IOM TT course spectating

[Bustaspoke]

After seeing some of the comments in the 'Great Bike Picture's thread I was wondering where people would recommend I watch next time & also where to avoid.
So far I've watched from St Ninnians,bottom of Bray Hill on the right,inside of Quarterbridge,Bradden Church,The Railway pub,the church at Union Mills,the hedge at Glen Lough (I camp there,on the campsite,not in the hedge),St Merryn church just after Balascary,Gorse lea,Balacraine,Ballig on the outside of the course,Gooseneck,The Bungalow,on the wall on the inside at Cronk Ny Mona,& Signpost.
The church's are always good for tea & cake
I'm not squeemish but I really don't want to witness things going wrong at high speed so that's why I like the Gooseneck.Ironically at last years Manx GP someone came of there & got helicoptered off but at least he was walking albeit slowly & with assistance from the marshalls to the Helicopter
Last year was the first time I watched from The Bungalow (they opened up the bike museum for the week & the catering crew did a roaring trade)
I've been told Sarah's Cottage is good,so I might try there next year.My mates like Crosby jump.
Where's everyone else's favourie corners & which to avoid?

[mangocrazy]

A lot of it depends whether you want/need to get away while the race is on, or whether you're happy to be marooned in a particular spot for the duration. When I was regularly attending I had a Press pass so could get to areas that the hoi polloi couldn't and if you were known to the marshals they'd even let you cross the track at quiet periods. I used to stay in Ramsey, mainly to get away from the 24 hour party people, and there are a number of really good spectating spots in and around Ramsey, and you can move in between some of them while races are on if you plan carefully.

I used to really like School House corner on the way into Ramsey, but you're stuck there for the duration. You can see the riders come steaming in from Milntown, braking for the corner and trying to avoid the really bad bump that used to be there (the riders swore it moved) and then see them hammer off down to Parliament Square. The rest of Ramsey rewards doing a recce prior to the races and seeing what you can see and what corners you can access by the back roads.

If you like jumps, Rhencullen is a favourite, but you'll need to get there early as it's very popular. Ballachrye (just after Ballaugh) is spectacular, but spots are limited and the riders are past in a flash. I'd avoid Governor's bridge, but Ramsey Hairpin is better and you can get a good look at the bikes and riders. You can also get down to Stella Maris (if they still allow punters in the garden) which gives you views as the riders approach through Whitegates.

Probably try and get hold of an old Joey Dunlop 'on bike' video and see where you fancy viewing from. The speeds aren't quite as ballistic as modern ones, although still very impressive.

[Mr Moofo]

Ironically at last years Manx GP someone came of there & got helicoptered off but at least he was walking albeit slowly & with assistance from the marshalls to the Helicopter

I was standing right next to there when it happened - so we must have been in the same place !

[Dodgy69]

Hillberry... is great, you can get there from a back road. Burger van and toilets . Grass bank to sit on, on outside of corner, if you're lucky.

Sulby Bridge...ain't bad. Grass bank on left side, burger van. There proper shifting as they finish the straight and it's hard braking to make the Bridge.

Douglas Road corner...on Kirkmichael entrance ain't bad, you can move about from there quite easily being on outside of track.

Cronkyvaddy...end of straight before right hander fast as, access from coast road up a lane.

Conker trees.. is supposed to be very good, but not been myself.

Tbh, I used to enjoy the none racing days just as much, have a good ride about. Back to st John's campsite in good time for evening beers. I do fancy going again sometime and the NW.

[Dodgy69]

Just as a side note, has anyone else done the 'last minute dash'. ? Trying to get to your viewing point before the marshalls pull you off. I remember trying to get to Conker trees after talking to a chap at the campsite, I got as far as ballaugh Bridge where I was promtly shown the red card. Made my way to Sulby bridge and that was it for the day, again. ☹

[Bustaspoke]

Ironically at last years Manx GP someone came of there & got helicoptered off but at least he was walking albeit slowly & with assistance from the marshalls to the Helicopter

I was standing right next to there when it happened - so we must have been in the same place !

Small World!

[Bustaspoke]

Tbh, I used to enjoy the none racing days just as much, have a good ride about. Back to st John's campsite in good time for evening beers. I do fancy going again sometime and the NW.

Same here,I really enjoy going to Peel on the Sunday,checking out all the bikes.
INo better place to be for a motorcycle anorak like me!

[Bustaspoke]

Sulby Bridge...ain't bad. Grass bank on left side, burger van. There proper shifting as they finish the straight and it's hard braking to make the Bridge.

Tbh, I used to enjoy the none racing days just as much, have a good ride about. Back to st John's campsite in good time for evening beers. I do fancy going again sometime and the NW.

You just reminded me,I've also watched from the end of Sulby straight

[Noggin]

I used to marshal at the 11th milestone and the Bottom of Barregarrow.

The 11th is pretty good cos you can hear them coming along the Cronk-y-Voddy and down to the 11th

The Bottom of Barregarrow is awesome - it's where the riders (apparently) use the down pipe from the guttering to mark the turn point of the corner! But - not so good for spectators as they have to watch a few metres back up the track from the marshal point. I reckon it would still be amazing as this is one of the places the suspension gets seriously hammered!!

I watched at Rhencullen the first time I went and was totally in awe - sitting on a grass bank just inches from loonies going past at virtually (I think?) full speed!!!

I really need to go again and try some different view points, but due to Marshalling, I didn't really move around much !

[Rockburner]

A lot of it depends whether you want/need to get away while the race is on, or whether you're happy to be marooned in a particular spot for the duration.

When I went with my Dad in the early 90s and onwards, he used the same thinking. We often spent half the day at (eg) Crosby, but if the weather was good we could then get up onto the Mountain for the afternoon race. We knew the Sector Chief Marshal at Crosby (we did a few stints there for the Manx) and he'd let us walk across between races..... if we asked nicely....


When they opened up the little road under the track at Braddan Bridge (the old tramline irrc) then it meant you could move around quite a lot when the roads were closed.

There's also quite a few places you can park up and then walk to a better point, eg we got into the car-park in front of the bank at Kirkmicheal a few times... that's bloody quick and somewhere I have video footage of someone coming through and dipping into the gutter, I was sitting with my back to the wall-pillar, so he was less than 3 feet away...... I didn't stay there much longer tbh!!

[Rockburner]

Just as a side note, has anyone else done the 'last minute dash'. ? Trying to get to your viewing point before the marshalls pull you off. I remember trying to get to Conker trees after talking to a chap at the campsite, I got as far as ballaugh Bridge where I was promtly shown the red card. Made my way to Sulby bridge and that was it for the day, again. ☹

yes, that's when knowing the back roads comes in handy.

[The Spin Doctor]

I rather liked Parliament Square... watching the bikes getting squirrelly under hard braking was fun. Slightly worrying looking at a bike coming almost right at you and worrying where it might slide if it went down since I was with my brother who was on crutches - we weren't moving fast! Dunno if they have shifted spectators further from the line of fire...

I also managed to sneak into the press-only spot at the Gooseneck, probably because I had an impressive-looking long lens on the camera That was rather close to the action!