids shopping.

His arch-rival, Giacomo "Ag-o" Agostini won at IOM 10 times and has been world motorcycle Grand Prix champion 15 times. Ago is in his 70s today.

John Surtees won the IOM 6 times. Both Hailwood and Surtees swapped off into F-1 auto racing in the 1960s. Hailwood didn't do badly but it just wasn't his forte. Surtees became the only racer in history to win the motorcycle world championship (56,58,59,60), the IOM TT, and the F1 automobile driver's world championship (with Ferrari, 1964). John lived to 84 and died last year.

All three racers ran during the drum-brake, wire-spoke days.

Ago continued racing to see today's 200hp/200mph SuperBike era but won his championships on 350cc and 500cc bikes.

In recent years a fellah named Carl "Foggy" Fogarty has won the TT 3 times on modern Superbikes and Senior bikes. Foggy has been world champion bike racer 4 times too, riding mainly for Ducati and Yamaha. He set the IOM Superbike record which stood unbroken for 7 years. He survived a crash and retired in 2000.

And the two all-time greatest IOM winners who span years of bike styles are
John McGuinnes with 21 victories, and Joey Dunlop with an incredible 26 IOM wins. As the bikes got faster the champions became fewer. Today's bikes touch 200mph and lap the Isle at speeds a full 10mph faster than my heroes' times.

When John McG inadvertently broke Mike Hailwood's championship lap record at IOM in 2009, he traveled to Mike's family and apologized, explaining that Mike was his hero and that he was always trying to match him, but never envisioned himself beating Mike's longstanding record.

Joey Dunlop had an incredible career, winning more outright wins than any other bike racer in history, including 26 wins at Isle of Man in various bike classes. Joey was killed in 2000 when, after winning two big-bore Grands Prix that morning, he crashed into trees at speed in a small-bore race on the same track.

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1970 240Z