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 https://iomttraces.com The Isle of Man TT (Tourist Trophy) is an absolutely bananas road racing event held yearly on the Isle of Man, a 222 square mile land mass nestled in the Irish Sea between Ireland and the UK. For two weeks every year, the public roads that serve as the 37.73 mile (60.72 km) Snaefell Mountain Course are shut down at scheduled times throughout the day as racers take it over. Riders are sent out at 10 second intervals and race against the clock, fighting weather conditions, bike issues, and birdstrikes in an event where even qualifying to enter and finishing a race is an achievement that puts them in an exclusive class of road racer. The course winds through 219 turns, hitting up to 200mph (320 kmh) in sections, through city streets lined with brick walls and buildings up into the mountain section to an elevation of 1,385 ft (422 m) before circling back down into the town of Douglas and the start/finish line.    The Competitors There are around 60 starters in most of the races, 50 max for the Senior TT Superbike race and 60 max for all other classes. The past few years of the TT have been essentially dominated by these three: Michael Dunlop (#6)  Of the legendary Dunlop racing family. The best type of curmudgeon, he hates press, attention, annoying fans, and anything else that gets in the way of the actual bikes and racing. He has trophies from basically all categories but has especially crushed the supersport class. Peter Hickman (#10)  The superstock king and current holder of the fastest average lap speed on any bike at 136.358mph (219.45km/h) from 2023's second superstock race, and so far the only one to crack 136 mph (219 km/h). He had a rough start on the superbike last year, but sorted it out in time to also take 1st in the Senior TT, actually catching and overtaking Dunlop in a ridiculously dramatic end to the final race. Dean Harrison (#3)  Coming into this year as a new member of the Honda Racing UK factory team, joining Sir Lord John McGuinness MBE and island local Nathan Harrison (no relation). Harrison has been putting some great pressure on Dunlop and Hickman, taking advantage of Dunlop's superbike struggles in the Senior last year to snag the 2nd podium spot. The Classes Supersport  600cc 4-cylinder and 675cc 3-cylinder sportbikes. quote:https://www.iomttraces.com/racing/race-guide/supersport/ Supertwin  2 cylinder 700cc bikes: quote:https://www.iomttraces.com/racing/race-guide/supertwin/ Superstock  Literbikes that are mostly stock: quote:https://www.iomttraces.com/racing/race-guide/superstock/ Superbike  Full on liter race bikes: quote:https://www.iomttraces.com/racing/race-guide/superbike/ Sidecars   I know so little about the sidecars, only that the more I hear about them the more insane they seem.The Birchall brothers, Ben and Tom, have dominated this class for the past few years. Tom Birchall surprised everyone by announcing retirement last year, so now Ben is riding with a new sidecar passenger and it will be interesting to see if they can hold the #1 spot with that change. The full text of entrance requirements, regulations, and specifications for all bike classes can be browsed on https://www.iomttraces.com/page/competitors/ , the specific document is this one: https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/iom-tt-races-2022/tt_regulations_2024_final_290224.pdf The Schedule https://www.iomttraces.com/racing/page/schedule Week 1: qualifying and practice  Week 2: race week  Streaming with TT+ Live Pass https://ttplus.iomttraces.com/ A couple years ago they launched the TT+, which has provided a way to see some great live coverage of the event for remote viewers. It's tricky coverage given the wildy varying terrain and staggered starts, but they've done a great job keeping up with it so far. This year they will have two helicopters and a bunch more field cameras spread throughout the course. For 19GBP, 26.99EUR, $29.99USD  , $38.99CAD, or $42.99AUD  , you get access to coverage of all the practice, qualifying, and race days. It streams live then is generally available for on demand viewing within a couple hours of the stream ending.
RightClickSaveAs fucked around with this message at 18:41 on May 14, 2024 |
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May 14, 2024 18:19
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Videos TT footage is always amazing to watch. Each year yields wild new slightly faster onboard video, and the helicopter chase cameras, especially through the desolate mountain mile section with the riders going flat out surrounded by nothing but a sea of green fields and rolling hills, is something to see. Onboard of Peter Hickman's record setting lap on his superstock last year (136.358mph (219.45km/h) average speed): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31RZ5wU-Fg0 Guy Martin narrating a lap from his 2010 supersport race. Guy Martin is a treasure and one of the personalities who got me into watching the TT. He retired from racing in 2017 and is sadly no longer part of the TT lineup. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uwp2atrSgw Tourist Trophy : Closer To The Edge - A documentary that like a lot of others takes the obvious route and focuses too much on the death and danger part for me, but still gives a good look into the world and some of the competitors at the time: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihH5uDUaqRE
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May 14, 2024 18:21
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Thank you for this thread. I love the tt, hell I've attempted to follow the whole season some years, and it still manages to surprise me that it's happening every time. guy martins first book had a lot of stuff about his time in road racing and was a good read.
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May 14, 2024 19:54
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The weather so far this year has been awful, and the roads are pretty terrible. I'd be surprised if we see anything as fast as last year. This past weekend has been the best weather so far but it only topped at about 20C in the afternoon. Now the rain is back. I'm not convinced we'll get the same kind of weather we lucked into getting over the last 2 years  I hope we do, I have 3 long weekends over the course of the fortnight.Here's a recent video one of the travelling marshalls has done, giving a bit of a sneak preview of some changes/improvements to the roads: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTB8vxEeWZk 'Third person' onboard from last year https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kstEvBVCUo I really recommend the TT+ streaming stuff, not only do they stream all the practice and race sessions they also have a bunch of other content leading up and throughout the 2 weeks, interviews, documentary type things etc. I barely went out to watch the actual racing last year and watched the streams instead. If I get a chance I'll go for a walk around the paddock with my camera on one of my days off and dump the pics back here.
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May 14, 2024 20:03
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the paradigm shift posted:Thank you for this thread. I love the tt, hell I've attempted to follow the whole season some years, and it still manages to surprise me that it's happening every time. Pinny posted:I really recommend the TT+ streaming stuff, not only do they stream all the practice and race sessions they also have a bunch of other content leading up and throughout the 2 weeks, interviews, documentary type things etc. I barely went out to watch the actual racing last year and watched the streams instead. Pinny posted:If I get a chance I'll go for a walk around the paddock with my camera on one of my days off and dump the pics back here.
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May 14, 2024 20:34
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RightClickSaveAs posted:Ah I thought we had someone here who lived on the island, thanks for the videos! That is quite an endorsement for the streaming service hah  Vrooom!  I've lived here since 2008, so I'm kinda over the spectical of the whole event tbh. These days I end up working most of it, and maybe have the last friday of race week off. Strangly, my work used to have the contract for running the timing system for the TT, but I never got chance to work on it We lost it a while ago to a Tag Heuer subsiduary, who then hosed the whole thing up for a few years whie our stuff still got used as the 'backup'.I used to go out all the time with my camera. I've got thousands of photos but the drive they're on has died. Hope i can get them recovered one day. RightClickSaveAs posted:Oh hell yes that would be fantastic! I will be grabbing whatever pictures I can find online but it can be sparse at times and I am going to avoid stealing anyone's personal photos. I'll fish out all my camera gear over the next week or so. I can just shove it in my rucksack and grab it if I go out. I'm gonna go size up some gear in the pop-up stores at the grandstand one day anyway. I'm contemplating getting a 360 cam. If I get one soon I might make a few videos.
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May 14, 2024 21:02
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Thank you so much for the thread - super excited and the TT+ pass has really come along nicely compared to where it began. Gutted for Lee not being fit, but judging from his NW 200 coverage in the booth, he'll be a really welcome addition to TT coverage; he's a natural! We strictly sticking to the TT here or are we going to share odd musings from NW 200 etc? Don't want to ruin the vibe/screw the pooch etc.
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May 14, 2024 21:13
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Pinny posted:
gregbest90 posted:Thank you so much for the thread - super excited and the TT+ pass has really come along nicely compared to where it began.
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May 14, 2024 21:44
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 I signed up for the TT pass last year and will again this year. 44Teeth did an interview with all the top racers in 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJWaJc6RJmc Here's another where they do a lap at legal speeds and have a chat about their experiences in the TT. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJynxIV8vk4
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May 14, 2024 22:42
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The TT rules, thanks for the thread. I'll be signing up to the TT+ pass again this year. I'm no longer in a TT friendly timezone so it works really well to be able to catch up. I've been following the Cookstown and NW200 too, the racing has been excellent. There was also one of the biggest rider-walks-away crashes I've seen at York corner: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QaoeXxsOzM
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May 15, 2024 00:26
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Initial NW 200 thoughts! So stoked to see McPint get on the NW 200 podium on the Superstock and really enjoying himself again on the Honda. Also fun to see the Supertwins really competitive again - Yamas, Kawis, Aprilias in the hands of very capable riders (Hicky crushed it!). The Ducati V2 still seems OP in Supersport (and in any championship tbf) AND Davey Todd's supposed to be running it at the TT; curious to see how they go... Dunlop seemed in touch all weekend apart from getting DQed that one race, got a good feeling about him doing the business at the TT this year, he looks good. Still weird not seeing Alastair Seeley there... 
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May 15, 2024 21:06
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Is there a good way to follow the road racing like the NW200? I've looked around and found articles here and there covering, but doesn't look like many options for viewing.Redvenom posted:There was also one of the biggest rider-walks-away crashes I've seen at York corner:
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May 16, 2024 02:55
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Toe Rag posted:
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May 16, 2024 02:56
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RightClickSaveAs posted:Is there a good way to follow the road racing like the NW200? I've looked around and found articles here and there covering, but doesn't look like many options for viewing. usually whatever the hell greenlight TV is handles it but I don't see anything about this year
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May 16, 2024 03:38
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RightClickSaveAs posted:Is there a good way to follow the road racing like the NW200? I've looked around and found articles here and there covering, but doesn't look like many options for viewing. When 200mph on public roads goes wrong, it goes very wrong. The NW and I think Cookstown are covered on BBC iPlayer, either as a catchup summary (Cookstown) or live (NW). I know that the NW coverage at least is not region locked as I was watching it. What I don't have is a good resource for when these happen - I use too much racing for my other calendars, but they aren't always updated for road racing events.
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May 16, 2024 04:17
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RightClickSaveAs posted:Is there a good way to follow the road racing like the NW200? I've looked around and found articles here and there covering, but doesn't look like many options for viewing. BBC broadcast the NW200 live, it ends up on iPlayer too https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/l0056lz2/north-west-200-live-nw200-live-wednesday-practice-session RightClickSaveAs posted:Oh love 44teeth, will have to catch up with their videos. Boothy will be active with the commentating this TT too it looks like. Boothy's blog video from his last TT, and the subsequent updates after him losing his leg in the crash are great videos.
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May 16, 2024 11:02
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Thanks everybody, watching the Saturday coverage now on the BBC iplayer, and it's starting out with some great introduction to the event. The site says it will stay up for 21 days.
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May 16, 2024 15:19
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How long are the TT+ replays good for? I'm going to be traveling most of late May and early June and won't have the free time to get around to watching them for a few weeks.RightClickSaveAs posted:Videos 4:39 "I ran over me own foot and that didn't fill me with confidence" might be the most Guy Martin thing Guy Martin has ever said.
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May 18, 2024 10:13
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I just pulled up the pass I bought last year for the 2023 TT and I'm still able to stream the races so you'll be good for at least a year it looks like. The first year you could download them to your computer but I didn't see that as an option anymore, although you can still download for offline viewing with the mobile app.gregbest90 posted:Initial NW 200 thoughts!
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May 18, 2024 16:30
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KodiakRS posted:How long are the TT+ replays good for? I'm going to be traveling most of late May and early June and won't have the free time to get around to watching them for a few weeks. I think everything stays up until the next event, and the price is one off for the whole year
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May 18, 2024 17:33
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RightClickSaveAs posted:I just pulled up the pass I bought last year for the 2023 TT and I'm still able to stream the races so you'll be good for at least a year it looks like. The first year you could download them to your computer but I didn't see that as an option anymore, although you can still download for offline viewing with the mobile app. Yeah, closest we've had is Dean Harrison running 916 at the Classic TT and as you can imagine, it was a bit whooooa!!! Was so happy to see all the coverage on BBC again, like you said, it's the perfect appetiser for TT along with Cookstown etc.!
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May 18, 2024 19:37
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KodiakRS posted:How long are the TT+ replays good for? I'm going to be traveling most of late May and early June and won't have the free time to get around to watching them for a few weeks. The replays are available for 12 months, if I’m recalling the terms I skimmed when I signed up a few days ago correctly. I agree with the others who said there’s lots of good content on TT+ aside from the races. If you are US-based and have a VPN, you can set your location as UK and save a whopping $3 when you sub, as well.
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May 20, 2024 02:12
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44Teeth's TT preview with James Hillier https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWf_QWTBmNA
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May 20, 2024 17:55
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Pinny posted:44Teeth's TT preview with James Hillier Obviously the senior is the big one but I am especially interested to see how the supersport shakes out this year, with Dunlop switched over to a Triumph as well now. It was no slouch at the NW200 for sure.
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May 23, 2024 15:54
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Weather isn't looking great for the next week or so. Bit of a storm last night took out a bunch of the tents and marquees at the grandstand The white marquees there are like mini garages in the parc-ferme area. I'll fish out my camera gear over the weekend. First practice is Monday night so I'll go have a wander around the paddock through the day. Assuming the weather plays nice.
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May 23, 2024 17:10
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Oof fingers crossed! I haven't been following for very long but from what I've seen the weather is sometimes the strongest competitor.
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May 23, 2024 19:58
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Thanks for this thread! And big thanks to Redvenom for the info dump a few years ago, made my TT viewing experience absolutely perfect. Posted up at the Crosby first thing in the morning and made friends with locals while drinking good beer on a picnic table next to the course. Sadly a crash and weather postponed the Senior until after we had to leave the island, but it was still unforgettable. 
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May 24, 2024 15:47
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They seem to be upping the production this year compared to the last few. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4YQbHiNVEw
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May 24, 2024 20:40
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Hah I'd just saw that went up and watched it about an hour ago. Conor Cummins has been through so much in the past several years, really hoping to see him snag some podium spots this year.
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May 24, 2024 21:04
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Pic dump from the grandstand/paddock today. A lot of the tents were closed up, I imagine they're all a little busy getting ready for this afternoon after a delay this morninng.                             
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May 27, 2024 14:06
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Pinny posted:Pic dump from the grandstand/paddock today. A lot of the tents were closed up, I imagine they're all a little busy getting ready for this afternoon after a delay this morninng.
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May 27, 2024 18:33
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First day of practice/qualifying wrapped up without much drama, though it started off late. There were still wet patches of road throughout so no one is really pushing it yet. Davey Todd's new Ducati supersport has made it through the first laps of the mountain course. Daily Round Up - Day 1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0dQ8eoDWtM Free Practice and Qualifying Day 1 - Highlights https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJ07v3fU43A Starting it off with McGuiness catching a nap mid corner. I know he's done the course a few times but come on       
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May 28, 2024 16:04
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heck yeah. the most insane racing event sidecars rule
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May 28, 2024 19:56
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I keep skipping the sidecars, there is a picture dump I will do for those later! Dunlop inspecting the foliage on the side of the road to make sure it's all regulation height for the upcoming race week  From the Monday supersport and supertwin qualifying session, I'm still watching through that coverage
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May 29, 2024 23:05
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQ1e7LYdRa0 James Hillier will be (trying to) doing a daily behind the scenes vlog for his two weeks. 
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May 30, 2024 06:54
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Currently over on the IOM, my second year, my partner's been going for the last decade as she used to work here. We camp and it's super affordable in terms of the initial outlay, if anyone has any questions, super happy to answer. We were at Hillbury yesterday at the 36 mile mark, we try not to go to the same spots each day, some decent speed at the end of the straight leading up and the corner gives you a good vantage. Sidecar session is another reminder why this event is held in such high regard, hopefully Chris Schofield and Tom Dawkins make a full recovery.
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May 30, 2024 12:41
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MonkeyLibFront posted:Currently over on the IOM, my second year, my partner's been going for the last decade as she used to work here. We camp and it's super affordable in terms of the initial outlay, if anyone has any questions, super happy to answer. https://www.google.com/maps/place/5...23283?entry=ttu This spot is pretty good if you can get a space at the wall of the yard. I think its a church or a church hall on the corner there. Last time I was there im sure they had drinks and cakes for sale too. Its usually pretty quiet for practices, and parking is easy on Strang Road, just mind the "no parking" bollards. Annoyingly its on the inside of the course, so you'll need to deal with the access road if you want to get out while the roads are closed. Pic of mine from a few years back now but this is the view  Theres also The Railway pub just up the road that you can see in the background, but that tends to get really busy. They usually have BBQs/grills going for food.
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May 30, 2024 13:29
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Fantastic, we did the railway last year, my partner has a few friends on the island so we get to borrow a car which is really helpful, it's a decent little pub and you are right it gets super busy, we try to stick to the outside for the reason you said and we can move spots if it's super busy, that's a fantastic shot as well.
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May 30, 2024 13:43
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Yeah, being on the inside at certain places makes it tricky to get around. I don't know the backroads in the middle of the island well enough to get to other places. I live not too far from that spot, so its not that big of a deal if I can't get a good vantage point. I don't tend to go out and watch as much anymore though, I've seen enough of it over the years anyway.
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May 30, 2024 14:00
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RightClickSaveAs posted:I keep skipping the sidecars, there is a picture dump I will do for those later! I just love that Dunlop has the skill and the resources to be able to bring over two completely different types of Supersport bike to practice on (Triumph and the Yamaha), set them up, shake them down then pick one. Cool as a cucumber... I thought I was going mad when i saw him come over a hill with a bike that sounded different, until somebody pointed it out on commentary!
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May 30, 2024 20:33
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