
This event started in 1907, only stopped for the two World Wars. 2025 will run from May 26 to June 7, featuring 11 days of racing action, but the cunting here, is the number of people, that over the last 117 years, have been killed. Riders, sidecar pilots, marshals & spectators. There were two, that lived near me, one was killed on a Triumph 500 in the early 50’s, the other on a Yamaha in the 80’s. Some bad years were 1970 & 2005, where the average death rate of 2.5/year was exceeded. So why do they do it? Barry Sheene crashed here riding a 125 in 1971, & became a critic, citing its extreme danger, & never rode the T.T. again. In those days it was on the Grand Prix calendar, so it was compulsory to compete. Sure some things have improved, like G.P.S. trackers are now fitted to the bikes, so that paramedics can get there quicker, in the event of an accident, but that won’t help if someone has hit a tree, a pub, or someone’s front wall at speeds of around 200 M.P.H. It will be a mixture of concentration, courage, skill, knowledge of the track, an element of luck & a bit of pure madness. The bikes are getting quicker, & the average speed record now stands at 136.35 M.PH. set back in 2023, meaning that the 37.73 mile course was completed in just over 16 & a 1/2 minutes. There have been bird strikes, & I guess many other forms of fauna, have contributed to accidents over the years. There has been talk of having a similar set up on the Isle of Whyte, but nothing further to add on that one for now.
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Nominated by Lord Scunthorpe, Link provided by Cuntemall.