Wednesday saw a full schedule of racing slated, with the 2017 Isle of Man TT looking to catch up on a week that had been plagued with adverse weather. First up, was the RL360 Quantum Superstock TT, where competitors race 1,000cc machines in near-stock form.
Just because there was racing, doesn’t mean that the weather was perfect though, with riders advised that there were cross winds at Crosby Hill, along with damp patches at Ginger Hall, the Ramsey Hairpin, and Hillberry.
We are sad to report that the 2017 Isle of Man TT has claimed its first fatality, as Davey Lambert of Gateshead, England passed away this evening, after sustaining injuries during the Superbike TT race on June 4th.
Lambert crashed near Greeba Castle, during the third lap of the Superbike TT, and was treated at the scene before being flown by helicopter to Noble’s Hospital on the Isle of Man. He was later transferred to Aintree Hospital in Liverpool, where he then passed away.
The Isle of Man TT is one of the most iconic motorcycle races on the planet, and part of the allure that comes with the TT is the great spectacle and danger that comes from road racing on tiny city streets.
It is a high price to pay for entertainment – one that competitors do not take lightly. On average, the TT claims the lives of two riders each year, and the casualty list sometimes isn’t contained just to racers, as it is very easy for spectators to be collected in an incident on the track.
Such was the case yesterday, during the Sure Sidecar TT Race 1, when the #47 machine, with Deborah Barron and Alun Thomas on board, veered left after running the turn wide at the Ramsey Hairpin on the race’s third lap.
Fortunately, the Ramsey Hairpin is the slowest point on the TT course, and spectators were able to get out of the way in time, as the sidecar plowed through the spectator section.
Monday’s racing action at the 2017 Isle of Man TT saw the supersport machines taking to the Mountain Course, for the four laps of the Monster Energy Supersport TT Race 1. Despite the change in the machinery, the narrative remained focused on two men: Ian Hutchinson and Michael Dunlop.
With Hutchinson already taking the honors in the opening Superbike TT, the question remained whether Dunlop would respond on the 600cc machines – a class where he typically goes quite well around the TT course.
The was a resounding yes, with Michael Dunlop taking Race 1 of the Supersport TT in a convincing fashion, making this his 14th Isle of Man TT race victory.
Racing for the 2017 Isle of Man TT finally got underway on Sunday, with the RST Superbike TT (often called the “Junior TT” by regulars, in contrast to the final Senior TT of the fortnight) getting underway.
The race framed an important narrative for this year’s TT, pitting Ian Hutchinson and Michael Dunlop against each other.
With Hutchinson on the race-proven BMW S1000RR, the question marks go to Dunlop, as he campaigns this year’s big-bike races on the new Suzuki GSX-R1000R superbike. So far in the practice sessions, both riders have shown considerable pace.
Asphalt & Rubber readers have been enjoying Tony Goldsmith’s work for years, but how does the Manxman approach his home race?
The Isle of Man TT is a race unlike any other, and for A&R’s Tony Goldsmith, it provides a unique challenge. Having grown up on the island, Tony has only missed a couple of TTs in his life, and for those he has a good excuse, “I was doing my exams in school so I had to miss a TT when I was a kid.”
Other than that, his experience offers him a massive benefit during a fortnight of practice and racing, where his native land becomes the centre of the motorcycling world.
With a 37.73-mile circuit, one lap of the TT circuit is more than half the distance of a MotoGP race, and that places a real challenge on the photographer.
“I don’t really prepare for TT, by saying what days I will shoot at different sections,” says Goldsmith. “Maybe a lot of that is because I spend most of the year talking to my friend Stephen McClements about places that I’ve not been to before, and where he’s been that’s good.”
“I do try and not go to the same places every year, because I want my library of photos to be as complete as possible for the whole TT.”
The weather strikes again for the 2017 Isle of Man TT, as Clerk of the Course Gary Thompson was forced to cancel today’s qualifying session because of a persistent low cloud layer and imminent heavy rain for the island.
With meteorologists saying that the weather would only worsen throughout the day, it was a pretty straightforward choice for Thompson, though it has been a frustrating week so far for the TT riders, with this being the third practice/qualifying day that has been scratched from the schedule.
As such, the schedule for the next five days at the Isle of Man TT has been revised, with Thursday’s sessions moved to Friday, Sunday no long a rest day, and several more qualifying sessions sprinkled throughout the calendar.
The big news though is that the race schedule for the remainder of this year’s Isle of Man TT has been modified as well, with the Junior TT now kicking off on Sunday, the Sidecar Race 1 moved to Monday, and the Superstock TT race moved to Tuesday.
Last year saw the Isle of Man TT distilled into a rivalry between Michael Dunlop and Ian Hutchinson. They arrive on the island this year to once again take center stage.
The rivalry between Michael Dunlop and Ian Hutchinson defined last year’s TT, and that is because the duo shared the five wins between each other, but at times it seemed as though shared respect was in short supply.
Last year with both riders using BMW machinery for the big bikes, and the Yamaha YZF-R6 in the supersport class, there was no where to hide at the end of races. It simply came down to preparation and execution, and last year the score was 3-2 in Hutchinson’s favor.
The man who won an incredible, and unmatched, five races at the 2010 festival is once again the man to beat this year, as he continues to ride for the crack Tyco BMW squad, with Dunlop making the switch to Suzuki to ride their all-new GSX-R1000.
