At TT Isle of Man Road Racing

http://www.angelfire.com/ak2/intelligencerreport/insane_race1.html ^

[navysealdad]

Between life and death there is madness and that madness is the Isle of Mann TT. The Isle of Man TT was for many years the most prestigious motor-cycle race in the world.

[MarkL]

Joey Dunlop's funeral:

Mark

[Crim]

Balls of steel.

[Doogle]

...besides the TT races...check out what they call the Irish road racing series..usually same riders..same excitement AND DARING.

[353FMG]

I thought that there was another TT race in a place called Assen in the Netherlands.

[bruoz]

There is

[Amberdawn]

Dunlop (the elder one) was also a big supporter of Romanian orphanages. I’m sure he’s sorely missed by them as well, although the charity lives on.

[az_gila]

Something left off the list is the fact that the course is opened up every night after the end of the days racing, allowing the public onto the course, where there are no speed limits.

This results in quite a few “civilian” deaths every year as well.

Mark

---

I bet things haven't changed much.

As a teenager in 1965 I took the ferry from Liverpool to Douglas, IoM and saw the amateur version of the TT races, the Grand Prix races, run over the same course.

Lots of spectator motor bikes on the ferry, with all of them wanting a “go on the track” in the off hours. At that time I remember a few beheadings reported as bikes went off the track and through a farmers wire fence.

We walked out of town and camped on a farmers field next to the track. It was neat to wake up to the noise of the practice laps and the smell of burnt Castor oil...:^)

Douglas became a party town for the week, but was very well behaved since the birch was still the rule of law in the Isle of Man. A change from the drunken behavior of the current UK youth.

It certainly was a spectacle not to be missed, and seeing the bikes running at those high speeds down little country roads was quite amazing. Some of the houses on the track even had their front door step as the edge of the track - no sidewalk in the little villages.

[MarkL]

Dunlop (the elder one) was also a big supporter of Romanian orphanages. I’m sure he’s sorely missed by them as well, although the charity lives on.

Not to blow my own horn, but... http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3134163/posts

Mark

[Amberdawn]

Very Nice! I remember that post!

[MarkL]

I thought that there was another TT race in a place called Assen in the Netherlands.

At least until recently, there were still quite a number of TT races, all over Europe. However, due to their danger, the major sanctioning bodies that handle MotoGP and World Superbike series don't participate in them. I do know that Assen has scheduled MotoGP and World Superbike races, but they're on a world class race track. I'm not sure if the Assen TT is raced on the track or roads.

FWIW, Joey Dunlop lost his life racing at in a TT in Estonia.

Mark