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.”