IOMTT: Colin’s TT Blog – Someone I Can Cheer For

A world traveler on two-wheels, Asphalt & Rubber reader and good friend Colin Evans is attending his first Isle of Man TT this year. We asked him to share his perspective on the trip, as both someone new to the Isle of Man, but also as a veteran of the world and riding motorcycles. Our hope is that it will be an informative, yet different, perspective than your typical coverage of the IOMTT. Please enjoy! -Jensen

Everyone here it seems has their favorite rider, and it’s usually someone from their home towns across the UK and across the world; whether it be Morecambe, Ballymoney, Wellington, Bingley, or Grimsby.

But I could not find a team to cheer from my part of Nottinghamshire until this afternoon, when I found sidecar outfit driver and passenger brothers Ben and Tom Birchall – from Mansfield.

I didn’t ever live in Mansfield, but it’s the town next door where I went to school. The picture of them on the podium says it all; they are clearly instantly likable blokes who are pleased as punch with their victory – and they speak with the same accent as I do. All good enough for the fan club registration.

Looking further down the sidecar race card, I was surprised to see how often the team is a family affair.

Ben and Tom Birchall are brothers, but there are other brothers out there as well as sidecar outfits piloted by father and son (Ian and Carl Bell – Steve and Matty Saunders) by husband and wife (Didier and Helene Siro) and even one with Father and Daughter (Tony Baker and Fiona Baker Milligan).

I suppose that there is a huge amount of trust required to make a sidecar both fast and safe and what better way than to rely on a family member.

Finally, after a constant list of schedule changes and delays, I got to finally go out and see the TT the way it is supposed to be watched; from a damp piece of grassy wall, within inches of the riders.

The entry to Governors Bridge is a piece of the old Ramsey Road, preserved for the TT and now called the Nook. The riders here are slowing down dramatically for the hard right hairpin of Governors Bridge that then leads back to the Grandstand straight.

Close enough to the action for all my photos to be very blurred.

What a great time this has been to experience the TT and to learn some of its secrets. Lot’s more to learn to I expect to be back here soon.

Photos: Ben and Tom Birchall on the podium – Sidecar team acknowledging their fans – Supersport ridder hard on the brakes and hard over into Governor’s Bridge – Row of fans.