Topic: 2007 Isle of Man TT Update

[mennedy]

The weather is brilliant, the bikes are fast and the beer is unforgetable.

John McGuiness won the Superbikes which ran on Monday after Saturday rainout. He set a new lap record at 129.6 mph. Fletcher won the the Supersport Junior yesterday and a local rider (Maileaux?) won the sidecars. Looking forward to the Senior Race tomorrow. Going to try Signpost Corner.

Met Graham up at the Ramsay Sprints on Tuesday and had a great day. A charming man with a beautiful 750 - not a mark on it.

There are 19,000 bikes on this island and I have had three riders brush the car as they pass lane splitting! Scarrrrrryyyyy!!

Lots of old race bikes. There was a demo on the Promenade last night with one of the original bikes from the 1907 TT right through to David Jeffries Honda. There was an old Benelli in full race kit which ran the small course they had set up that was absolutely beautiful and the engine was amazing. It purred!!! They had a '67 Honda RC174 which they fired up and it literally screamed. I went to the Sefton Hotel this am to look at the display. It is 297cc and 6 cyl. What a beautiful bike! Alongside were three of Joey Dunlops Hondas - one still had the bugs on the fairing!

It is all about the motorcycle here and it is fabulous!!

Thinking of you all,

Marty

[dusterdude]

is any of this going to be on tv in the states?

[nickjtc]

is any of this going to be on tv in the states?

Don't hold your breath. Nascar TV will probably not think that there will be enough interest over here.....

[mcpuffett]

We get highlights every night on sky tv  , programmes usually on for a half hour  , cheers mick.

[nickjtc]

We get highlights every night on sky tv  , programmes usually on for a half hour  , cheers mick.

Ah, shaddup. Makes us envious

[dusterdude]

yea,what he said

[malcolmgb]

is any of this going to be on tv in the states?

sadly even here in the UK they don't normally show much of it on TV, but this year there has been more coverage than ever before on a free to view station.
I won't confuse things by trying to explain the way TV works over here.
The racing doesn't come over well on TV but the sight & spectacle of the riding is something to amaze you.

[Rocking-M]

Hey, why don't some of you UK fellas make us a tape/dvd or something.
It's bad living in an uncivilized country.

[KeithTurk]

I had an invite to IOM this year with a buddy who ended up not racing.... seems he broke his collar bone in a race a few weeks ago.... Cameron Donald was supposed to be doing well in it this year too...

Gotta second the lack of coverage here in the states.... after living in europe for 3 yrs you get hooked on this stuff...  oh and the Dakar thing... but once your here you get nothing...

K

[clarkjh]

Gotta second the lack of coverage here in the states.... after living in europe for 3 yrs you get hooked on this stuff...  oh and the Dakar thing... but once your here you get nothing...

K

Nova Scotia not supporting the startup of an IOM race in Cape Breton really ticked me off.  Would have been nice to have that style of race in North America.

James

[malcolmgb]

Hey, why don't some of you UK fellas make us a tape/dvd or something.
It's bad living in an uncivilized country.

tape would be easy enough but you would need a PAL video player, not available in the US, I don't have any way of transfering to a DVD but then it would probably region lock to 2 the USA is  1.

[dusterdude]

yea,we get nascar,whooo hoo.

[mennedy]

Another beautiful day in paradise on Senior Race Day: 6 laps - 226.38 miles. Rutter had the lead until the end of the first lap and McGuiness took over and was 28 sec's up at the end. His first lap, from a standing start, was at an average speed of 129.88 mph. I watched from Union Mills and he was pushing the bike for all it was worth. The second lap he just cruised through like it was one turn and he was on a rocking horse - he had his "racing face" on as Joey Dunlop would say. His second lap was at 130.354 mph. He broke the 130 mph ceiling and then some.

At 3:15 pm they started the Parade of Champions. Agostini, Fogarty, Surtees and all the old champions riding their bikes from their era. It only took 15 minutes for them all to pass but to see these guys, some in their 70's waving to the crowd as they passed was really moving. Funny how the you put some old racer on a racing machine on the TT course and they forget it is a parade - it is a RACE!!!!They all went by at 80 mph riding with one hand and waving with the other! One rider even caught up with the Marshall that was going through ahead of them.

Unfortunately, a rider lost control of his bike coming down the mountain today and jumped the hedge. He was killed outright and the bike flew about 60 feet in the air and landed on four spectators killing two of them. The other two are in critical condition in hospital. I always sit on the inside of the turn. If they come off they go away from me. However, on the flat, you can't tell where they will go if they loose it.

Off to the pub for a late pint. There is a race down south tomorrow and that will be the last of the motorcycle racing.

Thinking of you all,
Marty

[Winnipeg56]

We're on our way to London Sunday June 10 .Will there be any racing / bike shows on then?

[malcolmgb]

We're on our way to London Sunday June 10 .Will there be any racing / bike shows on then?

a bit late I know but here goes, if you can make it 120 miles north up the M1 to Mallory Park Post TT meeting you will not be disappointed.
http://www.mallorypark.co.uk/WhatsOn/PostTT.aspx

[Raul CB750K1]

Unfortunately, a rider lost control of his bike coming down the mountain today and jumped the hedge. He was killed outright and the bike flew about 60 feet in the air and landed on four spectators killing two of them. The other two are in critical condition in hospital. I always sit on the inside of the turn. If they come off they go away from me. However, on the flat, you can't tell where they will go if they loose it.

Off to the pub for a late pint. There is a race down south tomorrow and that will be the last of the motorcycle racing.

Thinking of you all,
Marty

Wow, I didn't know that. I was in the island since tuesday evening until saturday morning. I've been staying over a friend's house, and though he is not into biking, one of his friends is so they invited me to go with him pillion and see the races on the mountain. This guy had biking experience, and that was the only reason I didn't #$%* on my pants when he smashed his CBR1100 Blackbird through the mountain section at 120 mph, while some other bikers were trying to overtake us!!!



On friday I saw the races on Kirk Braddan churchyard. As you said, the parade of champions was really touching. All of them would either wave to the crowds or please them making wheelies -like Foggy-. I liked the sidecar races too, never seen one before. It's amazing the speed they take on curves, higher than the speed over a bike.

Raúl

[malcolmgb]

the picture looks like the entry to The Bungalow, is that where you spectated in the mountain section?

[Raul CB750K1]

the picture looks like the entry to The Bungalow, is that where you spectated in the mountain section?

Don't know. There was a bike museum -closed- at our backs, a Joey Dunlop statue, the electrical tram crosses the road a few meters ahead of the curve -actually you can see the signpost.

Crossing over Ballaugh Bridge, the Gooseneck, beside Kates Cottage and in Creg ny Baa were the most special moments for me. I've seen those pictures hundreds of times, and being in those very same roads was something very special. Govenors bridge was too, but as the pillar was covered by protective chunks I couldn't see the famous advertising.


Raul

[nickjtc]

More on that accident, from the Norton forum:

The difference between last years 127+ mph lap record and new 130 mph record is finding 20 seconds worth of short cuts in 37.7 miles. No one knows if they are going home after visiting races at the Isle of Man. What a life while it lasts.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,2098908,00.html

[mennedy]

My nephew plays on the "Police" soccer team and was to get together with a police friend on Friday for a pint but the friend had to knock it back for an hour until he finished interviewing witnesses. The word is that the rider ran it into the wall and was thrown over a fence and killed. The bike broke in two with the front end killing the two spectators and the engine hitting two marshalls. The woman marshall was taken out of ICU yesterday and the other was discharged a couple of days ago. They don't give any info because of the inquest to come and because of the bad publicity.

Motor boat racing in Douglas Bay in about 20 minutes - 225 horse speedboats. Should be good.

I thought I would leave the hats and T-shirts until after everyone left, things settled and I could get some deals. I started looking on Wednesday just to be told that they were all sold out!!!!!! After three days of hunting , I managed to find an out of the way shop that still had an assortment and bought the lot without asking the price. 

The weather has gone rotten but you don't come over here without a raincoat and the expectation of rain.   

All the best,
Marty

[KeithTurk]

Just a quickie update to this OLD thread....  my freind who got taken out just prior to the 2007 IOM... won two class's this year... (fella's name is Cam Donald )

I was checking out one of the history options on the site and found this thread... figured it was a fun bit of history to tell you how it turned out... 

Keith