There is nothing to compare it with.
It's the most exhilarating place in the world.
It's like being able to fly.
Just like growing wings.
If it's in your blood, you... You can't get it out.
You just want more.
You put the earplugs in, the helmet goes on.
Everything goes quiet.
You know what's ahead of you,
and everything else around you is forgotten
and it's time you get on with the job.
My mind goes completely blank.
And my mind just goes into madness.
Well, I suppose it all revolved around
Mr Acum, me primary school teacher; really.
And he didn't half put manners in us, that man.
You know, in my day, like, and all that.
But I think, you know, fuck it, what a boy.
Just, you know, if we was naughty, he used to give us the slipper:
We knew we was getting it, cos he used to warm it up on a radiator
before he give us it.
If we was naughty again, which was mostly me, I was naughty all the time,
we used to have to pick stones up so the lawn mower
wouldn't run over them.
He used to have his own putting green out the back of school
and our main job was keeping the putting green right and mowing grass.
And then, yeah, I thought natural progression,
I wanted to go and race them.
I've still got my first engine I ever had.
Suffolk Punch lawn mower engine, I think it's down there.
Yeah, I just used to play with that. It was all I wanted to do.
I wasn't bothered about... You know, I had a few mates.
But I wasn't bothered about, you know, girls.
I'm still not bothered about girls, really.
I'm not gay or owt.
But I'm just, you know, I'd rather play with lorries and tractors and engines.
Still, I haven't really grown up. No, I haven't grown up.
- You got the key? - Yeah.
Are we all right, then?
Right hand down, boss.
Road racers? A bit mad...
That's tight. You bastard.
What would you say...
A tile short of a roof?
One short of a six pack?
A few slates adrift? We'd use that one a lot.
Lights are on but no one's home.
I can imagine, from the outside looking in,
anyone that's racing the TT looks like the lights are on but no one's home.
You're not a proper road racer until you've won a TT
I obviously aren't a proper road racer, because I haven't won one.
But I'm trying. I don't give in.
Barry Sheene wasn't a big fan, was he?
He thought it was too dangerous, did he?
There you go, lager-shandy drinking southern poofters, there you go.
That says it all, doesn't it? Yeah.
That's it, we're away now.
All right, boss.
We're getting there.
I was only watching that the other night, the Dam Busters.
Yeah, it's mega, that. Wallis Barnes.
You know the idea that got him into that was, um...
No. Not Napoleon...
Who was your boy, that used it in the battleships? Beginning with an "N"?
Not Napoleon...
Different things make different people happy, don't they?
Some lads love going to the pub, I don't like being in the pub.
Some lads love shagging, I don't like shagging
I don't mind it, but I'm not into it.
I'd rather just go and ride me motorbikes or me pushbikes.
It's whatever you're into, isn't it?
If we was all the same everybody would be at the TT wouldn't they?
But different things make different people tick.
And that makes me tick, and that's why I'm gonna keep on going.
I just want to keep going until I've won one.
Or won five, that's my plan, win five in a week, that's not been done before.
So I go and do that, then that's it. I go find the next job to do.
I've got another big goal, this...
He's a massive... Well, not massive, he's not massive, is he?
He's not massive.
People use that word, don't they.
I'll tell you what people word... People use all the time.
Unbelievable.
Can't use that word, can you? "Unbelievable."
When a man... Like I've said this before,
when a man eats his own head, I will then hold my hands up and say,
"Right, that was unbelievable."
Cos I can't believe a man can eat his own head.
But, like we say, never say never.
Unbelievable, absolutely unbelievable.
Evel Knievel was the big stuntman at the time
and I had a stars and stripes suit, and a stars and stripes helmet
and I thought I was Evel Knievel, you know.
My dad used to build me a ramp and I used to jump 14 toy buses,
where Evel Knievel tried to jump the 14 real buses.
I wrote to Jim'll Fix it, for me to do a jump with him
and he never even replied back, the miserable old goat.
It's always been in me. I don't know any different.
I'm not really interested in anything else, you know,
football, cricket or anything.
It's just been bikes all the way through my life.
He's still a little boy at heart. He's crackers, really.
When I met him, he'd just finished motocross
and he was wanting to get into racing bikes.
And he always said, "I'm going to do an Isle of Man TT race one day."
And he said, "I just want to win a TT I'll get it under my belt and that's it.
"I'll, you know, never do it again."
And he won his first 250 race,
and we're like, "Oh, that's it, he's going to finish now."
I thought, "Thank God for that."
But it just makes that bug grow even bigger; I think.
Even then, when I was 10 years old,
I just used to watch it, and it'd just blow me away.
I used to think, "That's gonna be me one day.
"I'm gonna win one of these."
If I had been sat there then, and someone would have said,
you know, I'll have 15 wins, I probably would have laughed at them
and fell off the wall, but here I am with 15 wins.
But I still get that, you know jitters now.
You know, TT's coming. TT's coming. Building up. Building up.
I get apprehensive, nervous. Months before the TT you know.
And when I think about it, it makes me skip a heartbeat, really.
I have to have the house immaculate, and the garage has to be immaculate.
Everything's got to have its place.
I'll mow the lawn, make sure that's all right. Clean the cars.
So, just in case anything does happen, then everything's ready.
I definitely think about it. It's got to cross your mind.
It has to cross your mind, cos it's there, all the time.
It's a reality that you might not come back.
John McGuinness 17.43, 127,
under the lap record from a standing start!
For two incredible weeks each summer;
generations of men and women have made the pilgrimage
to the lsle of Man to pit themselves against the track,
which has achieved international status
and become synonymous with speed and glory
At a time when the maximum permitted speed on English roads
was just 20 miles per hour and racing strictly prohibited,
a band of enthusiasts intent on testing their bikes
and themselves to the limits of speed and endurance
gathered on the Isle of Man,
and in 1907 the Tourist Trophy was born.
You see? Look at the suspension.
You see?
And then we'll put it the other way.
Watch that.
Keep watching.
It'll do something.
See? Look at that. Hey?
Me and Guy have got the typical father-son relationship.
- Guy knows best, and I knows best. - Yeah.
I'll put a brew on.
See, a Steadicam That's what it is.
Must have shockers in it or something.
You what?
Say, when you was holding that thing you can jar
but that takes all the jar out of the camera, doesn't it?
Are they dear? I bet it's dear that, innit.
Go on, how much is that arm there then?
Fourteen hundred?
Fuck off.
Fourteen grand?
Fourteen grand.
Fucking hell.
Fuck, have you seen that? Fourteen grand.
Me first TT was '74,
riding a Gus Kuhn Norton Commando production bike.
I thought, I'm gonna be a TT superstar here.
So I set off from...
How old was you?
I was...
How old was I?
1974.
Forty seven. What's that, then?
- I don't know. '74... '47. By heck. - Anyway...
Come into Glen Helen, up Craig Willie's hill,
cranked it in...
Down, down, down, no further to go, bang.
Straight over the bank.
The bike finished up in three bits.
And I broke my back.
And I was back at the TT again the following year.
My worst crash ever?
Probably North West, 2008.
Come off the Black Hill, lost the front, on the apex of the corner;
not very fast, maybe 120 miles an hour
Hit the kerb with my arse at 120 mile an hour
I walked away. Walked away no bother.
The bike was nothing, we could hardly salvage anything.
Everything was written off on it. Everything.
I got away from that, but it scarred me.
It didn't scar me for life, it just....
Proper. I just thought another one of those moments I thought, ooh.
But that's a buzz that,
you know get it wrong, you're an inch out here and that's it.
Yeah, it was a lot like that.
I'm not like a sadomasochist or anything,
I'm not purposefully going out there trying to kill myself
No, definitely not. The opposite, really, I want to succeed, you know?
But that's the buzz you get out of trying to do that.
You do end up in that position
where it looks like it's going to be game over at any moment.
But, those positions, money cannot buy the buzz you get out of it.
That thing that you get, that you think, "That's it, game over,"
you don't go into a panic, you just, "This is it, game over."
I've been in about four of them since I've been racing,
and I've been racing 10 years now.
And all of those moments, I think three of those moments were at the TT.
I come to the gym a couple of times a week,
and get out on my mountain bike a couple of times a week.
I enjoy my training and it keeps me focused on the job.
I don't like anything to sort of let my riding slip.
If a bit of training's what it takes, then that's what I do.
I've always been a bike fanatic
but my parents have always been against it
and by the time I got to 15, I think I wore my parents down that much.
They were a bit concerned about me getting a road bike
so they got me a trials bike and the minute I was 17, I took my test
and got a road bike, so it backfired a bit on my parents.
But, you know, I met a group of lads that blagged a caravan for free,
it was an absolute wreck.
Dragged it all over the country, it was falling apart
and we got to race meetings, had a few beers at a barbecue, raced all day.
It was just great to experience that side of it.
Natural ability pulls you through to a certain level,
but if I'm in a race and it comes down to a tight battle,
and I lose the race basically through fitness or something,
you know, I'd be devastated with myself
so I get very obsessed about what I'm doing.
There's only one outcome for me.
To win the race.
Every one of the 37 and three-quarter miles of public roads
that makes up the course has created a champion or hero.
Over 200 corners must be negotiated up to six times
to complete the world's toughest road race in the fastest time.
There are five races over a week culminating with the Senior TT
With speeds of up to 200 miles per hour
and the opportunity for disaster around every corner;
its dangers are set in stone.
To date, 231 riders have lost their lives on the TT course.
To win just one TT is an outstanding achievement.
The legendary Joey Dunlop has an unmatched 26 wins,
John McGuinness holds the outright lap record
and Phil McCallan is the only rider to have won four out of the five races
run each year
No one has ever won five out of five.
So, can I ask Fred Dibnah___ Sorry, I meant Guy Martin.
- So the laundry didn't come back? - No...
I get told off for not saying the right thing,
or doing this, or doing that and not wearing the right clothes
and what have you.
And it just sort of gets on top of you sometimes.
Well, not gets on top of you, but it takes the fun out of it all.
Whereas Wilson, for me, he's doing it for the same reasons I'm doing it.
You know, doing it to enjoy it. Doing it to win.
I see it as David and Goliath.
And that I think that's what motivates me in many ways.
That Guy come back to a small team and can win.
Could you call it a deal, Wilson?
There weren't a lot of paper signing going on.
Just a firm handshake I think, Wilson.
I suppose I should say to have a gentleman's agreement,
we need two gentlemen.
Well, I wouldn't say I was a gentleman.
Guy's all right.
Yeah, but we won't go as far as gentleman.
You know when I was wanking, didn't you?
Oh, yeah, I used to regularly wake up and see Guy pulling one out.
I had to go back to bed for a few minutes
while he finished himself off.
Yeah, cos he used to sleep above the cab.
I slept above you, didn't I?
You could tell. I didn't really know that
until I broke my ankle right bad, you remember that?
Your toes go, do you know?
When you're wanking. Yeah.
So you'd see Guy's toes twitching...
And you knew I was on it.
In the morning, his toes'd be going, and I'd give him five more minutes.
- Crack a load off. - Yeah. Get a load off.
In the build-up to the TT
every other race meeting is a chance to perfect the bikes,
impress new sponsors
and develop the speeds needed to compete on the Isle of Man.
You having a brew?
We're not here for any lap times or fuck all, really.
We're not bothered whether We're last or first.
We're just here to suss the bike out.
You need to be a good mechanic to work with me,
and I'm a bit awkward to get on with, I suppose,
because I'm very particular about how I want stuff doing.
Most motorbike riders just get on it and turn the throttle,
but I like to know what makes that bike tick.
I like the whole idea behind the old internal combustion engine,
and the way stuffs made.
You need to have a bit of mechanical sympathy, don't you.
You can't go charging in there like a bull in a china shop.
It's all gonna end in tears, isn't it? You end up breaking gear boxes
and blowing engines up and all that sort of caper.
Still no quick shifting, we don't know anyone that's got one.
No.
Mechanical failures are what all riders dread.
Sometimes they're over-revved, and sometimes something breaks.
om My God.
You know, if a part breaks, then it's just bad for everybody
in the TT particularly, because, well, you only get one hit
and then you got to wait 12 months to have another go.
I don't have heroes until Chris Mayhew.
Yeah, he's the boy. Mad, in a way.
Lovely bloke, into his dogs. He nearly got his dog to talk.
Nearly. Likes his grandfather clocks.
Makes his own wine, he's got a grapevine growing out of his garden.
Through a window, that he's chiselled out in his conservatory,
that grows into his conservatory.
You know, gets his own grapes. Makes his own wine.
That's a boy that, innit. Not many folk do that.
I got an entry to the TT in '73.
And I crashed in both races.
So, I saw more of Noble's Hospital than the track really.
What I do, basically, is take a road engine
and turn it into a race engine.
My biggest boast, I think, was in the hundredth year of the TT
Every single winning engine or lap record machine
came out of this workshop.
You know Guy I think, has got the best bikes he ever could.
I shall obviously do my best
and Guy obviously will put the finishing touches to it.
If he's happy, he'll be there.
I have every confidence that if things work in our favour
we're going to come away with a result.
One thing I'm concerned about is we mustn't start thinking it's our turn.
Cos it never is your turn.
But I think the ingredients are right
if they're mixed properly.
Northern Ireland's North West 200 race meeting
also takes place on public roads
and is the very last chance to get the bikes ready for the TT.
Heads down for the lights above the track
and when they go out this race will be underway.
And Michael Dunlop's been mugged, hasn't he!
Onboard with Michael Dunlop, then,
just looking what was going on in front of him.
There you see him, coming down over the hill.
165 miles an hour!
That's a man's corner; that!
Michael Dunlop and his brother William are the next generation
of a road racing dynasty that began with their Uncle Joey
and father Robert Dunlop.
They were the biggest road racers I think,
that the world has ever had.
So the inspiration I got from them was just so much.
Growing up with two people, you never seen them as heroes
or superstars, you just see them as two normal people.
Joey blew out the competition when in 2000, aged 49
he won a third hat trick of TT races.
He was killed three weeks later in a little-known race in Estonia.
Over 50, 000 mourners attended his funeral.
His brother Robert was almost killed in 1998
when his rear wheel collapsed
in an accident at the TT
but raced for 10 more years until his death in 2008
during the final practise lap at the North West 200.
He knew the circuit, he knew it well,
and a mechanical failure happened
and it happens to the best of riders.
It was a sad loss to the sport, a sad loss to us, you know.
But for some reason, I just thought that Saturday I wanted to ride the 250.
Tears of joy and look at Michael Dunlop.
Two days after witnessing his father's death,
Michael went on to win the race and reduce the onlookers to tears.
What must be going through his mind right now
because that was more than a race.
You're only a young man, you know,
all you have for life is a bit of craic, you know what I mean?
And you don't think you're gonna have to bring on a lot of stuff
so I got turned from a boy into a man in a very short space of time.
And I hope they're up there now, and they're being looked after.
Conor Cummins!
Conor Cummins, the Isle of Man rider;
he's fast, really very fast.
And he's down! Cummins is down!
I took the lead from Ryan, just as I was coming out of the come;
the back end sort of stepped out on me
and high-sided me over the top of the bike.
And I was really, really lucky to come away unhurt there.
I just had to pick myself up, dusted myself down,
and straight out on the bike in the next race.
If you fall off a horse, you get straight back on it.
Guy has taken a tumble, too.
I'm all right, I mean, bloody hell, it's not bad, is it?
That's been, damn, l've just done... I done that.
And me finger, can you see me finger?
Didn't keep me eye on the ball, you know, so much going on.
And, yeah, my fault.
Hit the kerb on the inside and took the front, ended up in the grass.
Bike was OK, we had to put a new... What did we have to do?
Engine cover. Water hose.
I didn't wreck it.
Michael Dunlop, that's Ryan Farquhar number 77...
Someone's blown up. That's Guy Martin. Guy Martin, the engine has gone.
In the second race, Guy over-revs the bike
and blows up his engine.
He's completely out of the race.
This was not a good meeting here,
as far as results are concerned.
We had a couple of things that didn't go according to plan.
Aye, "a couple"? A bit more than a couple, but yeah.
It has been a learning curve.
You may think we're a bit old to be learning,
but we're still learning.
The upside, Guy will go to the TT with that bike
and two brand new engines, brand new.
Speed's not bad, need to work on speed a little bit, but it's not bad.
Stability's good, handling's good, tyres are good,
there's a few issues, but we're happy now.
I'm going, and my ferry's booked. I'm going in the camper
because otherwise you're sat at home.
You know you're sat at home, twiddling your thumbs.
You know, waiting for a phone call.
So you might as well be there, among it all.
- You lock the door? - Yeah.
For over 100 years, the Isle of Man
has attracted riders and race fans
to watch their heroes race the mountain course.
The modest prize money means that this close knit band of brothers
ride purely for the love of the sport
and the glory of winning.
If you're born on the Isle of Man
you're sort of brought up with motorbikes and races.
You've got the island going from black and white,
quiet, rural country roads.
All of a sudden they've got teams of bikers going down them.
it’s just lovely to see the island come alive.
Stories, nothing but stories.
Spinning away to the height of their glory.
It's a festival. it's a coming together of everyone
who appreciates motorcycling
The stories that are told, as you sit at the hedge,
or the marshals in groups around the island,
are all lived and relived every year.
And we never get tired of swapping them.
Let's just say there's a large segment of the motorcycling population
in America that knows well about the TT, as I do,
and probably have put it on their, what we call a bucket list,
things to do before you kick the bucket.
To go to the TT and that's why I'm here. I had the opportunity to come.
It's something I've always wanted to do.
My father and I talked about coming here together
for years and never did.
He's passed away, so it's on me to come
and enjoy the experience
and share it with him however I can later on perhaps.
Well, I've worn these leathers for 27 years now,
and at least 27 years more I will bring the leathers to the TT.
My name is Karen Anderson, and I've come all the way from Australia
to watch Cameron Donald race the TT.
We've sat above here, in a room on the balcony,
and we've watched the guys coming around that corner,
and there was a lamppost there.
And the lamppost was padded, and they would come round, dipping,
and then they'd do that in and out, to get round the lamppost
And that to me was heart in my mouth, heart in my mouth,
heart in my mouth, brilliant.
Yeah, I know what can happen.
But with her on the back, you won't get too quick,
else you get beat up.
It's a very hairy place. Very fast.
To watch the bravest men in the world.
And if it doesn't excite you, you're not alive.
And that's a fact.
Within hours of arriving, Guy is unhappy
with the bike's suspension.
In particular the swinging arm
because of its importance for a fast wheel change.
Wilson. Can we put the other swinging arm in
and get Simon to change the wheel?
It's shit.
And it's gonna go wrong.
If the bike was given to me in the first place, Wilson,
then we wouldn't be going through this problem.
And I did say this in the first place.
Guy has upset the authorities, too,
because of his plans to work on the bikes away from the paddock.
I was expecting there to be tension,
because that's why I stayed out the way.
I've got the airbed that goes in the back of my van,
and I've just been staying in my van.
When it comes to how I want bikes preparing,
if they aren't right, that's it, I'll just pack in and go home.
I won't stick my neck out if things aren't exactly how I want,
and I'm so meticulous with things.
We're gonna meet in the middle, we're gonna have to meet
in the middle, aren't we? I can't have it all my way, can I?
Because Wilson's bought the bikes,
and put a lot of money into the bikes.
But I'm the one risking me neck out there,
and that's why my head needs to be right.
And Wilson's always said to me from the off
that my head needs to be right, and then to get my head right
it needs to be my way, which is doing bikes with no interruptions.
Yeah, I think we're gonna have to meet in the middle, me and Wilson.
The bikes will have to be back here at a certain time,
and then I have to do certain bits
of nodding and smiling and agreeing with people.
There's a contract. The team gets X number of pounds,
so they expect Guy to be professional.
And Guy sometimes makes statements that they don't like.
People like him. Maybe because there's a bit of a rebel about him
and so on. So, we have to... We just have to make do with what we have.
If I dictated to Guy it wouldn't work.
He's just a mechanic,
who is a brilliant rider, a brilliant motorcyclist
The bikes are ready to race,
but he has to have his touch to the bikes.
He knows I have given him everything he has asked for.
So, it has to work this time.
And the bike will be checked and checked again for anything.
And then you're in the lap of the gods.
What's after the corner makes a massive difference.
If you get this corner right and make a proper job of it,
then you can make 10 seconds up, because you don't brake
or let go of the throttle for the next three miles.
But it's a man's come; get it wrong and you're....
Ballascary.
Ballagarey. Did you see the sign there?
But, yeah, get it wrong and it's gonna hurt.
But you don't think about things like that, do you?
If you wanna fast lap out, you've got to
throw your balls to the wall, as it's said.
After a bright start today, it will turn cloudy later this morning,
then, although staying mostly dry this afternoon,
there could be patchy light drizzle possible...
All right, boss? Good man.
I think Guy Martin's real rivals this year
will be manyfold.
Cameron Donald has always been a threat.
He's a bit highly-strung. But he's fast. Really fast.
Conor Cummins is gonna be a big threat.
Conor Cummins, Local Manxman. He's fit. He's young.
Ryan Farquhar has gone ahead of Joey Dunlop
in national wins in Ireland and he's phenomenal.
The Dunlops are coming strong,
Michael's really aggressive, and got that will to win-
Definitely wouldn't want to get in a ring with him, anyway.
Keith Amor again, he's like a dog on a lead, you know?
He's just chomping at that bit to go fast and win.
You never know what Bruce you're gonna get.
If Bruce wakes up in the morning and decides he wants to beat us all,
he'll probably go beat us all.
You never bet against John McGuinness
he's the man at the minute.
He's the man with the results on the board.
He's the man that when you go quickly, he usually raises the bar
and goes a bit quicker again.
Nobody knows how fast John can go.
Nobody has actually taken John to that next level.
You never underestimate anyone.
Someone could come out from the woodwork
that you just didn't really expect and shock you.
I don't know much about Hutchinson, to be truthful.
He's one of the quiet men in the sport.
Just does the job, I think.
He reminds me a bit of myself you know, 10 years ago.
He's absorbing everything,
understanding what it takes to win at a big race now.
Guy, you know I think every man and his dog in the world
wants flipping Guy Martin to win.
There's no question he's gonna win one, he's definitely got the talent,
but there's some ingredient missing at the moment,
and it just seems to find him.
It's gonna be the best man that's gonna win on the day.
At the end of the day.
And nobody wants to win it more than I do.
As speeds increase, so do the dangers
and it was this that lost the TT its world championship status.
But winning at the TT requires more than just speed.
It relies on mechanical perfection,
supreme mental and physical endurance,
a huge dose of good fortune and a very fast pit stop.
A tank of fuel and a set of tyres will only last two
of the four or six laps required.
Pit stops count toward the overall lap time
and can make or break a rider's chances.
- Thirty-three. - Bloody hell! Well done, lad.
But if we have one mistake, it goes to 40.
The swinging arm that's in the bike now isn't safe
to do a fast pit stop.
It just happens the bike I had last year was sold to a bloke
on the Isle of Man, and I've begged and pleaded with him
to see if we can borrow the swinging arm back out of his bike,
to put back in my new bike for this year
So he said, "Pop up and nick it this afternoon."
And then we'll go up tomorrow morning and put it back in the bike.
I could do with your help.
Guy's father has decided not to come to the race this year
It's a bit of a hard pill to take, really, me dad not coming.
You know, he's a good man to have involved
because he's got so much experience round here,
he's rode the TT for 15 years and he knows exactly how things need to be.
That'd give me confidence, if he was involved.
And now he's not here. it's not fucked the job,
but it's made it a lot harder
And it took my eye off the ball a little bit, but what do I do?
Can't sit and cry about it, can you?
Martin Finnegan, really good friend of mine in racing, in racing.
I was at his wedding.
In, I think it would have been at November time of 2007.
Yeah, in 2007. And then his funeral was in
April time of 2008.
You know...
Teammate of mine, Darran Lindsay, was killed in 2005.
Friend of mine, used to do his engines,
Richard Britten, he was killed 2006. You could go on.
I just think, you know...
When you're time's up...
I think you've got to be in this line of work, you know?
And that's why I sort of don't believe in
having any commitments of any sort.
Because if I did have responsibilities as wife, kids, mortgage
and all that sort of caper, I couldn't do this job,
as in racing the TT, I couldn't give it me all.
And I wanna give it me all.
Yeah. Before I can start thinking about winning races,
we've got a lot of practice to get through.
You know, we've five nights of practice to get through.
That's not going to be easy. There's a lot of work to do on the bikes.
And that's where me dad was gonna come in.
It's not just gonna go straight on the bike, a lot of things will need making,
to get that swinging arm to suit the new bike.
But, if it was easy, every man and his dog would be at it, wouldn't they?
I I'll chill out later on.
I find a different place every night to kip in me van.
Just get me airbed blown up in the back of me van.
Bit of a wank, then go to sleep. You know? Proper!
Proper. You know, people get all... It's not a crime, is it, to have a wank,
you know. Fuck it.
You never get complacent with the TT
There's always something you can learn,
and, you know, if you get that way and overconfident, it'll bite you.
I just went up and had a little moment on my own,
looking down the road because the road was shut.
There wasn't a sound apart from the birds just tweeting away.
And that's just something real special about the track itself you know,
I was just looking down thinking next week, in the race,
I'm gonna be going down there at 200 mile an hour plus.
That emotion you feel when you roll up onto that start line,
when you're getting waved off 10 seconds apart, it's just...
It's just unbelievable.
It's like nothing else I've ever experienced.
It's not about beating the next guy.
It's about who beats the track.
This TT is the most powerful race you'll ever do in your life.
I love it, and it's legal.
People often ask, "Why do you road race?"
Because circuit racing is fast, you can get a buzz, but it's not the same.
Circuit racing is rock climbing with a rope.
It's dangerous. But there is some room for error
You slip, you fall, you've got a rope.
Road racing is like free climbing.
You know you're climbing up that same mountain, you're on a course,
but there's no room for error
If you make a mistake it's, it's going to be, you know...
Well, it could be serious injury or worse.
You're doing maybe 170, 180 mile an hour;
going through fast bends with trees, hedges, brick walls.
It's the greatest thing.
And you realise
the dangers before you put your leg over the bike.
I mean, at the top of Bray Hill before I go out,
you know, you have lots of strange thoughts in your mind
and you're nervous and you're worried, but as soon as you set off;
and you get the tap off the start marshal
to go down Bray Hill, that's gone.
Then once you're actually out here the noise, the wind,
the physical strain on your body,
there's nothing like it. It's just, you put yourself through hell
and you frighten yourself so many times, but that is the draw.
Out there you can't fake it, you know.
There's nothing you can do that isn't putting you in the moment.
This is it. You know...
Especially if you ride two wheels. This is about as difficult as it gets.
You know, people talk about extreme sports.
There's nothing more extreme than road racing.
One split second.
I mean, somebody like Joey Dunlop, 31 years of career,
26 TT wins. All those other race wins,
all those World Championships...
One split second.
- Oh, dearie me. - Oh, down he goes.
Oh, that throws...
There is no room for error on the TT course.
Of all road-racing circuits, it is the toughest and most unforgiving.
With an average five deaths for every mile,
only a lucky few have crashed and escaped unharmed.
Milky Quayle is one of the lucky ones.
Your life revolves around the TT
because its such an immense, passionate thing
whether you're on the track or off the track. It is a life and death thing.
I know it sounds crazy and stuff I mean,
I've... I haven't raced around here now for eight or nine years
and I still now struggle with life because
I can't do it, you know, I can't get me buzz.
It's like you've done the ultimate
and once you can't have that ultimate,
then you're a bit like a drug addict, sort of thing.
You just can't, you can't get it out of your system.
You love it.
When I'm sat beside the track,
you just want to do it and you think, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah and then...
So, obviously if you keep yourself busy
and whether it's blooming sweeping the floors or emptying the bins
or taking other riders round, or meeting dignitaries
and taking press round, it keeps my mind off it, really.
Milky looks after the newcomers
and shows them around the course.
It can take three years of competing to learn it
and at least that long to build up the confidence
needed to be able to push themselves to the limits.
It's all about confidence.
You need to be confident where the corners go
and how fast you can go round that corner
to build up your speed, so I'm still experimenting
on how fast I can go, a little bit more, a little bit more, little bit more.
How to build up and get used to the corners
and the bumps and the rises and the tipping points
and the grids and everything, and hopefully I’ll keep going a bit fasten
Get over, get over!
In by the hedge, transfer back over the bike again.
Into here, and guess what,
there's another one here.
That takes you three years to get right.
After only two years of competing,
Jenny Tinmouth is the fastest woman ever around the course.
You definitely feel like you shouldn't be doing it.
It's quite bizarre. You feel...
You do feel kinky, and a bit naughty.
To be blasting around the roads,
but again, I think that's half the fun...
Like when you set off down Bray Hill, it's just massive big grin.
It's like...
As I'm coming up here, all I'm thinking about
is the next corner that's coming up, which is called Ballagarey.
It's affectionately known as Ballascary because it is.
It's so, so scary. It's so fast.
It's the most important,
but also the most dangerous corner on the circuit.
The big problem with Ballagarey is it's unsighted on your entry point
so as I'm coming up to here now I'm still hard on the gas,
still on the gas, still on the gas,
at the 30 mile an hour sign here now,
this is where I come off the gas. I come down one gear effectively,
I get my head out of the bubble,
and my head's getting ripped off my shoulders,
but at that point also I'm trying to look for my peel in point
but I still can't see it.
I know it goes to the right but where do I turn in?
As soon as I see the kerb on the inside,
I lay the bike on its side and drive it.
OK, and just fire through, right by the kerb-
So, so fast.
Averaging 131. 57 miles per hour;
John McGuinness is still the fastest man around the course.
A hundred years ago, the first race was won at just 38 miles per hour.
Throughout its history even riders with no hope of winning
have come to break personal bests
and challenge the island's famous course.
Riders are always chasing faster and faster lap times.
...in first place. This is Nick Crowe. He's still second.
I just think it's got a certain addiction about it.
Once you get here, you couldn't let it go then.
You're looking for the ultimate lap times all the time.
I always set out to beat myself more than anybody else.
Every year, I just thought I'd do it faster and faster and faster,
which I was actually doing
unfortunately until to the time of me accident,
which was really no fault of me own, just one of those freak things.
In 2009, while leading the race
a hare ran onto the track, causing Nick to crash his sidecar
at 160 miles per houri
I think it just came up and damaged the front part of the fairing.
And then it came and hit me in the face and that was it then,
obviously the bike turned immediately right then, that was it,
straight into the trees.
Yeah, we were lucky to get away with that one.
If we have an injury or a fatality,
I tend to sort of want to stop
because, yeah, I do, feel like a drug dealer sometimes
because I'm preparing these engines for these people
to go and hurt theirselves with
and even though it's, you know, touch wood, not my fault, you know,
people who deal in drugs are worse than the people who take them.
And last year; we had such a terrible time.
I did say that I wouldn't carry on with the sidecars.
And then the way Nick bounced back was just...
I couldn’t say no to him at all,
so we've got three engines all ready for him, and we're doing two more.
His spirit is unbelievable.
Nick himself won't be riding.
Instead, his own race team will attempt
to break the sidecar lap record,
which has stood unbroken since his accident.
Do you have to find Guy?
Yeah. He's...
He's got a little problem with his license.
Have you got a problem with your license, Gary?
Yeah, I've just had to have it re-scanned.
Typically, Guy is nowhere to be found
and he won't be eligible to practise without his race license.
Until he returns, the bike can't go through scrutineering.
We don't know where he is, as usual.
He'll be here in a bit, hopefully.
We've just had a message from race control.
Would Guy Martin please report to the race office immediately, please.
Guy Martin...
Where do you start?
He is a maverick.
He's an eccentric. He's always got something good to say,
although a lot of the time it comes out not broadcastable.
He's a bit old school.
He's a bit what we grew up with, what we used to be.
Guy is a fabulous personality.
I don't think Guy really knows exactly what he wants to do.
He's got a lot of different loves in his life.
I'd like to see him win around here,
but if he's not careful, he'll run out of time.
Guy is a colourful character
But he's an attention seeker; isn't he?
He loves a bit of attention, he's had green shorts on for two years.
I mean, they must be stinking and growing legs by now,
but that's what racing is all about.
We need characters in there, you know. Guy is what he is.
I mean, he talks pure rubbish, but he's funny.
Guy says it as it is,
and I think that's why he's so popular with people.
He's not worried about upsetting the hierarchy.
Guy Martin is Guy Martin
and nobody would want him any other way.
I mean he is a true grit, he's a John Wayne of motorcycle racing.
At last, Guy returns
after blowing up a friend's classic bike in the south of the Island.
- There you are, it's sorted now. - That's all it is.
Spot on! Ta very much. Cheers, boss.
The roads will be closing in half an hour
and tonight's practice will start at 7:30 prompt.
Guy's race license approved,
the team can finally make it through scrutineering with the bikes.
Right, cheers.
And the time is now 7:25,
the roads will be closing and tonight's practice
will begin in five minutes' time.
Five minutes, ladies and gentlemen, five minutes.
Number eight, Guy Martin, and number 19, James Hillier
leave the line, both on superbikes as well.
The mechanics said last year coming into the first pit stop
me eyes were on stalks,
you couldn't see the whites of me eyes all the time.
You come to the TT and your body's unfamiliar with it to start with.
Stuff's just going past so fast.
From a standing start lap, 125 mile an hour; you know, first lap.
And it’s like, "I must be mad."
It is spectacular and when you've just, you know plodding along
on your road bike thinking you are a legend riding fast.
It's like a totally different thing
when you see the race bikes come through.
You might have driven to the pits that morning
so your top speed for the day so far is maybe 40 miles an hour
You let the clutch out and within a couple of miles
you're pushing 200 miles an hour between you know,
stone walls and hedges.
So it takes a bit to get your head up to speed.
Then you settle down and start relaxing
and getting more and more comfortable with the circuit.
You start going faster;
start going smoothly, start breathing properly.
You do go into, like, this weird sort of state of mind
where everything start slowing down.
You start moving, your eyeline starts lifting so much
and your brain starts working so much ahead of yourself
You're thinking, like, maybe four or five corners ahead.
It's all about momentum,
and keeping your rhythm up
and not getting into any stupid battles with people.
You've got to be really using your head.
I'm a real hard rider to ride with, if you want to race off me
you're going to have to be willing to wrap around a post.
You know what I mean? And that's the way I race motorbikes.
And that's the way I push, and I'll push any man to the bitter end.
If they wanna play ball, they can play with me, you know.
When you listen to the bikes coming in sixth gear...
And they never close the throttle, this is also for me, I mean...
You know, I've ridden bikes for many years...
Wow! Wow! Really wow.
Even after all these years to talk to somebody about
the Isle of Man TT course,
the hair stands up on the back of your neck and you remember,
and I'll never ever forget my first flying lap of the TT
going over St Ninian's crossroads down Bray Hill.
And I thought I'd come off the end of the world, really.
I thought I'd ridden off the end of a cliff
You just feel you can fly really,
and most of the times you do.
Where's Guy, Johnny?
- Where's Guy? - Just walking up to you.
Guy's bike has been impounded because on his return,
he has illegally ridden it through the town.
So I've got to go up and get a bollocking? For what?
For riding through the holding area, or riding through the town?
Riding through the town, Chief
See, you're supposed to read that bit before you go out.
But I didn't see you because you was late for the grid.
That's telling you not to do what you did.
- Don't do it again. - Really, really Mr Craig,
this is where you come in. Team boss and all that.
- I'm gonna blame you, Wilson. - Yeah, blame me.
I'm blaming you, yeah.
Oh, fucking mega! Where's Rob?
- It would be perfect. - No problem.
More badges?
Yeah, every year.
Guy will get his bike back once he apologises.
Who do I go see for a bollocking?
Can I take me bike?
- You want some chips? - I wouldn't mind, mate.
I know you're on a diet.
- Help yourself. - Thanks very much.
Go on, get in there.
You're a good lad, you.
Thanks, lads.
You're all right, Mr Craig.
All right, boss, job done.
That's fucking mustard, alright, boys.
Has that got the same sprocket carrier in?
Yes.
J* If there's one thing that I like
J* It's riding around on a motorbike
J* I'm a speed king
J* When I once begin
J* I once won first prize two and six
J* I know all the dirt track dirty tricks
J* I'm a marvel when I'm out to win
J* In a 50-mile race I am the best
J* I ride five miles and skid the rest
J* So come along and see me riding in the TT races
J* Down the hill I go at break-neck speed
J* See me coming down the street
J* With the winning post on the pillion seat
J* Oh! Come along and see me riding in the TT race
Absolutely, two weeks of my life.
It's just something that...
That, to me, is like the World Cup.
It's just 50 years of my life is 100 weeks,
it's just unbelievable.
The atmosphere. The friends I've made, from all around the world,
you see every year You lose some, gain some.
It's just something special.
One second!
People say to me, oh, you've got children, you know,
you shouldn't be allowing him to do it.
But, you took racing away from Dan
and it would just be the end of Dan's world,
and I can't do that to him, you know.
He's my husband, I love him,
so I have to support him.
You're up on the Grandstand,
sitting together you know, the rest of the families
and the rest of the wives. You know, we're all nervous,
but you kind of have to,
sort of have a little joke and a laugh.
And it's amazing the strength that comes from within, really
with all of... Everybody together, you know, you sort of club together
and get yourselves through it really.
The road racers great defence is always the same thing,
every single one of them, it's the same thing,
"But it will never happen to me."
But somewhere in there they know very well
that it can happen to them.
And between those two places
there's a lot of ways of dealing with it.
I've worn the same crash helmet for the last 11 years.
And I always wear a certain pair of socks
throughout the whole fortnight
and I always drop a penny down my leathers, as well,
before the start of every race, yeah.
It makes no difference whatsoever,
but I'll wear pink knickers if it's gonna make me win.
Where's your pass?
I ain't got either one of that.
You need a pass.
I ain't got om.
You can't go past without a pass.
- No? - No, that's the rules.
It's the pit area, you see.
In the pit area, you can't.
That's what you need.
I'll stick it back over the fence for you. Cheers, mate.
Cheers, mate.
There's no question that the Isle of Man TT represents
kind of the last bastion of the freedom of choice
and to come to a place like this
and to have something so truly, you know,
potentially dangerous
be welcomed, really, is refreshing.
It's charming. It's all of the things that should be allowed
to go on other places. I mean, we're human beings.
Life isn't a dress rehearsal.
You only get one lap, why not make it a good one?
This is where I start the mountain climb.
So, this one I have to slow down for; back down to second gear.
I get into that wall, into there,
as I come through here, the bump just there, bang.
So we run now up through this little right hand kink here,
Still flat, Still flat,
on the power, on the power on the power, on the power, on the power,
underneath the wall, off the power, down one gear,
back on the power, now to drive, on the drive, drive, drive, drive,
back down to second gear.
Back on the power now, pull the bike straight,
get up, get up, get the driving on,
up towards these little left-hand kinks here.
get into that one, into there,
out towards the tree on the right hand side of the road, right to here, OK?
As we run up to that to go on to Guthrie's, OK?
Guthrie's is the third most important corner on the circuit.
Got three left hand bends here, OK.
It's very steep. This is the one, get the first one right,
get into that one, into there,
out to the white line, back into number two,
out to number three, just there.
See the corner on the brakes hard, down three gears, one, two, three.
Back into there, back on the power; drive it through.
Right out to the white line, back over towards
the external white line,
back in then, just underneath this one just here,
feathering the throttle, there we go. Lovely. Nice wheelie.
Bang.
Over the next seven days, there will be many scrapes and near misses,
seven cracked vertebrae, four broken ribs,
five life-threatening incidents, two bruised lungs
and unfortunately, much worse.
Where's Camee?
He's in there?
What's the plan?
- What? - Tea.
Tea. Yeah, get his tea.
And get an early start in the morning.
- That the plan, Wilson? - Sorry?
What's the plan? These boys are asking what the plan is.
The plan is you're riding the bike.
Ah, well, there you go. That's it sorted. Job done.
Well, obviously a fair bit of mist up here,
Douglas, at the moment around the area here. It is clear up on the top...
Starting off with the TT Superbike race.
Six laps of the course,
226. 38 miles.
A reminder; this is a time trial, they go at 10 second intervals,
so they're racing the clock just as much as each other
Most important, of course, they race themselves.
They race tradition, they race the history of the mountain course.
We're one minute away from the start of racing
at this year's TT
The laws of averages tell me he's going to win.
I would like him to win the first race
because I believe that will settle him.
If he wins the first race, he'll win three or four.
I really believe in him.
And it is a Suzuki that sets us going, there goes Bruce Anstey.
With mist still rolling along Glencrutcheny Road,
but we are racing.
And there is the number one machine of Bruce Anstey.
And he's very compact there through Union Mills.
And there is John McGuinness,
the fastest man in the history of the mountain course.
And here's Hutchy with two wins last year; but not on a superbike-
Next off is number eight, 28 years of age,
here comes Guy now.
He's fast down Bray Hill.
Good turn speed.
And here we go. We're on. Two together
John McGuinness leads on the road ahead of Bruce Anstey.
Number six, Cameron Donald, is closing the gap
between him and Keith Amor
They've got a battle on there,
the advantage being held by Cameron Donald
but here is Guy Martin now and he's quick!
John McGuinness has had an amazing start to this race
but Conor Cummins, the local lad, is right behind him
only eight-hundredths of a second down in second place.
Back here in the Grandstand, I can tell you from my screen
that Conor Cummins has taken the lead at Ballaugh on corrected time
a three second lead over John McGuinness.
But John clearly has problems because
at the Sulby speed trap
he's gone through at only 136.4 miles an hour
So, clearly problems with John McGuinness and the big Honda.
But up to Ramsey and Roy Moore.
Well, they said it was going to be close and it is,
cos Guy Martin's here... Oh, my goodness!
Guy Martin was nearly taken out there
by Michael Dunlop, and it was close.
Conor Cummins, number 10,
leads by six seconds before Ian Hutchinson.
It's then in third place Guy Martin,
just one second down on Hutchinson.
John McGuinness is a retirement on Sulby Straight.
What a disappointment,
the king of the mountain is out on the first lap
but on with the show.
Number four who is leading on the road.
I can tell you that number 10 has increased his lead to 14 seconds
over number four; Ian Hutchinson.
We could see a Manxman on the top of the podium
for the first time for several years.
Cummins has got that fantastic lead now 21 seconds.
If he can just hang it together there will certainly be some Guinness
drunk in the Swan in Ramsey tonight.
And Ian Hutchinson's lap time, 130.496,
So here's Conor now, let's have a look at this.
Oh, it's 131.511 by Conor Cummins.
And, wow, what a performance by the man from Ramsey.
Well, the light came on at Cronk-ny-Mona
to signal the arrival of number six, Cameron Donald,
but he's failed to appear
Now we reckon that Cameron may have made a mistake on that lap,
possibly an overshoot at Signpost
That seems one logical explanation for that.
We've just got another machine coming in now,
and that'd be Guy Martin is in now,
Guy's just coming in to the top of the pit lane now
and it's Conor's that's on the way as he's just being told there.
Bring it home, Conor; bring it home.
He knows he's got a 21.1 lead at Glen Helen.
On this lap, 23.3.
Well, there's the klaxon going, Hutchy leaves now.
And Cameron, he'll be kicking himself for that mistake,
he's now dropped to 13th. Oh, Conor stalls! Conor stalls!
Is he gonna get it going here now, it just won't fire up-
Quite a bit of time. Come on, come on,
come on, come on, oh, no, no, no.
It's fired, it's fired!
Oh, Conor; a big shake of the head from the big man from Ramsey there.
Guy Martin goes as well, and Guy's fast into the speed limiter there,
and nails it. Charlie Lambert.
So, a 21 second lead,
and all of a sudden it was down to four seconds.
Seventeen seconds disappeared during the course of that problem,
of getting the big ZX-10 fired up again.
So, ifs all to play for then in the final two laps
and there's some work to be done by Cameron
to eat into Conor's lead.
So, Conor Cummins, Ian Hutchinson,
Guy Martin and Michael Dunlop, those are the top four
The order is the same, but the gap has most certainly changed.
First of the late-numbered runners now in pit lane.
And here's number 26, Paul Dobbs,
racing with the kiwi on his helmet
and there's Jenny, away now.
And we've just had news that Conor's missing.
Conor Cummins missing here at Glen Helen.
Waved yellows out here as a new machine comes into view now.
No, it's not Conor; either.
That's number eight, Guy Martin.
Conor missing at Glen Helen.
I can tell you what's happened to Conor
He's a retirement, mechanical failure at Laurel Bank.
A retirement at Laurel Bank. A mechanical failure.
Huge disappointment there for Conor
So it's Ian Hutchinson, number four who's leading on the road.
There's number eight, Guy Martin into second place for now.
And there's one, two, three into view now.
Those three are going to have a real old scrap over the mountain
and that's going to be well worth looking at.
It's not only Conor that has bad news.
We've just heard that the new timing system here in the pits
has claimed its first-high profile victim
with Guy Martin picking up a 30-second time penalty.
That's moved him down from what would have been second place
down to fourth place. So, off the podium
for Guy and Ian Hutchinson, the 30-year-old from Bingley in Yorkshire
is the leader of the Superbike TT
with Michael Dunlop now in second place.
I know it's Hutchy winning, but keep an eye on number six, Cameron Donald,
despite that excursion at Signpost
finishing the race very strongly indeed
and that final place on the podium is not nailed just yet.
You can see the chequered flag is now being prepared.
Here comes the wheelie of Ian Hutchinson,
and Ian Hutchinson wins on the Padgett's Honda.
The final result sheet, Hutchy one, Dunlop two, Donald three,
and Guy Martin finishing in fourth place.
And it was a time penalty that cost Guy so dearly.
So, when I was in pit lane, I heard him announce
that Guy had gone through the speed lane too fast
and there was a time penalty against him, now that's all I've heard.
We just lost second place.
When Guy was told he just jumped off the bike, got into his van.
He didn't even take his helmet off
But I'm sure he'll come back again, you know.
It's a big disappointment to Guy.
You know, he'd just done 224 miles at those speeds
and then told we are penalizing you for nothing.
Such a tiny thing. Point one over 60.
There shouldn't be a 30-second penalty.
Five, possibly.
That's harsh.
They're measuring the average speed over a distance.
Now who's to say that their distance that they're measuring over
is accurate to within a millimetre?
We have books full of regulations, by the way.
And unfortunately, I perhaps also ought to say,
that in the matter of time-keeping
the timekeeper, his word is law
and he records what are then considered to be matters of fact
from which there is no protest or appeals.
OK.
Yeah, well, that's it. Monday's a new day, innit, and you know,
Guy's got another two races on Monday
so you know as long as Guy turns up this evening, open-minded,
and puts today's race behind him,
you know, he's got another superbike race as well on Friday.
And, you know, we'll just move on from it.
Welcome to Monday's action on the mountain course.
Two races, 600cc machines are off first at 10:45.
Guy Martin has blitzed them from the start.
At Ballaugh, Guy Martin is still leading the race by
just over a second from Ian Hutchinson, with Dan Kneen in third place.
Guy Martin is here at Ramsey hairpin, lap one,
and he still leads and he looks determined today.
News from the top of the mountain, from the Bungalow,
is that Ian Hutchinson has halved the gap on Guy Martin.
And here's Ian Hutchinson who leads at the end of the first lap.
Guy Martin obviously likes that stretch of course
between the Grandstand and here because he's consistently quicker.
But Hutchy seems to get it on him on him everywhere else.
It's trouser-bulging excitement here.
Guy Martin is leading the race.
Now Ian Hutchinson has gone back into the lead.
It's Guy Martin back into the lead.
There's Hutchy now, leading on the road.
Oh, as quick as that.
Charlie, what's the difference as Guy comes in?
3.3 seconds so Hutchy has been going away a little bit.
Guy Martin's being told there, "You can do this,"
and I'm sure there's thousands out there who would like him to do this.
Get out the fucking way.
Did Guy have problems there on the way?
We heard a lot of shouting.
Guy goes through with Keith Amor hot on his tail.
Michael Dunlop slots into third.
But, here's Ian Hutchinson who's extended the lead.
There's now over four seconds, but stand by your beds
because the news from Ballaugh is that Guy Martin has halved the gap.
Ian Hutchinson is coming towards the end of the race
but Guy Martin has now got it down to less than three seconds at the Cronk
and Guy Martin is having the lap of his life!
But is it going to be enough to give him his first victory here at the TT
And Hutchy crosses the line right now, but where is Guy?
He started 40 seconds after Hutchy.
We've started the stopwatch,
and we're going to be counting it all the way down
from those 40 seconds. 37... 38...
It's 39... It is victory for Ian Hutchinson.
By 3.03 seconds. Guy Martin is in second place.
Michael Dunlop is in third place, with a final lap of 126. 587.
The one, two, three is Hutchinson, Martin and Michael Dunlop.
And it's down to Chris Kinley.
I don't know where Guy got to, actually.
I can tell you he went straight up the return
and that is as much as we know at the moment.
So Guy did not come into the winners' enclosure.
He went straight up the return,
we’ll have to find out what's going on there.
Charles, did you see him?
The people who made the rules, it's nothing to do with us.
Paul's trying to do his job, you know what I mean, it's not Paul,
Paul doesn't make the rules.
Now this is me being picky.
Guy, we're all really proud of you, so just please...
For Wilson. Please. Please. Please.
Get yourself together, Guy.
- Wouldn't you be peeved? - Yeah, Guy, I'd be upset
but I wouldn't take it out on the people
who are supposed to be me mates.
Point one-one-two...
Whoa, whoa, whoa! Guy! Guy! Brakes, front brakes! Front brakes!
Gonna hold his bum in a minute.
Now then, boss, where'd you go?
60.112.
That's you boys being picky. This is me being picky.
I'll do what I want at my speed.
So this is Saturday's race you're on about, isn't it?
Yeah. Yeah...
I'll let you get down the bottom there we'll have a longer chat later on.
OK, Guy? Thank you very much, Guy's off there now.
So that was a bit of a Guy Martin protest we saw there,
you going straight in?
If I walked at .112 of a kilometre an hour
do you know how far I'd go?
.112 of a kilometre, how far's that, the length of this here.
Get a grip, man, get a grip. 30 seconds...
There's the applause.
And richly deserved, as well, it's been a terrific morning's racing,
and these guys will remember this for one reason or another
for a very long time.
But Guy Martin is not hanging around at the top of the podium,
he's already making his way down.
He's taking his bottle of bubbly with him, though.
Tell me a bit how you feel.
They're being awkward with me, I'll be awkward with them.
They just do things... They want you, "You can't do this, you can't do that."
You know, "Press this, press that." Fuck off.
They've been awkward with me, I'll be fucking awkward with them.
That simple. No problem.
No problem. Don't worry, that's only the tip of the iceberg.
You wait till I win a fucker.
I didn't even think about it really, I just agree with them.
You're better off. All I say was just sour grapes, anything at all that I say.
I could've said out.
So I had to do an interview yesterday morning...
I just said, "I was happy to finish fourth.
"Happy. It's where I wanted to be."
Obviously not, I wanted to win it, didn't I?
But they're not helping you with dickheads like that, are they?
Oh, well.
Worse things happen at sea, we're still here aren't we?
I thought it went rather well.
Obviously not well enough, cos Hutchy beat me.
Yeah, I know what needs to be done.
But there's another three races left yet, isn't there?
It'll come.
There is the race leader Ryan Farquhar really looking dialled in.
Something must have gone wrong at the start for Guy
he was well outside the top 10.
It's Hutchy's victory by 1.3 seconds.
Hutchy, Ryan and Conor; in that order
it's hat trick Hutchy winning three TT's in a week.
And there are still two solo TT's to go.
I just gave it absolutely everything I could.
And, it's just unbelievable, man, unbelievable.
Hello?
All right, driver. Who are you?
What do you know?
No.
Yeah, just sat watching some onboards playing,
getting a plan of attack sorted.
Jeffries is from 2002
and then bits of Hutchy.
I'm going through the tight sections too hot,
and then I'm losing the run onto the long straights.
- You want it? - OK, thank you.
- Can you sign here? - All right love, how's it going?
- Going great. - Good lass.
Hope you get the race.
I know. Let's hope so, eh?
I've just seen Paul Dobbs,
let’s maybe go and have a word with Dobbs.
- Good morning, Paul. - How you doing?
What about today's conditions? I bet you were sat
when you woke up this morning and you must have thought, "Oh, no."
No, teammates with Oatsey this year
and he assures me that it's gonna come right, so...
All right, Paul, I’ll let you get it together and get warm,
he looks freezing.
You're looking as if you're not ready for a race, either
Nowhere near. I mean, yeah, it's not safe is it?
No, so you can't go racing in that. I ain't racing.
There you go, love.
Guy! Guy!
Guy, she fancies you!
...as Guy Martin goes through in fourth place.
There goes Hutchy, looking very strong.
Keith Amor on the pace is in third.
Michael Dunlop is here and he still leads.
But only by 1.82 seconds.
The difference is only 1.82 seconds.
No, I think Hutchy has done it...
He has, because Michael Dunlop crosses the line,
but it is Ian Hutchinson who has won the race.
And not just that.
He has made the most amazing piece of history here today.
The first man in history to win the first four TT races.
And only the second man,
after Phillip McCallen, to win four in a week.
Ian Hutchinson, the new king of the mountain.
No question about that.
James McBride away now.
Next away will be New Zealand's finnest Paul Dobbs,
and right behind him is Welshman Paul Owen.
Great to see the man from Llangollen here once again.
Well, we were on the start line,
and then you shake hands with your mate
and always wish him all the best.
I set off behind my mate, Paul Dobbs.
Because you're 10 seconds apart,
you can count them when they just disappear
You start counting.
You can hear them coming down from the campsite down in the dip
and then back up. You can hear them speed coming up there.
And you can tell the men from the boys
because they gear down, they drop a cog down
and then they ease off slightly, then they open it up
and rip it around the corner.
But I have to say, the top boys, they just don't bother.
They just keep it going flat.
He just came round the corner so well,
clipped it,
the bike went the height of the bus stop.
It just went straight up,
the height of the bus stop that's down there.
Like a battleground.
I was just closing on him
and then we were just coming up to Ballagarey
and I just seen him go off into the corner
and then the yellow flags came out so I knew that there'd been an incident.
Either he'd blown the engine or crashed so,
I could like hear the other riders coming so I just grabbed a flag
and just ran into the track to slow the other riders down.
The medics tried everything they could for him.
But he'd have been cheesed off if he'd have been in a car
and got squashed by a tractor or summat like that, like.
Like, we're here, we race. We know the dangers.
It's not tiddlywinks or whatever
That's why everybody gets on if you can help each other.
But sadly,
he lost his life to the sport that he loves.
Just one of them, like.
I had one of those moments, you know, that happen at some point
once or twice during every TT fortnight,
when I just stand and look around and everything you see, the bikes,
the overalls, you know you hear that siren, pit-entry siren.
Everything going on and I just thought, I love this.
And I actually thought, a stupid moment of clarity,
God, I'd miss this if I couldn't have it cos something happens to Dobbsy.
An hour later...
Anyone could lose their partner tomorrow.
People step out under a bus. People are lost every day.
You talk about that, and you joke about it all the time, you know.
I might not be here next week, is what people say.
But when it is part of your consciousness,
even a subconscious part,
it really does make you love life.
It makes you appreciate who you've got
and what's special about them
and just how lucky you are.
The reason we make that choice to go racing
is just the whole, you know,
"We're here for a good time."
What can, you know, how can we get the most fun out of life?
And, we want the kids to share that as well.
They come along, they love it, they're part of it.
Because we had that time with him, it's made us who we are.
It's made them who they are.
You know, they're incredible.
Um, they're strong. They're fun.
And we have fun. You know, we have so much fun.
It doesn't stop.
And we're going to keep on having fun, you know.
Ride the bikes, play the music, dance in the kitchen.
We still love the TT still love the island,
you can't change that.
You can't love the death. You can't love the loss.
But you can't love the excitement and the thrill
without knowing that that's part of it.
It wouldn't be so exciting if it didn't have the risk.
That's why they want to do it.
Meanwhile, the Auto Cycle Union has confirmed
a second rider was killed in yesterday's Supersport 2 race.
48-year-old Austrian Martin Loicht died in a crash at Quarry Bends...
This is Friday, Senior day.
This is the day we've all been waiting for
it's the final, and it's the race of the year,
as far as we're concerned.
The big prize. People call it "The Power and the Glory".
It just means so much.
So we will be putting a big effort into this, a huge effort.
Everyone's ready. And Guy is up for it.
He's just arrived. That's him.
On the dirty old bicycle, the pushbike.
Who's going to take this year's Senior title?
Will it be an unbelievable five for Ian Hutchinson?
Can John McGuinness make it onto the podium?
I've had a second, had a fourth yesterday, I had a fifth.
And so I've not had the best of weeks, really. A few little issues
in the way of just bike setup.
But it's all food for thought,
and I've got to try and take it through into today's race
and go play the part, see what I can do.
I'm going to go out there and try my hardest.
But then sometimes I've been watching onboards,
I've been watching this and watching that.
And am I trying too hard?
And I think I look in a couple of places, and I am.
And that's what's holding me back, so...
Yeah, I'll pull me finger out.
That penalty, I didn't feel really hard done by.
Worse things happen at sea. I just came and sat in here
with me helmet and me boots and me gloves and me leathers
and all that shit on, and just sat here and...
At the time, if someone would have come in here,
if Mr Speed-gun Man or whatever had come in here
I'd have thrashed fuck out of him.
But, really, Mr Speed-gun Man, I'd have thrashed fuck out of him.
I'm not a fighting man, but there's a time and a place for everything.
And something like that's going on.
Point... Whatever, don't even get me started on it.
I've won four so far, and it'd be great to get the fifth.
You know, it'd be the fairytale story.
But, obviously, everyone's been gunning out to get me all week.
And I think in some respects, the pressure's kind of off them
with it just being one person that's done it all week.
What more can they do?
It's not as if you know, there's been four different winners
and they haven't won one, it's just...
I think maybe the pressure is off them a little bit, but...
On the other side of it, it's the last race this year.
You know, if they really are determined to win a TT this year,
this is the last chance.
I haven't seen one of those Conor Cummins posters around yet,
but there'll be a big groundswell of support for the local boy.-.
If you go out there with your head riled,
if I listen to Rage Against The Machine before I go out,
you're going out with the wrong frame of mind.
So I'm gonna go out there listening to...
I think I might have a bit of Otis Redding on before I go out.
Yeah, smoke me 10 Bensons.
Do you want 10 Bensons?
That'll do you, will it?
Yeah, I'm only taking up smoking... I'm taking up smoking after July.
But there's been a few moments in this past couple of weeks
where I've just thought...
But I've not smoked, so I think a bit of Otis Redding on the start line,
pretend to smoke a fag,
and take it as it comes.
Well the parade lap is coming to its conclusion here.
We're going to have the senior TT race going
in just under an hour's time
at half past 12,
and we will, of course, give you all the build up
and the interviews as the riders get out there.
Can history be made by Ian Hutchinson?
He's proved himself to be an absolute maestro
around the mountain course.
And there is the number one machine of Bruce Anstey.
The lap record still standing at 131.578 miles an hour.
That was set by John McGuinness last year. Less than 10 seconds to go.
Well, I can tell the members of the Guy Martin fan club over there
on the far side of Glencrutchery Road
that their man is still one of the favourites,
along with the big local hope, number 10, Conor Cummins.
The last few seconds tick away.
We watch the flag, which drops, and we are now racing.
Bruce Anstey. Mountain Maestro John McGuinness.
Now number three Ian Lochear That's Hutchy on the number four
Keith Amor goes. And Cameron Donald.
So Michael is away on the Honda.
Guy Martin on the Wilson Craig Honda.
Guy's off and racing.
But I can tell you that when we look to the scoreboard
to see that Guy Martin, number eight, leads.
But only by .4 or .5 of a second from number 10, Conor Cummins.
There is only .06 of a second then
between him and number four Ian Hutchinson,
with John McGuinness just .74 of a second down on him.
So one and a half seconds cover the top four here.
And a tight line in from number eight, Guy Martin.
A hundred and thirty one mile an hour lap for Guy.
131.108, that's Guy Martin's fastest lap ever around the mountain course.
And he's absolutely on song today.
It's all about those guys on the eight and 10 plates,
Guy Martin and Conor Cummins, but it's so close right behind them,
Hutchy and John McGuinness are right there in the mix.
And Conor has gone into the lead.
Conor has snatched the lead from Guy Martin
but there's 0.58 seconds in it.
It's down to fractions of seconds,
because at the Bungalow, Guy Martin has narrowed the gap
on Conor Cummins to just one-tenth of a second. That's all there is.
It's still desperately, desperately tight.
It's Guy right in front of me here now,
red torpedo on the back of his leathers.
Just watch that speed! Go on...
And Guy Martin, let me just give you his details.
130.642,
and he was the race leader at Cronk-ny-Mona,
but we're still waiting for Conor Conor's here now.
130.278.
A brand new tyre in for Guy as he fires up and he is away.
Right now we saw a great pit stop by the Wilson Craig team
and it's the McAdoo boys who are on it now.
Tighten her up, Mark, and
Mark just says go, go, go, go.
She fires and the big man is away now.
Here he is. Here's Guy Martin now!
But there was an awful long gap there
in between Hutchinson and Michael Dunlop and Keith Amor appearing here,
and the road goes quiet here for a moment or two.
But we're still waiting on machine number eight.
And here's Conor at number 10,
so we don't appear to have a Guy Martin here.
Guy Martin is missing.
Red flag. Attention, attention. Red flag.
Well, back here at the grandstand, we're not sure
if we've got a red-flag situation. The race has been stopped
because a fire engine has to go onto the track.
It's clearly something very serious at Ballagarey.
It's only the second Senior race in 100 years to be red-flagged.
Incident at Ballagarey.
Guy Martin hasn't reached Glen Helen.
Red flag, boys. Red flag.
We believe it's Guy Martin. He's crashed and the bike has set fire to a field,
and that's one of the only times they'll put red flags out.
it's gut-wrenching for everyone.
The team are pacing up and down,
you can see the team boss' head down, not knowing what's going on.
I mean, nobody knows any better than anybody.
First we knew about it was when Guy didn't arrive at Glen Helen.
You'd like to think that it's a mechanical failure
rather than a crash.
But then we heard the hedge was on fire at Glen Vine...
Only riders and officials are allowed in the parc fermé area.
Everybody else out, please. Thank you.
You could see the fire in the distance about a mile away.
There was smoke and one of the hay bales was on fire
and they slowed us way down and I thought, "OK,
"well, there's a hay bale on Ere,"
and, "There's the bike in somebody's yard."
And I'm like, "OK we're past the incident."
A quarter-mile later there was Guy.
And I was like, "Oh, shit."
There was an incident. Guy was missing so it had to be him.
He crashed at something like 170 miles an hour,
cos he was off at that speed
and, of course, you worry.
You know, you don't jump from a bike
at 170 miles an hour and get up again.
So, yes, we are worried.
Paul Dobbs crashed there last night, and, you know, he didn't make it.
So, fingers crossed for Guy.
It's hit and miss there, you know.
There's no run-out, as there isn't anywhere on the circuit here.
Guy seems to have made a little bit of a rider error sort of thing
and he's gone into the wall.
It's not looking good.
I came up on the circuit,
you know, it just looks like a bomb's exploded when owt goes on here.
The wall and all the bales were on fire,
you Know, and Guy's laid there in the track,
his bike's split in pieces, like it's...
It's horrendous, yeah, we...
Everyone's fingers are crossed at the minute, to see how Guy is.
So quarter past two, for a 3:00 start to a four-lap Senior race.
It's just how it is, sort of thing.
We all enter it. There's no gun to our heads to enter.
We all love it, and at the end of the day, if it goes wrong
and the worst does happen, then he died a happy man, like.
You know, the show's going on. We've got four laps coming here.
We're a 3:00 start.
No. It'll be no slower.
Now let's give you the track conditions.
Roads. Lack of adhesion at Ballagarey
Dry around the rest of the course.
Visibility good. Four lap race.
Got me fingers crossed for Conor today.
He'll be out there giving it the berries, as usual.
I'm right behind you, Conan if you're listening.
Four laps, 150.92 miles.
John McGuinness, the race leader in the race before it was abandoned
is away on number two. This is Ian Hutchinson.
And now number 10, Conor Cummins,
looking so good for the first couple of laps.
He's got to keep it together for the full race today.
And here comes the first of those machines, it is McGuinness.
Here's Hutchy now, 0.61,
that's all there is between the two of them.
I'm sad to report Michael is in retirement at Joey's.
And Cameron is off the bike.
Here's Conor now. Head down.
So the big news here at Glen Helen. Lap two.
McGuinness appears to be out.
And there's 3.24 seconds
that Ian Hutchinson leads number 10, Conor Cummins.
Back here at the Grandstand, we have got a situation at the Bungalow
where Ian Hutchinson retains the lead of the race.
We're waiting for Conor to appear at the Bungalow
before we can update that.
News of Conor Cummins, he came off at the Veranda
and he's receiving attention.
So, Conor off at the Veranda.
Ian Hutchinson crosses the line and rides into the history books.
Forget the famous five, this is the fabulous, fantastic five
by the Bingley Bullet Ian Hutchinson,
30 years of age. He has rewritten the history books
of one of the greatest motorsport events in the world.
Again it was the sound and the blurt
But the blur stopped.
He was coming around the corner A good race line,
really good race line in all fairness to him,
and he was flying round.
The bike comes down, he kicks the bike away
and the bike literally turns into a fireball on impact.
It's like the start of a IV programme, an all-action IV programme
where the screen is filled with flames,
and this silhouette comes towards us
at about waist height, and it's Guy.
And I'm thinking, "Oh, here we go, I got a job here."
First thing that springs to mind.
So I reached down, grabbed my orange box, the med box.
I turned around there and Guy's flying past me
followed by a bike which is on fire and it just screams past me
and then the bike goes over to one side and it's still in flames
and there's black smoke everywhere.
And flames, they make a hell of a mess, don't they?
And Guy's in the middle.
I tell him, "I'm not gonna cut your leathers,
"cos I need to check you over first of all."
And he says, "No, don't cut my leathers, don't cut my leathers."
Now I understand that because I'm a biker, like,
and that's the last thing I'd want is somebody to cut my leathers.
But he was good. He was good.
Definitely somebody's up there watching him.
No doubt about it.
Lucky guy.
I thought, "Right, job was looking good."
Job was looking good, 131 and a half from a standing start.
Uh, slowing to come into the pits, I think 1306,
battling for the lead.
Went out from the pits, got about five mile out, at Glen Vine.
Took the front.
Thought I got it. Thought I got it! Got it! Got it!
See, I've had a few moments like this.
You're just riding into the grip that you've got.
And I was riding up to that point of
I knew where there was decent grip,
and you couldn't really push past that point.
Cos I just left the pits with another full tank of petrol,
and I decided in my head the grip that I could ride up to
and, um...
Obviously not.
I think the full tank of petrol probably made a bit of difference.
Uh, lost the front. Far fronner.
You know, one of the faster corners of the track.
Probably 160-70 mile an hour.
And took the front, I thought
"I've got it, I've got it, I've got it, I've got it.
"No... No, I ain't got it."
So I had to jump ship.
And I think I ended up with a few...
I've got a few bits of singed eyebrows and eyelashes,
and singed me fringe and what have you.
But it's... I ended up in the wall I think.
I can't remember much. I was knocked out.
But I'm still here.
And I'm not bad, really. It could have been a lot worse, couldn't it?
Could have been a lot worse.
Yeah, I think it is nothing.
It's only, you know, a bit of bark off my knees and what have you,
you know, when you're sliding at 160-70 mile an hour
that's a lot of heat, isn't it?
I've got a lot of friction burns from sliding.
A few broken ribs, a punctured lung.
Uh, four chipped vertebrae and two cracked vertebrae.
Apart from that, I'm like a new one.
So, yeah, just sat here and... Yeah.
I think... I think here,
I'm sat here moving my legs and I think, "Ah, I'm invincible."
Then I try and get off and I think, "Oh, fucking hell."
I'm not as good as I think.
Cos they say like owt with the spine, you can't rush it, can you?
Now, it's a stable fracture as it is at the moment,
but push any harder, you know, and it can...
Like Conor's just up the corridor there, not looking clever.
His back's a bit worse than mine, and they're having to send him away
to get his shoulder and his elbow screwed together.
But it's part of the game, boy.
We all know the risks. No one's making us do owt.
All part of the game.
Put me in that position again and I'll do exactly the same.
Exactly the same again.
I’ll be back.
He's just making me work for it, isn't he?
Sorted.
I think I've had a podium every year since 1997.
So, it seems weird, you know, coming up on the access road
and, you know, not getting a cheer and a clap
and getting waved past the rostrum and I was leading the first race
and it all went wrong and then in the senior, the blue ribbon race,
I got up to a sort of eleven second lead and then Guy had the crash.
You know, the red flags come out and you've got to come back
and tune yourself back in,
and get dialled in and ready for the restart
and the restart looking like it was going good
and then we had a kill switch failure.
Two pence wire snaps off and the solder breaks
and just puts you out of contention completely.
You know, that's the TT for you, I suppose.
I've had a lot of luck in the past, I've won a lot of races round here.
And when luck's not on your side, it's not happening for you.
For sure Guy Martin's had a worse day than I had,
and for sure Conor Cummins has had a lot worse day than I have.
I'm still in one piece. I'm gonna head for the ferry and get home
and get my thoughts together and see what's going to be available
for next year, or, if nothing floats me boat,
I might hang me leathers up. You never know.
Me and the kids, together; have had our down times
and I haven't tried to hide anything from them.
You know, we've done our crying together
And then, "OK, what are we gonna do now?"
Get over it, move on.
I think the point of life is to enjoy it.
Have as good a time as we can while we're here and what we've got given.
You can't change what you get given
but you can decide whether or not to enjoy it.
I've been to look at where the crash was,
there's still bits of green paint from either the bike or me leathers
still on the cat's eye on the side of the road.
I can actually see where it's all gone wrong.
I've disappeared over the side.
And the way I look at it that's where the injuries started to happen
and it sort of.. It does get to you a little bit.
The main one was me back.
I broke that in five places
and I've got a big scar on my back
as a result of getting tumbled down the hill and hitting a few things,
I broke my arm in four places.
Some slight nerve damage to it but that's coming back nicely.
My knee was dislocated, a few scrapes,
I had a fractured pelvis and a fractured shoulder blade
and a bruised lung, as well.
Um, there was a bit to take in really, you know.
To get my head around it was a big challenge, you know, mentally.
There's no chance I'm giving up.
I'm 24 year old and I perfectly accept I've been really really lucky
but me love for bike racing is still there
and I've got goals I want to achieve.
So the first opportunity I ever get I'll be straight on it.
That's my plan, you know.
Come up to the Veranda next TT or whenever I get back,
and just attack it like normal.
Yeah, it was a big one but we'll just get on with life.
The world ain't gonna stop for me.
Tremendous start, round the outside.
We think Ian Hutchinson,
the five times in a week winner of the TT
may be the lad who's down there.
Unfortunately, yeah, I got into the second to last race of the year
on a short circuit, not a road race, and ended up with this injury.
I mean, it's a shame how it happened. To be ridden off by somebody else.
You know, when it happened and they were talking about amputating my leg,
there was only one reason I didn’t want to amputate
and that's so I can race a motorbike, you know.
Apart from that, nothing else really matters, so,
you know, my argument was to get my foot back on.
And not only get it on,
I said, "I don't want a foot just on the end of my leg.
"I want a foot that's 100% working so I can get on with my job."
Couldn't have been a better time for it to happen, obviously,
seven months until the start of the season, so...
I've just got to get on with it and get back to fitness
for the start of next year.