Isle of Man TT 2010

frostie500

The two week festival that is the Isle of Man TT begins on Saturday with the opening practice sessions. The races on the Manx island are time trailed with riders setting off at intervals and racing against the clock.

This is the 91st running of what has become the most respected road race of them all. Taking place on closed roads throughout the island, the course measures 37.7 miles and is one of the greatest challenges any rider will ever face. The course runs from the capital Douglas westwards towards Peel before heading north to Ramsey and then heads back to Douglas once more. It is from Ramsey to Douglas that riders tackle what is simply one of the most spectacular stretches of road anywhere in the world-the mountain.

The Mountain circuit is an unbelievable challenge for any rider and one of the toughest circuits on the planet. It is not only the sheer length of the track that causes difficulty, there is changes in altitude to take into account; at its highest point riders are 1400 feet above sea level and reach speeds of upwards of 200 mph. The engine runs easier at this altitude and in the past two-stroke riders needed to change the engine mixture to account for the atmospheric changes. The main difficulty faced by riders is the street furniture such as signposts, telegraph poles, manhole covers, roadside curbs and any number of other obstacles. Even with all of these challenges the lap record is currently held by John McGuiness at an average speed of over 130 mph.

While the TT has maintained its position as the “road racing capital of the world” it lost its position as the British Grand Prix in the mid seventies as riders eventually tired of facing such immense dangers. 15 times world champion Giacomo Agostini declared in 1972 that he would never race on the island again after seeing numerous competitors killed riding at the track. This was to prove a death keel for the race as a full grand prix event but unbelievably the two week festival of speed is as big as ever.

The Irish have always gone well on the island and there are many riders who will look to emulate some of their forerunners as winners of a TT. The main interest surround three former winners of races on the island with Ryan Farquhar expected to challenge for honours on his Kawasaki. The 34 year old Dungannon man has been in sparkling form over the last year and will look to add to the two races wins on the island that he has already achieved. Last season he won an incredible 61 races but was unable to convert that form into success at the TT. His best results were 6th and 7th last year, but two years ago he showed his true colours with top sixes in all races. This year, riding for his own team, he expects to be at the front in all five races.

Adrian Archibald may be one of the elder statesmen of Irish road racing but the 40 year old has three wins on the mountain course and last year went faster than any Irishman in history lapping at 129 mph. He once more rides for his own team and while a win may be expecting too much from him, he will look to add to his previous haul of eight podiums.

Dunlop is a name that reverberates around the roads of the Isle of Man and this year there is expectancy of the Dunlop family adding more wins to their account. Michael and William, sons of fives time winner Robert, are expected to add yet more victories. The younger of the Ballymoney brothers, Michael, already has his name etched onto the winner’s trophies after winning a Supersport race last year. Amazingly this was the only race he finished as mechanical problems ended his other four races. Michael emerges fresh from a convincing North West 200 where he added impressive performances in the premier class of Superbikes to his already burgeoning reputation on the smaller classes of machinery.

William may be elder of the Dunlop brothers but the 24 year old has been left in the shadow cast by his sibling. Last year marked his return to the island after a two year absence and he defined it with consistent performances as he put his ever increasing confidence and experience to good use, finishing a career high ninth in the Supersport race. This year he will feel that if conditions are favourable a podium could be on the cards. With the family reputation forged by their father and uncle Joey the weight of expectation on their shoulders is immense, but both riders are growing in confidence and now are looked upon as true contenders in races due to their own talents.

Englishman John McGuiness has made the Mountain his own and will start the festival as favourite. Fresh from a win at the North West the Honda rider will be looking to add to his 15 TT wins as he chases down Joey Dunlop’s record of 26 victories. He is sure to be a contender but the expectation is that he will have a greater challenge than ever this season with the likes of local man Connor Cummins and past winners Ian Hutchinson and Bruce Anstey expected to compete along with the Irishmen at the forefront.

A small island in the Irish Sea is about to once again become the centre of the road racing universe and with the popularity of the event increasing every year there is a guarantee of one of greatest spectacles in sport producing yet another unforgettable festival.

3DataModem

I've been watching the bikes practice behind my house just now.

Does anyone know what sort of speeds they hit coming down the Quarter Bridge road? They seemed pretty damn quick.

dcr22B

ITV4 have some serious coverage set aside for it.

210

ITV 4 coverage is starting on thursday night.

dcr22B

Here is the entire ITV4 listings for the TT festival.

DVD recorders at the ready

Monkeybonkers

Just watched some excellent footage of practice there on Setanta Sports. There's more coverage tomorrow. Not sure what time, I think it's around 1.
Excellent bit with John McGuinness talking us through a bit where both feet came off the pegs at 180mph :eek:. Balls of steel!!

Cookie_Monster

I don't activly follow it but have seen bits and pieces, its a stupendous track and scary as fook in some places

Grim.

any updates on guy martin? hearing his had a massive off and had to be brought to hospital by helicopter with chest injurys

frostie500

Grim. wrote: »

any updates on guy martin? hearing his had a massive off and had to be brought to hospital by helicopter with chest injurys

DId he have a crash as well, when I first saw this post I thought you were writing about Martin Loicht, the Austrian who died from a crash during the supersports race

Grim.

from the bbc

Ian Hutchinson became the first rider to win five races at an Isle of Man TT meeting when he won Friday's Senior TT.

The race was rerun over four laps after the initial race was halted because of an accident involving Guy Martin.

Martin is in hospital after suffering bruising to both lungs and minor fractures to his upper spine in the crash at the Ballagarey section.

Hutchinson won the race by 37 seconds from second-placed man Ryan Farquhar, with Bruce Anstey third.

The first race was stopped following Martin's crash to allow a fire at the scene to be dealt with.

McGuinness had been leading when it was stopped midway through lap three.

The Morecambe rider had enjoyed a slender advantage over Martin, Hutchinson and Cummins who had been dicing for the lead throughout the first two laps.

Michael Dunlop was lying fifth in the initial race but retired on lap one of the re-run event while holding a top six leaderboard position.

Australian Cameron Donald was another first-lap retirement.

Hutchinson led HM Plant Honda rider John McGuinness by 0.5 seconds after the first lap of the re-run, with Manxman Conor Cummins a further three seconds behind in third.

McGuinness retired at Glen Helen on lap two and then Cummins crashed at the Verandah, suffering leg and arm injuries.

Yorkshireman Hutchinson enjoyed a 28-second advantage over Keith Amor at the end of the second circuit, having set the fastest lap of the race at 131.48mph.

Hutchinson led by 21 seconds after lap three and Keith Amor retired on lap four to move Farquhar into second place.

Ian Lougher was fourth, Michael Rutter fifth and Dan Stewart sixth.

After the race an emotional Hutchinson described his five-timer as "unbelievable".

"I've been suffering with a bad cold over the last few days but managed to overcome that, and to become the first rider ever to win five races in a week just leaves me speechless.

"The Padgett's team have built me brilliant bikes and the fans were waving all round the circuit like I've never seen before."

Hutchinson now has eight TT victories to his name.

frostie500

Hopefully he's not too bad, but fair play to Hutch he's had a cracking fortnight

3DataModem

Guy was conscious throughout ... cracked sternum and ribs apparently but not too bad by all accounts (I was watching in Creg na Baa, so didn't see crash).

Most telling thing is that they airlifted him to nobles ... if he had serious H&L or cranial injuries he'd have gone to GB or Belfast.

Apparently his ride was in flames in the ditch, so high drama.

Otherwise a superb days racing for a first timer like me. Roll on 2011!