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[Field Marshal Dr. Opti]

Now up to 3.

These blokes have balls of steel and know the risks. They just love what they do.

[Migv6 le Frog Fan]

Michael Dunlop won the Supersport race yesterday. His 20th win on the island. New lap record of just under 130mph on a 600 !
He has lost his brother, his Dad and uncle Joey on the roads, and still doesnt give up. Balls of steel or a very loose screw ?
Anyone who hasnt watched the film ROAD, about the Dunlop racing family dynasty is missing something very special.
If you dont have a tear in your eye at the end you dont have a heart.

[henryd]

I watched a video on one of the racers do a lap from his helmet camera, these guys can't be wired up right as it was frightening to watch let alone be on the bike !

[Rangie]

Was reading an article a few days ago about TT riders their attitude seems to be you can get killed crossing the road, but the thrill of riding the bikes outweigh the risk mad I suppose but I have always believed when your time is up that's it, you can't change your position in the queue..

[Raeturbo]

Yes it really is something special.  Here’s something a little easier on the heart to watch although still very quick.
                           https://youtu.be/70ACI_bbXck

[Varche]

Never tire of watching Mark at work

[Migv6 le Frog Fan]

Total now up to five. Father and son Roger and Bradley Stockton killed when they crashed their sidecar outfit. 

[ronnyd]

Watched some on board footage on highlights last night. Absolutely bloody terrifying.

[Field Marshal Dr. Opti]

Watched some on board footage on highlights last night. Absolutely bloody terrifying.

Yep. Giant balls required.

[Lizzie Zoom]

I know these guys love their sport and know all about the risks.  That is what they do. We also live in a World where we all take various levels of risk, maybe by just driving our cars down the road, or simply going for a walk with a dog!

But, playing devils advocate and not really knowing the correct answer, is it time for increased safety measures with the TT when every year there is a death toll?

F1 racing was accepted as being very dangerous in the 1950’s, 60’s and even into the 70’s, with a growing list of famous drivers killed.  Then came along Jackie Stewart who led a campaign to make the sport, and certain race tracks, far safer to maybe not eliminate risk all together, but certainly reduce the death toll when drivers crashed.

Has the TT reached this point?

Just interested to know what the men on here think, knowing that it is usually them who engage in high risk sports, like climbing mountains!

[Field Marshal Dr. Opti]

I know these guys love their sport and know all about the risks.  That is what they do. We also live in a World where we all take various levels of risk, maybe by just driving our cars down the road, or simply going for a walk with a dog!

But, playing devils advocate and not really knowing the correct answer, is it time for increased safety measures with the TT when every year there is a death toll?

F1 racing was accepted as being very dangerous in the 1950’s, 60’s and even into the 70’s, with a growing list of famous drivers killed.  Then came along Jackie Stewart who led a campaign to make the sport, and certain race tracks, far safer to maybe not eliminate risk all together, but certainly reduce the death toll when drivers crashed.

Has the TT reached this point?

Just interested to know what the men on here think, knowing that it is usually them who engage in high risk sports, like climbing mountains!

They do try and make the course as safe as possible, Lizzie. But it is 37 miles long  made up of public roads and speeds of over 200 MPH.

It would be almost impossible to make it risk free.

[Field Marshal Dr. Opti]

I know these guys love their sport and know all about the risks.  That is what they do. We also live in a World where we all take various levels of risk, maybe by just driving our cars down the road, or simply going for a walk with a dog!

But, playing devils advocate and not really knowing the correct answer, is it time for increased safety measures with the TT when every year there is a death toll?

F1 racing was accepted as being very dangerous in the 1950’s, 60’s and even into the 70’s, with a growing list of famous drivers killed.  Then came along Jackie Stewart who led a campaign to make the sport, and certain race tracks, far safer to maybe not eliminate risk all together, but certainly reduce the death toll when drivers crashed.

Has the TT reached this point?

Just interested to know what the men on here think, knowing that it is usually them who engage in high risk sports, like climbing mountains!

Not his finest hour and many of the drivers of the time thought Stewart was being 'a bit of an old woman' when it came to safety.

Great driver though from a period in time when both balls and sideburns were big.

[Lizzie Zoom]

I know these guys love their sport and know all about the risks.  That is what they do. We also live in a World where we all take various levels of risk, maybe by just driving our cars down the road, or simply going for a walk with a dog!

But, playing devils advocate and not really knowing the correct answer, is it time for increased safety measures with the TT when every year there is a death toll?

F1 racing was accepted as being very dangerous in the 1950’s, 60’s and even into the 70’s, with a growing list of famous drivers killed.  Then came along Jackie Stewart who led a campaign to make the sport, and certain race tracks, far safer to maybe not eliminate risk all together, but certainly reduce the death toll when drivers crashed.

Has the TT reached this point?

Just interested to know what the men on here think, knowing that it is usually them who engage in high risk sports, like climbing mountains!

Not his finest hour and many of the drivers of the time thought Stewart was being 'a bit of an old woman' when it came to safety.

Great driver though from a period in time when both balls and sideburns were big.

Maybe.  Being again controversial, but  does that not fit in with the male sub-conscious physiological belief, that to be truly masculine, a proper man, you must face danger in the face? Not be weak and effeminate, fight risk and get victory?

That has of course advanced mankind, gained the achievements we have witnessed over centuries.  But it led to a poor perspective on keeping the individual safe. In Victorians times thousands were killed by unsafe practices that the common man just went along with as that was conceived to be the way a true man should act. Then in the First World War, a true man should not winge  about going over the top and being machined gunned en mass, with 10,000 dying in the morning, and another 9,700 in the afternoon, with 40,000 wounded, on 1st July 1916, only to have to repeat the exercise the following day.

We may have become too safety conscious and have allowed our society (the younger generations) to be wrapped in cotton wool. But the families of those 5 who have now been killed at the TT maybe would argue not enough has been done to avoid a waste of precious lives.

It is a tough one.  Yes, we all have to die, and a time, place, date, has already been set for us to depart, to live on in the spirit world. But should we all, especially our men folk, just accept that and take the losses?

I do not think there is an easy answer to that

[Field Marshal Dr. Opti]

I know these guys love their sport and know all about the risks.  That is what they do. We also live in a World where we all take various levels of risk, maybe by just driving our cars down the road, or simply going for a walk with a dog!

But, playing devils advocate and not really knowing the correct answer, is it time for increased safety measures with the TT when every year there is a death toll?

F1 racing was accepted as being very dangerous in the 1950’s, 60’s and even into the 70’s, with a growing list of famous drivers killed.  Then came along Jackie Stewart who led a campaign to make the sport, and certain race tracks, far safer to maybe not eliminate risk all together, but certainly reduce the death toll when drivers crashed.

Has the TT reached this point?

Just interested to know what the men on here think, knowing that it is usually them who engage in high risk sports, like climbing mountains!

Not his finest hour and many of the drivers of the time thought Stewart was being 'a bit of an old woman' when it came to safety.

Great driver though from a period in time when both balls and sideburns were big.

Maybe.  Being again controversial, but  does that not fit in with the male sub-conscious physiological belief, that to be truly masculine, a proper man, you must face danger in the face? Not be weak and effeminate, fight risk and get victory?

That has of course advanced mankind, gained the achievements we have witnessed over centuries.  But it led to a poor perspective on keeping the individual safe. In Victorians times thousands were killed by unsafe practices that the common man just went along with as that was conceived to be the way a true man should act. Then in the First World War, a true man should not winge  about going over the top and being machined gunned en mass, with 10,000 dying in the morning, and another 9,700 in the afternoon, with 40,000 wounded, on 1st July 1916, only to have to repeat the exercise the following day.

We may have become too safety conscious and have allowed our society (the younger generations) to be wrapped in cotton wool. But the families of those 5 who have now been killed at the TT maybe would argue not enough has been done to avoid a waste of precious lives.

It is a tough one.  Yes, we all have to die, and a time, place, date, has already been set for us to depart, to live on in the spirit world. But should we all, especially our men folk, just accept that and take the losses?

I do not think there is an easy answer to that

We have. Covid has turned us into frightened children.

You're a historian Lizzie. If you'd told the poor people of Victorian England  there was a virus going around that would kill one in every hundred (mainly old) people they'd laugh and  tell you they have far more important things to worry about.....like consumption, the work house, and starvation.

They'd probably already lost 3 of their 7 children to one disease or another.

[Doctor Gollum]

Presumably there are also women who compete in the TT races, so to suggest that it is the macho male risk addiction that makes people participate is an affront.

Case in point... Senior floor manager at work says to a junior male colleague... 'Can I borrow you for a moment. I need a man to help move a sign board.' Obviously he obliged.

It’s the way we're wired as a species, and no amount of nonsense will change the fact.