Watching racing around Douglas

Trip Start May 01, 2009
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Trip End Ongoing


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Flag of United Kingdom  , Isle of Man,
Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Today it was off to Bray Hill, where I stood at the bottom of a fast right hander with a dip, shortly after the start line. Despite the weather appearing beautiful where I was, on the west side of the island it was raining, and later hailing, meaning that the first race of the day was postponed by a few hours. Annoying, but what can you do..

To pass the time I walked up to the pits area, just behind the grandstand. I was surprised at the expense that many of the teams went to...all of the big teams had huge trucks with awnings off the sides, and the teams were made up of about as many mechanics and other people as you'd see for touring car teams.

While walking around I saw a few of the bigger names there, such as John McGuinness (the most successful current rider), Guy Martin, Bruce Anstey (a New Zealander who I think has 6 or 7 wins to his name), Steve Plater and former World Superbike rider Aaron Slight Pits
Pits
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It was back down to Bray Hill for the start of the race, and I couldn't believe how fast they were flying past! At this part of the track, the riders were hitting around 160mph (~260kph) then accelerating up the hill, where I could see them lifting the front wheel in the distance! It certainly made for some good viewing.
I made my way up to the area where the podium place getters arrive after the race, and saw a few famous faces around, including Murray Walker (ex F1 commentator), then went and watched the podium presentation from the grandstand. It was a historic race win for Michael Dunlop, who's uncle was the most successful IoM TT racer in history, and who's father is also a past winner.

Later in the afternoon I watched the start of the sidecar race from Quarterbridge, about a 20 minute walk from where I was staying. The race was cut short however, as on the opening lap one of the sidecars crashed on a pretty fast part of the track. At first it was a worrying time, as the race was red flagged, and it was some time before any reports were released regarding the incident. Later on in the evening it was reported that both the driver and passenger had been airlifted to hospital, and that both had sustained multiple broken bones, and were both in a pretty serious condition. It was rumoured, but not officially announced, that the sidecar had hit a rabbit, which caused the accident.

Overall it was a good days racing, and the weather was brilliant...at least on the parts of the island I was on, anyway.
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