2011 Isle of Man TT Begins Tonight

[rhody]

See link.

Last year Ian Hutchinson won and unprecedented five TT's, a few races due to good fortune, but I dare say he was the best fit of all the racer's at the TT IMHO. That fact served notice on the likes of John McGuiness, Bruce Ansty, Keith Amor, Connor Cummins, Ryan Farquhar, Cameron Donald, Guy Martin, and a host of others to bring their A game this season. I think it wasn't just the equipment that allowed Hutchie to dominate last season, it was his fitness, focus and tough mental attitude and a bit of luck that played a role in his success. A terrible crash at Silverstone, compound fracture put an end to Hutchinson's hopes to ride in the TT this year (fast forward to 3:19, then do a frame by frame, I don't think the rider(s) behind Ian knew he was there (he was hit twice and spun, and I believe the second hit broke his leg). Talk about a matter of inches, bad luck, bad timing, and being in the wrong place at the wrong time resulting in a whole season being put on hold to recover. It will not be the same without him at the TT.

Let's hope for once that when I get the Blu-Ray version after the races there are no tributes to riders who are killed. I love watching the races and since the Blu Ray version's were made available in 2008 I believe, it has been on my to do list to travel there to catch a few races.

Rhody...

P.S. While we are on the subject of safety, I wish Guy Martin best of luck and hope he does not repeat his 160 mph get off on the Bali-scary corner this year. It would be nice to see him with a first place finish as well, I believe he has 8 podiums to his credit, but no first place finishes. Maybe he will vanquish that demon once and for all this season, I hope so.

[S1RR]

Cant get over there this year, but i have my Sky +, set to record all the action.

Bring it on.

[bananaman]

Looking forwood to it !! Next year being planned already.......

[Swanny]

Originally Posted by bananaman

Looking forwood to it !! Next year being planned already.......

ME TOO!

[russianvr4]

where is this being broadcast?

[rhody]

Well, John McGuiness did it in style winning his 16th TT in the Superbike Race by almost a minute. Pretty amazing, one has to pause and wonder though if Hutchie were in the mix if the same result would have happened.

"Going off at number one and riding for essentially a new team created a bit of pressure and I was definitely nervous today but as the race wore on I felt stronger and stronger so all the riding in World Endurance has definitely paid off.

I think the alert, intelligent McGuiness saw what Hutchie did last season, and upped his game accordingly with good result. Track time, seat time, hard fast miles help when you must focus absolutely 110% for over 40 minutes. So many riders make little lapses here and there and it either slows them down, scares them, or in the worst case they crash. There is no room for error at the TT, and hard training miles make all the difference. John does train on the dirt a couple hours a day as well, but it is not the same as going balls to the wall on the TT course. Good job, Mr. McGuiness. He had flawless pit stops as well, which for sure helped him.

Rhody...

[Sal_R1]

[rhody]

Sal,

Correct me if I am wrong, but that is the mountain at Caldwell Park, Josh Brookes narrating. Here is an announcer's description and video of it. And, just for grins and giggles how about the BMW on a track timed, accel to 186 - 19.1 seconds and from 150 - 0, about 9 seconds, pretty amazing if you ask me. That means that those last 36 mph take almost 10 seconds to achieve, pretty good considering a 150 mph headwind to begin with, and climbing as you head toward 186 mph. As you accelerate you need 4X the power to achieve the same amount of acceleration given your current speed.

From the superbike race, where Keith Amor finished fourth despite as separated shoulder and gearbox issue, brave ride and good finish. These guys just amaze me.

Rhody...

[rhody]

New Zealander Bruce Anstey clinches TT Supersport win.

It seems a war of attrition is becoming a trend this season, to the benefit of Ansty in the Supersport race. Sad that Derek Brien paid the ultimate price for chasing his dream. Let's hope it is the last one this season, there were two killed last year, both Kiwi's I believe.

The race had to be restarted after an accident which claimed the life of Irish rider Derek Brien.

Anstey finished ahead of Keith Amor and Guy Martin with Gary Johnston and John McGuinness completing the top five.

Michael Dunlop led both races before retiring twice while Cameron Donald had a 17-second lead before the red flag in the original race.

Donald also held a comfortable lead in the re-run race before retiring on the final lap which let in Anstey to clinch his eighth TT victory.

The Padgetts Honda rider won by eight seconds from Scot Amor with Martin a further eight seconds behind.

With Johnson fourth and McGuinness fifth, Manxman Dan Kneen completed the top six.

Michael Dunlop retired while leading on lap two of the re-run race

Rhody...

[rhody]

MICHAEL DUNLOP MAKES UP FOR EARLIER DISAPPOINTMENT WITH SUPERSTOCK WIN

Michael Dunlop made up for the disappointment of retiring from the morning’s Monster Energy Supersport Race 1 by winning Monday evening’s delayed 4-lap Royal London 360 Superstock race.

Dunlop overhauled lap one leader Guy Martin and promptly romped away, putting in a second lap some 13 seconds quicker than his nearest rival giving him the cushion that allowed him to control the race after the pit stop. His eventual winning margin, the 9th TT win for Kawasaki, was 18.63s over John McGuinness, the Padgetts Honda rider overhauling Martin on the third lap. However, the Relentless by TAS Suzuki rider had the consolation of his second podium of the day.

Interesting, this race was not a war of attrition like the last two posts, and I can't wait to see this in the Blu Ray DVD release this fall:

Johnson was out though having retired at Cregny Baa whilst William Dunlop and Dan Kneen were treating the fans all around the course to a terrific spectacle as they lapped wheel to wheel.

This so far is the most interesting race I have read about to date, the lap of Dunlop's at 129+ was mighty impressive as well, all on a superstock bike. When Michael is on it, he can compete at the highest levels and proved to be a winner in this race. Way to go, Mr Dunlop.

Dunlop’s lap of 129.709mph was way quicker than anyone else and his lead rocketed up to 13 seconds.

Rhody...