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100 Years of the TT Mountain Course

Who can forget what a special year 2007 was for the Isle of Man Tourist Trophy races, when the world of motorcycling celebrated the centenary of the running of the very first TT for motorcycles over the old St John’s Course in 1907.

Now, we have it on good authority that the Island is already gearing up for another great round of centenary celebrations in 2011, this time to mark 100 years of use of the 37¾ mile Mountain Course, the challenging and enduring circuit over which famous companies like Norton, Velocette, Ducati, Moto Guzzi, Honda, Suzuki, Yamaha and others, have forged their racing reputations.

Lily Publications intends to contribute to the 2011 celebrations with a book by Manx-based author David Wright, that will tell how this small Island in the middle of the Irish Sea gave over its roads to the racing of motorcycles, how those roads have contributed to the development of so many aspects of the bikes now in everyday use, how – like the bikes - the roads have changed over a century, and how Manx names like Ballacraine, Ballaugh and Creg ny Baa are now part of the everyday vocabulary of race fans worldwide.  

Success over the Mountain Course has earned fame for riders such as Charlie Collier, Jimmy Guthrie, Stanley Woods, Geoff Duke, Bob McIntyre, Mike Hailwood, Giacomo Agostini, Charlie Williams, Joey Dunlop, Steve Hislop, David Jefferies and John McGuinness, plus exponents of the art of three-wheeled racing like Mick Boddice, Dave Saville, Dave Molyneux, etc., and many of those star names will reveal in the book how they ride the Mountain Course, which parts of it they like or dislike, and a few of the mistakes they have made along the way!

The aim throughout is to make this book both informative and entertaining, and as a reader progresses on an armchair lap, every one of the 37¾ miles travelled is filled with stories and accounts of racing incidents that have occurred at the points passed, so allowing you to relive the highs and lows of a century of high-speed activity provided by that incredible breed of motorcyclist  –  the TT racer.    

To help set the mood for 2011, Lily Publications proposes to have copies of ‘100 Years of the TT Mountain Course’ in the shops for Easter 2011.