Road Racing

I watched an old documentary last night about the "Armoy Armada", made in 1977 it profiled 3 of Ulsters road racing legends all of whom died on the track. It was very interesting and it got me wondering what is the impression of motorbike road racing outside of N.Ireland/Isle of Man and the few other places its practiced?

I mean bikes capable of over 200mph on circuits that consist of everyday country lanes the rest of the year, 100mph plus average speeds etc?

Don't forget the Irish Republic too. Skerries, about 20 miles north of Dublin, hosts a 100 mile road race every year and the Phoenix Park car races are, technically, road races too.

My Dad comes from Belfast and he takes great delight in telling anyone who will listen how he used to go to Dundrod as a kid/teen-ager and watch the bikes and Cars race there.


Cheers
Matt

I spent many a weekend in my youth at motorcycle road races in Ireland. The Faugheen 50, Skerries 100, Fore, Loughshinny, Leitrim, and many others in the north. This past year was very bad for Road Racing with the loss of Joey Dunlop and then two promising young riders the week before the Ulster at Dundrod. One of the all time road racing greats was not half bad when he drove in F1 and he of course was Mike "the Bike" Hailwood. Of course, John Surtees was World Champion in F1 and was a great motorcycle racer but didn't have the road racing legend status of Hailwood. Giacomo Agostini (15 time wc on two wheels) also drove F1 but no as I recall at Grand Prix Level. He only raced British F1 series (Aurora AFX). Jarno Trulli was named for Jarno Sarinnen a great Finnish rider who paid the ultimate price. Trulli's dad was motorcycle racing fan. As road racing has become more specialized more recent crossovers have all but disappeared. Frankly some of these road race circuits would be better training for the world rally championship they were so bad.

I remember watching the Armoy Armada and would love the get a copy of it now, Joey, Frank Kennedy and Mervin ???. Can I assume by your name that you are not a fan of F1

P.S Hi Eric, How are you doing?

Heh, no I *am* a big fan of F1, the FucF1 doesn't mean ****F1 (long story);)

I'm not sure where you could get a copy of that program on the Armoy Armada, it was shown during a tribute night to Joey Dunlop over the summer. Lots of very cool stuff including Joeys then record lap of the Isle of Man TT (on board camera, makes F1 look like a game)

I always knew Joey Dunlop would die during a race he loved it too much to give it up, still there are a lot worse ways to go than dieing doing the thing you love.

*BTW* I forgot about the circuits in the Republic ;)

I was also trying to figure out what the name could mean. It sounds like some gutter uttering I once heard in my youth but the name could also stand for a Japanese abbreviation. How come you selected such a strange sounding name? Any Ideas?

I watch TT here in the States and the Isle of Man race is awesome. It is a shame about Dunlop in Estonia, thats how most greats go out.

I see there are many specialists in TT races.
Unfortunately, here in Portugal we don't have many of that kind to watch. We used to have the great Vila Real road circuit but they stopped racing there in the 80's (88 or 89?).
For me this type of race (and rally) is the very last inhereritance of the real racing. I am tired of the modern gravel buckets they call "circuits" (e.g. Montmeló, new Nüburgring, Magnt-Cours, etc.).

So here is my question:
Can anyone give me some information about all these TT circuits (track maps, locations,...)?
I already have Isle of Man and Dundrod, but Faugheen, Skerries, Fore, Loughshinny, Leitrim as well as that Estonian race where Dunlop died are new for me.
I'd like also to know if there is a ragular TT championship, if the FIM rules it and it is possible to collect somehow some official information (is there an official homepage for instance?).

Thanks

Originally posted by FucF1
Heh, no I *am* a big fan of F1, the FucF1 doesn't mean ****F1 (long story);)

Thank God !
Although now that I think about it...nah!, forget it.
(Yes, the Grand Prix vs. F1 theme crossed my mind, sorry)

;)
Felix Muelas

Vasco,

You may be interested in http://www.maxrpm.co.uk

This site is dedicated to motorcycle racing in Ireland and has lots of information about operational circuits including track maps, photos, results and a little bit of background history.

Has anybody got a list of drivers that were killed on the Man TT ?

I've got a count that goes to 199 drivers that paid speeds ultimate price on the mountain circuit.

But i never found any names.

Can anyone fill me in ?