There was no racing on Friday with a late practice scheduled for 1800 hours so, with the fine weather still in place, I set off to explore the island. Note to self: next time, don't book a hotel on the Douglas promenade but try to find a nice quiet B&B in the countryside. At 0500 hours Friday morning, the ferry arrived from the mainland and disgorged hundreds of roaring bikes onto the Douglas promenade. So much for sleeping in
Heading north from Peel along the west coast road with the Irish Sea in the background.
A couple riders lean into the Gooseneck signaling the beginning of the climb up the Mountain Section and the beginning of no speed limits
Blasting out of the Gooseneck
Looking back towards Guthrie's Memorial with Ramsey in the distance
Kate's Cottage
Creg-ny-Ba marks the end of the Mountain Section. Speed limits back in force
I arrived back in Douglas late in the afternoon so, I decided to go by the grandstands to view the race preparations.
Parc ferme
A phalanx of Manx
The array of wonderful machinery at the Manx GP is astounding. It is as if someone waved a magic wand and all the mythical bikes from your youth are recreated before your eyes in pristine condition.
The original Z1
Or perhaps you prefer Castrol on your corn flakes
A tidy Honda cafe racer
Serious Enfield
Yoshimura power circa 1970s
Not sure what it is but, too much for my blood
For the younger readers who may not know, back in the early 1980s, before the Japanese manufacturers got their act together in regards to chassis design, a small group of aftermarket chassis constructors rushed in to fill the void with exotic handcrafted frames. The Rickman brothers were former motocross racers who made dirt bike frames before venturing into the street bike scene
Even exotica becomes commonplace at the Manx GP
One of the nice things about the Manx as well as the TT is the laid back atmosphere. Unlike other big races, there are no security officers telling you to keep out. The entrance to the pits are wide open for anyone to have a bit of a walkabout to check out the machinery
Saturday race dawned with yet more blue skies shining overhead. I decided to watch the races from a paddock at Lezayre just before Ramsey. It's a great place to spectate albeit, with one drawback meaning that once you're there, you're not moving until the end of the day's racing. Fortunately, there was a food trailer selling hamburgers and drinks.
One awesome aspect of spectating at the IOM is the sounds of racing. As the first race bike approaches, you pick up the sound of an engine being held at "full chat", the rider occasionally backing off momentarily to negotiate a kink or a bump then, back to WFO. As they pass by, you then listen to the engine note as it recedes into the distance, still wailing at full chat
For roughly the entire 30 or so seconds that the bikes are within earshot, the engines are being held almost to their red lines :chili: Awesome :hail:
Incredibly, Sunday would be yet another day of glorious sunshine. There was no racing today so, I took advatage of the break to go watch the Manx Two Day Trial
Late in the afternoon, I headed north to Jurby for the Jurby Festival of Speed where classic bikes are put through their paces
A cast of thousands
More two smokes
Old Vincents never die
Bella macchina :inlove:
Matchless
MV Agusta triple
The sound of an MV Agusta being fired up is an ear splitting experience yet, dozens gather round to willfully have their hearing impaired
John Player Norton. I'm not sure if this is an original monocoque bodied one.
Replica of the 250cc Honda four RC166 with its awesome 20,000 RPM red line
The day had a tragic note as two riders (not racers) were killed and a third one injured in a horrible head on accident on the Mountain Section. A German rider and a British rider were the unfortunate victims. So sad to happen on a holiday. The course has numerous signs posted in German reminding riders to "Ride left". Not sure if the German was in the wrong so, I won't speculate. Both bikes caught fire and damaged the road surface but, crews worked through the night to repair the course for the races.