The Prestigious TT - Danger of the TT

Every year danger comes around. The most prestigious race event in the motorcycle racing calendar. Well, most prestigious race in any calendar. With safety precautions put in place for the majority of motor racing events in recent years. There really isn't anything like it. Even in car racing.

Don't get me wrong

The TT is a lot safer now than it was when it was born in 1907. But it is definitely still the most dangerous race in the world with 20 riders dying since 2000 alone and 135 riders being claimed in the history of the TT. So why do people like John McGuinness, Bruce Anstey, Guy Martin and Josh Brookes want to be apart of the most dangerous race in the world? Some would say that is quite simple, just because there isn't anything like it in the world. The TT races cannot be compared to racing on circuits as Brookes has done for the past four years in the British Superbike series. Current British Superbike rider and road racer Michael Rutter says he holds back to 80% on the roads, but never holds back on the circuits. Do riders take into consideration their age and families as they get older? Do they approach the worlds most dangerous race in a different way? Ex-road racer Plater believes the injuries riders sustain along the way is all part an parcel of the sport.

Obsessed with winning?

As us motorcycle racing fans know Guy Martin is still yet to stand on the top spot at the TT and he will not give up until that has happened. The Lincolnshire man has been involved in some big crashes in his career, not forgetting the 2010 fireball crash. The crash that would have made us (normal folk) think again before racing there again. But with eight broken ribs, punctured lungs and a broken back in a few places the racer got back to work within a few weeks and back at the TT the following year. Still unable to stand on the top step. Is this racer obsessed with winning, or does he do it for the reason he says? The buzz. However from one man that is yet to win a TT to another that has racked up 19! What makes John McGuinness go back to the Isle every year? Is he obsessed with winning, or perhaps he's obsessed with beating Joey Dunlop's record? The Morecambe Missile as he's known knows the course like the back of his hand. So from a viewer looking in. Is the enjoyment still there? He has enough knowledge to win yet another TT this year. Perhaps that is why he does it. He gets the enjoyment from not just riding the course but winning the races and ultimately getting higher up the record books.

Fans – are we mad?

We all now know how dangerous the TT is. But like the riders what makes us fans want to sit and watch these dangerous flying machines zoom passed at incredibly high speeds? For me, it's something that is firmly on my bucket list. I'd love to watch from the side of the road. But why? I'd say it would be the same reason why the riders compete. Because there is nowhere else in the world you can sit and watch these machines at high speeds. Watching the races on the TV is incredible. So to go to the Isle of Man would be fantastic. The whole community of the TT and around the Isle come together. Watching the TT last year on the TV conditions were not great for competing in but the fans and residents still made the effort to sit in the cold, rainy conditions to wait. For hours at a time sometimes. Are we mad? Or just passionate about such a rare sport?"