EARLY THURSDAY MORNING.....BIRDS SINGING,SUN SHINING....

THIS IS THE FIRST OF THE 3 DAYS OF SPRINT/HILLCLIMB MOTORSPORT.
SCRUTINEERING FIRST THOUGH,AS THE 'GOVERNERS SPRINT' STARTS PRACTICE (2 RUNS MANDATORY) AT 12 NOON,FROM THE 'TT' GRANDSTAND,AND I HAVE TO ALSO BE IN PLACE TO MARSHAL,THE FIRST POINT PAST THE START LINE......AT 11.30 HRS....

DURING SCRUTINEERING,DISASTER STRIKES,AFTER NOT COMPETING FOR A FEW YEARS,MY OVERALLS ARE OUT OF SPEC,AND ONLY SINGLE LAYER PROBAN.....THEY NEED TO BE NOMEX,TO SATISFY THE REGULATIONS

REMEMBER THE CHAP,THAT BOUGHT MY WHITE 99 EMS RALLY CAR?

WELL HIS CO-DRIVER JUST HAPPENS TO ONE OF THE OFFICIALS,IN THE SCRUTINEERING BAY,AND PRODUCES SAID NECESSARY OVERALLS,IN THE NICK OF TIME..... PHEW!

SO CAR&DRIVER APPROVED FOR RACING,IT WAS TIME TO 'RELAX' JUST A LITTLE,AND STROLL AROUND THE PADDOCK FOR AN HOUR,BEFORE I HAD TO TAKE UP MY 'MARSHALS' POST.....

I'LL LET THE PICTURES DO THE TALKING.....

AND MORE....

AUDI.....? THIS WAS BASICALLY A QUATTRO,SHOEHORNED INTO AN A LHD AUDI SALOON.....

IT WAS MASSIVLEY QUICK,FOR AROUND 500 YARDS...THE FLYWHEEL SHEARED

GT 40 REPLICAS,DRIVEN BY RETIRED GENTLEMEN....?


AND MUSCLE POWER MEETS NIMBLE......

THE REAL DEAL.....

MUCH THE 'BUTT' OF LAUGHTER AND PISS TAKING IN THE UK,THIS LITTLE ALLEGRO COST JUST £500,THE OWNER GIVING IT FOUR BIKE CARBS,A PORTED HEAD AND HIGH LIFT CAM,AND SOME WHEELS FROM A TRIUMPH STAG.....

I WILL LISTEN TO ANYBODY PREPARED TO RACE WHATEVER THEY HAVE GOT......IT'S ALL PART OF THE SCENE.....

THE VAST MAJORITY OF COMPETITORS IN HILLCLIMBING,HAVE GREY HAIR,OR NO HAIR..........THAT INCLUDES ME!

I DON'T MISS MUCH...........

I have a bit of a soft spot for old Camaro race cars. Personal faves are the Penske/Donahue variants from early Trans Am racing.

Love the GT40's too.

But I have to admit that those Audi's are wicked bad-ass!


Thanks for posting the pics, looks like it was a good time.

MORE TO COME YET......

Wow!
The ferry ride with all those other cars looks amazing it itself!

THE GRANDSTAND ITSELF,FOR THE MOTORCYCLE 'TT' RACE,IS NEXT TO THE MAIN ROAD THAT PASSES THROUGH DOUGLAS....

THIS IS WHERE THE 'GOVERNORS SPRINT' WOULD START FROM AT EXACTLY MIDDAY,THURSDAY.....

IN A MONTHS TIME,THE END OF MAY/BEGINNNING OF JUNE....THE ISLANDS INHABITANTS OF 80,000 PEOPLE WILL ALMOST DOUBLE,AS THE MOST DANGEROUS CLOSED ROAD MOTORCYCLE RACE, IN THE WORLD TAKES PLACE......

FOR NOW,THE 125 OR SO,LIKE MINDED PILOTS,IN VEHICLES OF CLASSIC MOTORSPORT ASSEMBLED ON THE START LINE,AS THE CLOCK TICKED EVER NEARER TO MIDDAY....

I PARKED THE 99T UP AT THE REAR OF THE 'TT' GRANDSTAND,AND TOOK UP POSITION, READY TO IMPLEMENT THE BARRIERS,TO CLOSE OFF MY 'ROAD JUNCTION'......READY FOR THE SPRINT TO START...

WE HAD TO MOVE HALF A DOZEN LARGE HAY BALES INTO POSITION,TO ABSORB ANY IMPACT FROM AN 'OUT OF CONTROL' VEHICLE.....AND HAVE THE RED FLAG,RADIO,FIRE EXTINGUISHERS AND WHISTLE READY,IN CASE THERE WAS AN INCIDENT.....

WITHOUT VOLUNTARY MARSHALS,THERE SIMPLY IS....NO EVENT!!!

NO MOTORSPORT PHOTOGRAPHY HERE(FROM ME) I AM AFRAID ,AS YOU NEED TO BE ALERT,AS TO YOUR SURROUNDINGS.....FOR THE NEXT 3 HOURS,WHILST ALL THE COMPETITORS CARRY OUT THE AFTERNOON MANDATORY 2 PRACTICE RUNS......

3 TIMED RUNS,WOULD TAKE PLACE IN THE EVENING....

FORTUNAETLY,APART FROM THE AUDI 80 SHATTERING THE FLYWHEEL,AND THE GROUP 'B' QUATTRO SUFFERING BRAKE ISSUES......

THE AFTERNOON WEN'T INCIDENT FREE......

MY THOUGHTS TURNING TOWARDS,THE NEXT DAY'S COMPETITION.......ON THE PREVIOUSLY UNUSED PART OF THE COURSE?

FRIDAYS EVENT,LOCALLY KNOWN AS 'CREG WILLEYS' HILL, HAD CONSISTED OF MOST OF THE DISCUSSION IN THE PADDOCK,EARLIER THAT DAY INVOLVING DRIVER'S EAGER OPINIONS AND ANTICIPATION......THE COURSE WOULD BE 1.5 MILES LONG

IT WOULD BE VERY,VERY FAST..... TWISTING TURNS FROM THE START,FLAT IN EVERY GEAR......INTERRUPTED BY A BLIND 'S' BEND THROUGH A SMALL STONE-WALLED BRIDGE,INTO A 3RD GEAR ,80 DEGREE STEEP LEFT TURN UPHILL.....FOLLOWED BY A SHORT UPHILL STRAIGHT,INTO AN ADVERSE CAMBERED BLIND 3RD GEAR RIGHT HANDER KNOWN AS 'SARAHS COTTAGE'............FROM THEREON,YOU ARE STILL CLIMBING,FLAT IN 4TH......IF YOU WERE LUCKY!!!

FRIDAY AND SATURDAYS EVENT WOULD SEE SOME SERIOUS INCIDENTS......

THIS IS NO PLACE FOR ANYBODY WITH ''ALL THE GEAR,AND NO IDEA''....

SEVERAL HUNDRED RIDERS HAVE DIED ON THIS 'TT' COURSE,SINCE THE FIRST MOTORCYCLE RACE BACK IN 1907.....


I DIDN'T SLEEP MUCH THAT NIGHT.......

THE CLARION 99 TURBO SAT OUTSIDE THE TENT,WAITING PATIENTLY FOR IT'S INAUGRAL RUN AT 10.00 THE NEXT MORNING.....

WHILST I LAY THERE,STARING AT THE STARS.....WONDERING EXACTLY IF THIS WAS AN ENTIRELY A SANE IDEA?

OK, IT'S 08.00 AM.....MORNING OF THE RACE/HILLCLIMB

WITH MILITARY PRECISION,WE ALL HAD TO ASSEMBLE,IN A SMALL PUB CAR PARK....HALF WAY UP THE HILL....THEN WAIT UNTIL 09.15,FOR THE OFFICIALS TO CLOSE THE ROAD,WHICH IS IN USE EVERYDAY,ONE OF THE MAIN ROUTES FROM NORTH TO SOUTH ON THE ISLAND....

IT TAKES 130 SIGNATURES TO ACTUALLY GET THE ROAD CLOSED,FOR THE EVENT TO TAKE PLACE.....BUT ON THE ISLE OF MAN,EVERYBODY BREATHES MOTORSPORT...

REMEMBER,THE IDEA IS TO GET TWO PRACTICE RUNS IN THE MORNING,THEN THE 3 TIMED RUNS IN THE AFTERNOON.......

THE INDIVIDUAL QUICKEST OF YOUR 3 TIMED RUNS COUNTS,AS YOUR BEST.....

THERE WOULD BE JUST OVER 90 STARTERS FOR TODAYS EVENT....

YOU COULD FEEL THE ATMOSPHERE,DISTINCTLY CHARGED......

I AM PRETTY SURE THE YELLOW CATERHAM IN THE LAST PHOTOGRAPH,WAS THE ONE THAT WOULD STOP THE EVENT.....

AS WE NEARED THE 09.15 ROAD CLOSURE,I ASKED MY LAD TO GET A LAST PHOTO OF ME WITH THE CAR.......

THERE WAS DEFINITIVE DOUBT,THAT I MAY NOT GET TO THE TOP OF THE HILL IN ONE PIECE(OR THE CAR).......I HADN'T TRAVELLED ALL THIS WAY,TO ATTACK THIS HILLCLIMB AT HALF-PACE....


AND OF COURSE,PLAYING ON MIND WAS,THE FACT THAT I KNEW 'BLOMQVISTS' SIGNATURE WAS UNDER THE BONNET? I DIDN'T WAN'T TO DISSAPOINT THE CROWD....

SAAB'S EFFORT ON THE 'MANX MOPAR RALLY' BACK IN 1979,RESULTED IN VERY EARLY RETIREMENT.....

I EVEN HAD AN EXACT COPY,OF THE '1979 MANX MOPAR RALLY' STICKER FIXED TO THE REAR SCREEN....

35 YEARS,SINCE A CLARION 99 TURBO HAD BLASTED UP THESE ROADS......