Isle of Man TT - why is this still allowed?

[Graymac]

It is always sad when someone dies in any sport. But if health & safety had there way we do nothing. I did a free fall sky dive for my 50 th last year. Had to get doctors permission, had to fight him as he said it was dangerous, the pr..t nearly stopped me raising over £3k for my local Air Ambulance. The way I see it if I want to put my own life at risk without putting others at risk that is my choice.

 

[Stat Brother]

Hmmm, I was about to go for it , but now realise we are talking about fatalities since the year 2000, not the last 100 years. That said, you are underplaying the figures -

10 fatalities in Irish road racing since 2000.

29 in British national and club series since 2000.

Also -

200 fatalities at the TT since 1910.

117 in Moto GP since 1943

2 in WSB (relatively new series)

120 in British national and club series since 1930

41 in Irish road racing since 1929

I read those figures that with the exception of IoM TT and it's (less publicised) Irish equivalent, that there was a huge drop off in deaths, in all aspects of racing, from the mid 80's onwards.

Making the average 2 deaths per TT go from the normal, to really sticking out like a sore thumb.

As said after watching last night, I can see why it's a killer, frankly I'm surprised there aren't more deaths!!.
That doesn't make it alright though.

Clearly the TT is more dangerous than most, and so to that end so are the risks.

Is it not the case that although the tech, brakes, equipment etc have all improved, the speed of the bikes has maintained the level of danger, on such a circuit.
(once again, I don't understand bikes hence asking the questions)

 

[Stat Brother]

Really?

Well according to Wiki that off hand statement has proven to be correct.

 

[Twinkle Toes]

To me it almost feels like it's Michael Dunlop's destiny to meet his maker trying to emulate or surpass Joey

I've also felt that there's an inevitability that young Michael's going out with a bang, but his riding actually looked a great deal smoother this year at the TT. That said, he's actually been going quicker than ever now he's aboard the bike to be on, so the margin for error is arguably no less than it was previously. At least if the worst does happen, he'd probably go out of this world in a split second doing what he loves. Them's the realities of real road racing innit...

 

[Twinkle Toes]

I read those figures that with the exception of IoM TT and it's (less publicised) Irish equivalent, that there was a huge drop off in deaths, in all aspects of racing, from the mid 80's onwards.

Making the average 2 deaths per TT go from the normal, to really sticking out like a sore thumb.

As said after watching last night, I can see why it's a killer, frankly I'm surprised there aren't more deaths!!.
That doesn't make it alright though.

It's the longest road circuit in the world by a distance (!) with the greatest number of riders willing to race there. Of course every death there is regrettable, but the length & complexity of the course means that inexperienced riders are the most at risk of having a 'major off', but everybody knows the dangers. Everybody competing there does it because they want to. Nobody holds a gun to their heads these days (which differs significantly from pre-1976 when the TT races were part of the FIM World Championships).

 

[Stat Brother]

It's the longest road circuit in the world by a distance (!) with the greatest number of riders willing to race there. Of course every death there is regrettable, but the length & complexity of the course means that inexperienced riders are the most at risk of having a 'major off', but everybody knows the dangers. Everybody competing there does it because they want to. Nobody holds a gun to their heads these days (which differs significantly from pre-1976 when the TT races were part of the FIM World Championships).

Yeah I get all of that no problems.

But the IoM wouldn't sanction jousting (sorry, kids have just watched Merlin, and I can't think of a better example) just because those that die taking part, do so at there own recognisance.

 

[ManxSeagull]

To me it almost feels like it's Michael Dunlop's destiny to meet his maker trying to emulate or surpass Joey

I always thought Joey would get killed at the TT, as he got older surely his reactions, stamina etc would diminish. As it happens it got killed somewhere in Tallinn, Estonia whilst racing.

 

[Twinkle Toes]

Yeah I get all of that no problems.

But the IoM wouldn't sanction jousting (sorry, kids have just watched Merlin, and I can't think of a better example) just because those that die taking part, do so at there own recognisance.

The Tourist Trophy Races were originally contested by cars; & were held on the IOM because their Parliament agreed to them taking place (after the UK Govt at the time - 1907 - refused to allow them to happen on the mainland). Had Jousting been a persuit that fired the imaginations of daring do-ers & the public alike in the past, then perhaps there would be an annual festival for that instead. It didn't: so it hasn't.

 

[foul old ron]

Auto racing, bull fighting and mountain climbing are the only real sports............all the others are games. Ernest Hemmingway.

Racing is life, everything else is just waiting. Steve Mcqueen.

 

[Stat Brother]

The Tourist Trophy Races were originally contested by cars; & were held on the IOM because their Parliament agreed to them taking place (after the UK Govt at the time - 1907 - refused to allow them to happen on the mainland). Had Jousting been a persuit that fired the imaginations of daring do-ers & the public alike in the past, then perhaps there would be an annual festival for that instead. It didn't: so it hasn't.

Thank you, it would have been easy to just dismiss such a glib crass statement, but instead the overall picture is coming together.

 

[Twinkle Toes]

Thank you, it would have been easy to just dismiss such a glib crass statement, but instead the overall picture is coming together.

 

[looney]

Having been round most the TT course and the museum I have to say I think its ****ing great. I dont ride a motorbike but looking at the event and history of it still excites as a spectator. I dont want to see some Bikey turned to jam on a sharp bend but those are the risks. Should be televised imo.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

It is always sad when someone dies in any sport. But if health & safety had there way we do nothing. I did a free fall sky dive for my 50 th last year. Had to get doctors permission, had to fight him as he said it was dangerous, the pr..t nearly stopped me raising over £3k for my local Air Ambulance. The way I see it if I want to put my own life at risk without putting others at risk that is my choice.

Who made you get permission from your doctor? I would suggest it was the people that imposed this on you, not your poor doctor, that you should have your H&S battle with. YOU presented the doc with the paperwork so it was hardly his fault; he was just doing his job which you imposed upon him.

 

[ManxSeagull]

Nothing dangerous about this

The section of the course where the ride's bike broke up and hit the crowd is 19-20 seconds into the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZT6qGoDmag&sns=em

 

[Motogull]

Pinched:

Robert Dunlop's last conscious act was to jam on the front brake. There had been a puff of smoke as his motorbike seized at 160mph and slewed sideways. He was launched over the handlebars on to the road, where he was struck by a pursuing rider. He died from severe chest injuries that evening. He was 47.

Thirty-six hours later Michael, his youngest son, won the race for which his father had been practising, the North West 200. His suppressed grief mutated into anger. In the five years since, he has ridden with a disconcerting fury and a grim sense of destiny. He has been on the ragged edge.

Perhaps he will find peace in the achievements of the past week. Michael won four TT races on the Isle of Man, and surpassed his father's record. In another reminder that death wraps itself around his sport like a creeping vine, it earned him the trophy named in honour of Joey Dunlop, his late uncle.

Joey, a monosyllabic publican from Ballymoney, is biking's warrior king. No one has won more TT races, 26. He, too, died in competition, when he crashed into trees in Estonia after losing control on a rutted road sluiced by torrential rain. There were 50,000 at his funeral yet, to millions, the pursuit to which he gave his life is beyond redemption.

Had someone come up with the notion of the Tourist Trophy races in 2007, instead of 1907, the event simply would not have been allowed. It challenges the orthodoxy of the nanny state, defies the panoply of risk assessments, liability waivers, health and safety officers and ambulance-chasing lawyers.

Road racing is a world in which mundane objects and everyday occurrences are deadly. A dog off the leash, a patch of melted Tarmac or an ill-positioned telephone box can kill. Contact with a dry-stone wall, a telegraph pole or a traffic sign is usually fatal.

Its heroes are the wraiths of international sport, relentlessly ordinary men capable of consistently extraordinary acts of bravery and precision. Many sleep in caravans, tents or lock-up garages – the antithesis of the airbrushed stars of Formula One.

This is hardcore, and difficult to defend when the safety of spectators is compromised, as it was on Friday. Jonathan Howarth from Barnsley was little more than 10 seconds into his first TT race when he lost control on the descent of Bray Hill.

His bike disintegrated on impact with the kerb. A wheel and the petrol tank span into the crowd congregated beside a burger van. He slid on his belly into a lamppost. Remarkably, he suffered only minor fractures, and walked away. Eleven spectators were taken to hospital.

Rumours spread disconcertingly until an official announcement that no injuries were life-threatening triggered applause from fans around the 37¾-mile mountain course. This will sound callous, but there was "only" one death this year.

Yoshinari Matsushita, from Japan, who crashed at Ballacrye in practice, was the 21st rider to perish this century, the 240th victim of the TT since its inception. Death has no dominion when it is so common, but these men deserve our respect. They are important because they provide a bulwark against the sanitisation of sport, the mediocrity of conformity.

They ride at speeds of up to 200mph on the edge of reason and adhesion. The money is minimal and the motivation is difficult to articulate. John McGuinness, who won the restarted race, admits: "You don't care about anything but getting on the bike and riding."

I've had breakfast with these men, and wondered whether they would be alive at lunchtime. They are terrifying to watch. Michael Dunlop was once asked why he rode so fiercely. His reply said it all: "Because I'm a Dunlop."

 

[Plake]

^ that is a brilliant bit of journalism ^

 

[wellquickwoody]

^ that is a brilliant bit of journalism ^

That is a damn good attempt to understand what passion in sport really means.