Isle of Man TT racing

Been watching this on ITV 4, and it never ceases to amaze me how those blokes stay on their bikes and can think ahead so quickly, especially on hair pin bends - mind boggling.
They are travelling so fast on the straight (200mph on a motorbike ffs!!) that the helicopter camera cannot keep up with them, but the best camera shots are those from the cameras on the bikes - bloody hell!
And summat I saw and didn't realise, but what a good idea - their helmet visors have layers of film on them, so when they pull into the pits a layer is peeled off, which saves cleaning all the dead insects off.

Which makes me wonder, how long it will be before the animal rights protesters make themselves known what with all that insect carnage.

My friend's father was a TT racer. (Peter Middleton) I bought my first motorbike from his shop. (A Yamaha fizzy)
There's a famous picture of him taking off over a bridge at the TT with a policeman looking on amazed.
It won the 'sporting picture of the year award and when he died 4 years ago his son had it engraved on his headstone.

What a brilliant headstone!

But look at that bike compared to what they ride now, with each bike having three cameras on board, so you get the rider full on from handle bars, one pointing forward and one a rear view camera - absolutely incredible shots, and again, how they stay on those bikes with everything that is going on each millisecond, I'll never know.

Makes my 200cc James I had in 1962 like a kiddies bicycle with stabilisers. 😎

Superb picture Stephen. Loving the TV coverage, I've been over to the Island many times and a cherished memory is seeing Mike Hailwood's comeback rides and win. And the scar on my chin when a car pulled out on me at Ballig Bridge

I think the picture is of that bridge.

That's Ballaugh Bridge in the picture, 17 miles into the lap and more of a jump Ballig is a few miles earlier in the course, flatter and (unfortunately for me) with a side road junction

Quote: fasty @ 5th June 2023, 2:00 PM

Loving the TV coverage, )

View original

Ah good, another fan 🙂

Aka : Isle of Man suicidal death race!

Racing wrapped in cotton wool never caught on.

Quote: Hercules Grytpype Thynne @ 5th June 2023, 12:01 AM

how long it will be before the animal rights protesters make themselves known

View original

I had a similar tongue-in-cheek conversation with a mate. We agreed that any protesters wouldn't get 10 seconds before the fans removed them, and the bodies would never be found

Lovely video clip in the Daily Wail today of a lad on a motorbike slowly pushing his way through a line of Just Stop Oil protesters and riding off with their banner draped round his bike.

And if you're interested in Bike Grand Prix racing but don't pay for the sports channels ......

MotoGP from Mugello Live on ITV this weekend
Sat: ITV 4 1330 -1500 MotoGP Sprint race
Sun: ITV 4 0915 - 1235 Moto2 and Moto 3 races (the nutters 😉 )
Sun: ITV 1 1230 - 1430 MotoGP race

Ta 🙂

And I thought we'd get through this season without anyone being killed..................

Raul Torras Martinez has been killed in a crash during the opening Supertwin race at the 2023 Isle of Man TT.

My sincere condolences to his family, and may he Rest In Peace

Amen to that Herc

Always sad when someone pays the ultimate price but the challenge and satisfaction of completing the course, never mind winning, is irreplaceable.

Heh Heh, turned out nice again, ain'tit.......Plink Plonky Plink Plink Plonk