MotoGP or TT?

[dellzeqq]

I now own all of two DVDs. The second one is 'TT Closer to the Edge' which, as the more astute of you will have worked out, about the TT races. It features the second most fave set of sideburns, Mr. Guy Martin. So, since it was my birthday I was allowed to watch whatever I wanted to, and, so, birthday Magnum in hand, I enjoyed an hour and a half of completely bonkers bike riding, punctuated by crashes, one of which was fatal.

And then I watched the MotoGP from California and thought it very boring.

I ask myself why? Does the risk inherent in the TT make it more dangerous, or is the odd combination of 200mph bikes and front gardens somehow more intriguing? Does the wonderful Isle of Man landscape make the TT more real? Do the TT riders, who seem (with no disrespect at all) so ordinary make it that bit easier to identify with?

What I do know is that I'd never have made a motorcyclist. Cycling's put me in A+E six times (two of those weren't my fault, mind...) so I reckon that riding anything more powerful than my skinny legs would have proved fatal by now. But, much as I admire motorcyclists, and love riding along the A29 to see them sweeping round curves at high speed, the 'short circuit' thing leaves me cold.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

IoM TT; racing on real roads innit. There's the appeal in a nutshell.

MotoGP? Riding round in H&S checked circles. Tedious as hell.

The short circuit does get interesting on club days and/or when classic bikes are racing though.

 

[Basil.B]

Even MotoGP riders are amazed at the skills of the TT riders!
I enjoyed the race myself last night, Laguna Seca is one crazy track itself!

 

[dellzeqq]

I dunno watching Mr Rossi staggering about looking for his motorbike last night was mildly amusing.

it was. How do you lose a motorbike?

And here's the thing. If he'd lost it like that on the IoM none of us would have been amused. And yet the TTs still have a far greater allure.

 

[dan_bo]

There was a bit in a guy marting prog last year when he was describing coming off going round a drystone-wall lined corner in the TT. He was sliding on his butt at 80 whatever MPH towards a wall but had the presence of mind to grab the handrail on the back of the bike to pull him round the corner.

 

[dellzeqq]

He dropped it at the top of the corkscrew, 100mph+, his bike went barrelling off over the horizon (and into a barrier).

If he dropped it like that on the TT he would have most certainly been dead.

as opposed to this.....

View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y07yt87lhEA

 

[Fab Foodie]

Guy Martin is Unbelievable, balls of Diamond.
TT is much better, but then I like the Irish Road Racing which can occasionally be seen on I-player. That's better than TT, real racing on real roads, like the Northwest 200.
http://www.northwest200.org/

 

[ComedyPilot]

I have rode high power sports bikes for years.

Ridden the TT circuit, been to Ulster for the road races there, ridden to and spectated at hundreds of closed circuit races in the UK and mainland Europe. I can tell you now the TT and the Ulster road races are (spectator, excitement and atmosphere-wise) head and shoulders above any circuit race.

At Donnington et al, you are kettled into a spectator enclosure 20-50 metres from the track, behind large catch fencing and the world's largest kitty litter trays.The riders zoom past on their sponsor clad bikes, and are shepherded away into massive motorhomes with little or no access for the fans who paid a lot to see them.

On the IOM and in Ulster you find yourself a little gatehole to a field at the side of the track, set up your collapsible chair, get your flask out, and marvel at bikes zooming past your nose end at 170mph. Afterwards, you mingle with them in the pits and chat about the races, and laugh with them down the pub afterwards.

I haven't attended a closed circuit race in years.

 

[ComedyPilot]

Ouch. You'd have thought leaving the ground on an apex of a corner (22 seconds in) would have been a hint to slow down.

Rhencullen:

 

[ComedyPilot]

Rhencullen exit is also quite spectacular:

 

[ComedyPilot]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=fvwp&NR=1&v=GOwtEF4DBwo

Enjoy

 

[rollinstok]

I would say its definitely the landscape of the TT that makes it much more enjoyable to watch. You get a real idea of the speed those guys travel at because of the scale supplied by racing along ordinary roads in a familiar scenario.
The MotoGP bikes are much faster but because of the race track setting it just doesnt come across that way.

 

[ComedyPilot]

Just how it can go wrong at Rhencullen

 

[Boris Bajic]

Both!

I love to watch both and have endless admiration for the courage and skill of both.

Dunlop (the whole family), Hislop, McGuinness, Martin... and all the rest. They are extraordinary people.

Are (or were) Sheene, Schwantz, Lucchinelli, Roberts (senior), Lawson, Gardner, Spencer, Mamola, Doohan, Capirossi, Simoncelli or Rossi any less so?

Look up Rossi and Stoner at Laguna Seca in 2008.

Also... any of many battles between Rainey and Schwantz, some of the early argie-bargy between Rossi and Gibernau.. some of the silliness from Mamola on an uncompetitive Cagiva... Simoncelli at his barnstorming best, with Schwantz-like knees and elbows that just didn't fit into the air pocket.

Similarly, any of the TT barmy boys who seem not to grasp what happens if they blink or sneeze at the wrong time.

I agree about the G Martin sideburns being spectacular... In fact they are number one for me.

Now that Simoncelli has gone, Rossi has lost his mojo and Stoner (for all his annoying Aussie chippiness) has gone off the boil, it might look a little tame. It is not.

I am 300% in favour of both TT and MotoGP. For me it's like the difference between a mountain stage and a TT on a GT. The same, but different.

 

[MrJamie]

A similar discussion frequently pops up in F1 communities about the old races, being much more exciting because you knew that they were riding right on the edge and likely risking their lives if they made a mistake where as modern F1 is incredibly safe and very likely to be switching to some form of closed cockpit in the next few years.

I do quite enjoy MotoGP when i notice its on TV and appreciate it as a sport, but the Manx TT is something else. Im just in constant awe watching them race, leaving the ground on the crest of hills, riding the racing line regardless of there being no room for error, no concrete run-off, walls, buildings, cliffs instead. Its so much more ballsy and courageous than any other sport I can think of.