As of press time, the Snaefell Mountain Course has claimed two competitors from this year’s Isle Of Man TT event: Australian sidecar racer Dwight Beare crashed near Rhencullen and was killed, with his passenger, Benjamin Binns airlifted to Noble Hospital on Man with a fractured ankle. Later that day, during a solo practice run, Paul Shoesmith fatally crashed his BMW S1000RR on Sulby Straight. Both riders have experience running the course, with Beare having lived on the island in Onchan and Shoesmith a veteran of the TT races in both Superbike and Senior classes. Unfortunately, that makes Beare #249 and Shoesmith #250 for rider fatalities on the island, which is famous for the blistering pace that not only motorcyclists but motorsports competitors from the world over dare to achieve. Two hundred and fifty motorcycle riders, and that isn’t even the full count of fatalities that fill out Snaefell’s nearly 100 years of operation. Spectators, race officials and drivers have died on the Manx racing course since the track’s outline was drawn out in 1911.
But bring up shutting down the race and not only do racers react strongly, but so does the Manx population, who benefit from the annual influx of racers, teams and visitors. Sure, the road closures and laws that intend to keep the population safe (things like banning being outdoors during the race in your own yard if you live along the course, for example) are irritating, but each year the residents open up to the crowds. And as for the racers themselves, they view the Isle of Man as the ultimate test. Nobody is forced to go…everybody chooses to mount up and take on Snaefell. Ever since 2005, a Newcomer’s Speed Control Lap has been instilled that allows riders to learn the course at a speed that reduces the likelihood of a chance meeting with a phone pole or a stone wall, and since 2006 there has been a Mountain Course license that riders must attain.
There is no question in anyone’s mind that the Isle of Man is dangerous for riders. In a 2003 column, Daily Mail columnist Ian Wooldridge wrote: “It was the late, great James Hunt, Grand Prix driver, who told me in a deeply cynical moment: ‘They don’t pay all that money to see us drive, you know. They come to see us killed.” Pray God, there will be no further fatalities on the Isle of Man this year. But I wouldn’t bet on it.” Snaefell is dangerous, and on average takes two or three riders a year. It’s the most dangerous racing spectacle on Earth, and knowing that, we ask you, the reader: How long do you think it will take before there is enough of an outcry that the Isle of Man Tourist Trophy race gets shut down or ran over with safety until it’s an unrecognizable form of it’s former self? There is always the outcry of saving people from themselves, but there is also the need for people to test their own luck out whenever possible, and from where we sit, a full-throttle blast through the Manx landscape might be one of the last places to do just that. What say you?
Photo: iomtt.com
Hopefully never. This is THE last great motor race on earth. I just wish there was a four-wheeled, run-what-ya’-brung version of this somewhere.
They do, its called pikes peak
They severely limited the thrill for spectators a couple of years ago.
IT’LL NEVER BE SHUT DOWN, THE ACE EACH YEAR, IS BIGGER THAN LIE, THAT’S LIKE SAYING WER’E GOING SHUT DOWN THE NFL, IT AIN’T HAPPENING AND THAT’S MY TAKE ON THE TOURIST TROPHY.
The original TT was run for cars and as they have four wheels and you can’t fall off them I can’t see why they aren’t allowed their own race anymore. The TT is a part of our national heritage and should be kept going, but I honestly think we might be seeing the end of the motorcycle era….
Maybe some people need to “look away”. This historic race really is the ultimate test of mettle. I have two friends over there competing in the sidecar class and while I wouldn’t consider doing it myself, I have the utmost respect for the ones who choose to put it all on the line to see where they fit. It’s too bad that the press usually focuses on the negative and doesn’t recognize the acheivements of the competitors. I think that is why they participate.
Let them ride, I can’t stand when government tries to save us from what they think is too dangerous. I’d look at it as 99% of riders DONT die everyear.
I hate to see this event in jeopardy but the riders themselves should only have the vote to race or not.
Never. The riders are 100% aware of the risk. The TT is one of the last places on earth where a fan can sit in awe of someone at the limit. A limit we cannot get to. Modern circuit racing’s safety coupled with video game replication, leads many to believe we could do it, too. Not this race. That is why it must go on.
I am so sick of the safety nazis showing up every time someone gets hurt or killed. It’s life. We as racers take those calculated risks because without them, life is not really living at all. Kill the lawyers. Kill the safety nazis!
They all know what they are doing, i cant really see that it will be banned as it brings in so muc hmoney each year.
NO body is holding a gun to there heads, to make them ride flat out
I think Dunlop WILL do 135mph as he had so much in hand
It’s always been a bucket list item of mine to attend these races. In 2002 I was at the winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, the Great Britain Women’s curling team told me it was the world’s greatest motorbike race. Ever since, I’ve been obsessed.
Hey Gordie can I crash on your couch next year???
There have always been deaths associated with the TT, This will not stop it. And it should not. This type racing is one of the most deadly. One of the best videos done of the TT. https://vimeo.com/47196131
Also record set today. During this weekend’s Isle of Man Tourist Trophy, Michael Dunlop rode his Hawk Racing BMW to a record-shattering sub-17 minute lap of the 37.73-mile Snaefell Mountain Course not once this weekend, but twice, reports Sport Rider. The quickest of the two laps had an average race speed of 133.392 mph.
First, my condolences to the families of these two riders. Know that they died doing what they loved.
Do not change it! This is one of, if not the, last great races left. Everyone knows the risk going in. Death is an unfortunate possibility in all forms of racing, but to those who compete, it is an accepted posdibility.
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Really this is a most dangerous area on earth, people were strongly condemn race to stop , there were two racer died by accident, after than race was officially stopped.
This venue was banned due to accidents, law forces ordered to ban the race on this venue again.