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BBC News
5 days ago
- Lifestyle
- BBC News
Isle of Man TT fans from Florida marshal after being 'recruited' on ferry
A couple on a "bucket list" trip to the Isle of Man TT from their home in the United States said they ended up marshalling at the event after being "recruited" while on the ferry and Cindy Wilkerson, from Florida, said they could not pass up the opportunity after speaking other volunteers on the crossing from as the orange army, a minimum of 563 volunteers are needed around the 37.7mile (61km) course before any practice or race session can go Wilkerson said: "They were recruiting for marshals and they signed us up, and now we've done five sessions and we're really enjoying it." "You do get a front row to the action but it's also being helpful."Mr Wilkerson said he first heard about the TT about a decade ago watching videos of 23-time TT winner John McGuinness on YouTube and had been keen to see it in person."We've just been watching and watching and watching, so this year here we are," he pair marshalled on the Sulby Straight for their second session, where riders can reach speeds of up to 200mph (321km/h)."It was insane speed. They go by so fast I couldn't even see the numbers on the bikes."The pair, who have been married for more than 30 years, also planned to renew their wedding vows during their Wilkerson said they bought a new ring in Peel and planned to exchange vows at Castle Rushen in Castletown before the end of their stay. But the American couple are not the only motorcycle enthusiasts who have travelled a significant distance to be part of the event. Craig Johnston from Sydney first came to the TT in 2007 for the event's centenary year as a witnessing the action first hand he said he knew he had "to come back and be a marshal".He said he had since made "some great friends" who he had "only met through marshalling". A former motorbike competitor in his homeland himself, he said the Isle of Man TT was "so unique"."The community welcomes you and appreciates you, the racing itself is spectacular," he added. Wolfgang Dohnalek, from Herford in Germany, is on the island marshalling for the third time. He said: "It's so amazing, you meet a lot of friends and we have a good time over here, so I must come back every year."The TT fan said he felt compelled to marshal at the event that gave him "so much", so that he could "give a little bit back"."To be a part of this great family, they call it the orange army, I do it with heart," he added. Read more stories from the Isle of Man on the BBC, watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer and follow BBC Isle of Man on Facebook and X.
Telegraph
31-05-2025
- Automotive
- Telegraph
‘We're not just nutters on a death wish': The riders taking on the Isle of Man TT
Isle of Man TT lap record holder Peter Hickman always puts his left leg into his racing leathers first, followed by his right leg. Then he slides on his left boot followed by the right. John McGuinness MBE, 23 times a TT winner, makes a point of mowing his lawn prior to the event and puts a penny in his leathers before every race. 'We're not just nutters on a death wish,' says McGuinness. 'There's a lot of development that has come out of the Isle of Man TT that goes into road bikes, tyres and technology and fuels.' But that is not to say riders aren't aware that the TT is dangerous. Even non-superstitious riders, ordinarily rational men in other areas of their lives, have rituals before a TT race. And especially for accomplished riders such as McGuinness and Hickman, there is a stark awareness that the 37 and three quarter-mile TT course can bite back. This is, after all, a race that takes place on normal public roads, with the necessary accompanying bus shelters, kerb stones, gable ends, telephone boxes, stone walls, primary schools, mature trees, crowded pubs and pre-war semis. Then there is the Manx weather – a micro-climate that can bring, simultaneously, blazing sunshine to one section of the course and torrential rain to another. And that's without the livestock and wildlife getting involved. Cows, horses, sheep, poultry and gulls have all been known to grace the course during races. And it gets stranger: in 2022 a stray football rolled down the ultra-fast St Ninian's section as McGuinness (aka the Morecambe Missile) howled towards the daunting descent of Bray Hill; in 2019 a practice session was delayed because a man at a bend called the Black Dub was wielding an axe at the marshals; and in the mid-1990s, during a race, a truck was backed onto the circuit from a driveway. The driver happened to be the island's Minister of Transport at the time. All part of the appeal And this – yes, even the axeman – is all part of the TT's charm; and it's been this way since the inaugural race in 1907, when Charlie Collier won the single-cylinder class on a Matchless in a time of 4.08.08 hours, at an average lap speed of 38.21mph. Hickman's lap record of 136.358mph is staggering considering a lap involves a number of 20mph hairpins, stretches of road 2,000 feet above sea level and speeds on the longer straights of more than 200mph, as well as around 167 gearchanges. Setting up a machine for the TT is complicated. The Honda team has been preparing Dean Harrison's TT bikes since the start of the year, with two dedicated mechanics on the job. 'You've got to make compromises on the set-up,' says Harrison, from Bradford. 'You can't stop it bottoming out at the bottom of Bray Hill [a dramatic dip after a 190mph plunge] because the suspension would then be too hard everywhere else.' Leading contenders And the pressure is on to go faster still, certainly for the top contenders at this year's TT. All eyes are on 14-times TT winner Hickman and fellow factory BMW rider Davey Todd (who won his first TT last year), three-times TT winner Dean Harrison (factory Honda) and Ulsterman Michael Dunlop (BMW), the most successful TT racer of all time with 29 wins and current torch-bearer of the Dunlop road racing dynasty. There is fresh talent, too. Kiwi newcomer Mitch Rees is tipped to do well and, backed by the Padgett's Milenco team, has the technical know-how behind him to make the grade, Padgett's having put riders on the TT rostrum for six decades. The pressure is uncomfortably intense for Hickman, not least from his team-mate Todd, from North Yorkshire. Hickman, from Lincolnshire, won the Superbike race last year but the Senior – the prestige event of the week – went to Todd after Hickman crashed at the Ginger Hall pub, which was packed with boozing spectators. Risk factors 'Everyone thinks I pushed too hard but I had actually eased off after gaining six seconds on Davey in one sector, which was a massive chunk and I took a lot of risk,' says Hickman. 'There's only so much risk you'll ever get away with so I rolled off a bit earlier into Ginger Hall; I didn't load the front tyre to give it the grip it needed and I slid away.' Hickman walked away from the crash with no more than dusty leathers. Of his team-mate, Todd, being his chief rival, Hickman says: 'Of course I want to beat Davey but at the end of the day if he wins it's still good for the team, so it's all good.' Todd and Hickman are very different riders. Todd is frantic; Hickman is relaxed and smooth. Indeed, Hickman's heart rate at the end of the first Superbike practice session at this year's TT was 90 beats per minute (bpm) – a pulse rate on a par with, or even slightly below, that of anyone else washing the car or running a bath. Even an experienced campaigner like McGuinness is hesitant to place a bet on this year's winner. 'They're all strong, with very different riding styles,' he says. 'I've been watching the onboard videos of Davey [Todd] and Dean [Harrison] and they are impressive. I'm now learning off them and it's interesting to see the different riding styles. There are some corners Dean takes at least a gear higher than I would; Michael is smooth, like a typical road racer, and Todd rides like a short circuit racer.' McGuinness means Todd's riding style is uncommonly aggressive for the bumpy, off-camber public-roads TT course. 200mph – and more 'The racing is changing all the time. Even in my TT career, since the 1990s, speeds through Sulby Straight – where the speed trap is – have increased from 180mph to 185mph, now the top boys are going through there at 200mph. People say 'The bikes are too fast' but they said that when Bob McIntyre broke the 100mph [average speed] record in 1957 on his Gilera.' In fact, the first complaint that the bikes at the TT were too fast for the circuit were made in the press in 1911. Speeds at the TT are still rising but nothing like at the rate of the dramatic increases that took place in the 1920s and 1930s, partly due to improved road surfaces. In 1920 the lap record was 55.62mph (Tommy de la Hay, riding a Sunbeam); by 1938 this had soared to 91mph, set by Harold Daniell on his factory Norton. And Daniell, famously, in bottle-end glasses, was rejected for military service in the Second World War because his eyesight was so poor. Top riders still learning As for the course itself, McGuinness says: 'You can never fully 'know' this place; I'm still learning. We make hundreds of thousands of decisions on each lap in order to line up each corner. The variety of conditions across the course is insane and then there's the strobing – where the sun comes through the trees and blinds you for a split second. 'There is nothing like this place. Nothing can prepare you for staring down Glencrutchery Road [the A2, a main road through Douglas that is also the start/finish straight, brushing the walls of the island's main cemetery] when you're waiting to set off. Nothing compares to the start of the TT and the sense of apprehension. When I watch the newcomers on the grid I can see the fear in their eyes.' Riders at the TT set off one at a time at 10-second intervals, a necessary feature of a race on narrow roads. It is therefore not so much a race between competitors together on the road but against the clock. When a rider reaches the starting grid the chief start line marshal places his hand on the rider's shoulder and releases it when it's time to go. McGuinness says: 'When they get hold of you that's the worst, but as soon as his hand is lifted the pressure is off. That's why I love it when people talk nonsense in my ear on the grid to distract me up until that point.' Absolute concentration is critical during a TT race: a split-second lapse can result in a fatal crash. Harrison thinks of 'nothing else', other than what is in front of him, as does Hickman. But McGuinness, perhaps due to his long experience, sometimes allows his mind to wander. 'When you get to Kirk Michael village there's normally someone having a barbecue so you can smell sausages and burgers and you think, bloody hell, I wish I was having that.'
BBC News
09-05-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
The journey back to the NW200 podium for McGuinness
"I never thought I would feel that feeling again."When John McGuinness climbed on to the North West 200 podium last year, memories of tougher times were in his 2017, a huge crash left the English rider with four broken vertebrae and eight ribs, as well as a fractured a long road to prospect of racing again, never mind standing on the podium, was as he says himself, "unexpected"."Unexpected for me, unexpected for the crowd. The sun was shining, massive crowds, the racing was stunning all day and the podium was the icing on the cake for sure," reflected McGuinness in an interview with BBC Sport NI."Hicky [Peter Hickman] was there [in the winners' enclosure], who is an old sparring partner of mine and Toddy [Davey Todd] was there and I think he had a bit of a retake. "I think he was super-shocked that I was in the winners' enclosure but it's something I'll never ever forget."After the crash during practice seven years ago, it appeared possible that the 23-time Isle of Man TT winner's career was over but McGuinness has battled his way back to fitness and is still contending for top-six finishes at the North West 200 and TT.A third place finish in the second Superstock race at the North West in 2024 and the reception the now 53-year-old received made the six-time winner on the Triangle circuit's comeback achievement even more special and emotional."To experience the cheer it gave me goosebumps and for me I never thought I would feel that feeling again. So it was super special – my daughter was there, she had never been to the North West."I was told I got a bigger cheer than Glenn [Irwin, who won three Superbike races 12 months ago]. I wanted to ride up to the grandstand and throw my boots in the crowd. "I've always loved it [the NW200] even though it nearly finished me off in 2017 and I've come back to being half competitive again." 'I didn't want it to finish like that' Another North West 200 podium appeared an unlikely prospect in 2017 as the Morecambe rider lay stricken on a golf course adjacent to the public roads circuit after his high-speed incident."When I went through the fence in 2017 and I'm lying on a golf course, I'm not a golf fan, so I didn't want to end my career on a golf course, I was determined to come back and do a decent job."There was a lot of damage and obviously a long time with the leg rehab. When you're injured, there's nobody there for you at two or three o'clock in the morning when you're suffering but you've just got to roll your sleeves up."When I was laid on my back in the Belfast hospital I told the missus that was me done but when the pain starts going away I'm thinking, 'I might have another go'."I didn't want it to finish like that, it would have been a bad way to finish my racing journey through an injury. I want to finish on my terms, when I stop enjoying it." McGuinness made his NW200 debut in 1994, two years before his bow at the IOM TT, and he is in his 35th season of racing and making his 31st appearance at 'the Triangle'."That passion and enthusiasm is still simmering away. Everyone is getting faster but I'm holding my own."I went faster at the North West last year, at the TT I was fastest I've ever been on a Superstock bike. I'm happy just to do what I do, Honda are happy with what I do. My roll at Honda is changing slightly, more of an ambassador role for me."If I can't warrant the factory Honda ride and some of the other kids knock me off my stool then I'll gladly pass the baton over to the other kids." 'I love riding round the place' Despite being at the latter end of his career, McGuinness is determined to continue on track until the warning signs indicate he should do otherwise."When you ride those big bikes, if you're in control of them, and you feel ok and confident, I'll carry on, but if there comes a point where they're a handful, you maybe start making mistakes, then it's time to stop."In 2022 I came back and I wasn't sharp enough, a little bit behind the ball, but I put a lot of effort in last year, went testing in Spain a few times, was going ok in the British Championship, got my sleeves rolled up a little bit and got stuck in."The Lancashire rider reflects that the misfortune of other riders may have played a part in his memorable third-place finish in the Superstocks but takes pride in his performances at the meeting over the years, including six race victories."Michael [Dunlop] didn't do the warm-up lap so he didn't get on the grid, Dean [Harrison]'s oil filler cap came out, James [Hillier] went up the slip road, I had him under pressure a bit. "I've been fortunate to win a few races and been on the podium for a lot of races at the North West, often in the hunt for a win, often in the mix, but six wins it's still an amazing achievement."I just love riding round the place. It's a hard place, it's a fast place, a physical place, but I just concentrate on what I'm doing and enjoy the whole experience."
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Jenner and Richardson 'will never be forgotten'
Experienced racer John McGuinness says Owen Jenner and Shane Richardson "will never be forgotten" after Monday's fatal accident at Oulton Park. The two riders lost their lives after an 11-bike crash in the British Supersport Championship, which was supporting the opening round of the British Superbike Championship. McGuinness, who is a 23-time winner at the Isle of Man TT road race, said the accident was "awful" and riders who witnessed or were involved in the accident will "need an arm around them". ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement He added that 21-year-old Jenner, who was a three-time British Champion, and New Zealand rider Richardson, 29, "were living their dream". "Those kids will never be forgotten and they were doing what they loved doing," McGuinness added. "When racing's at its best it's the best thing in the world. When it's not it's pretty brutal and that was a brutal thing that happened yesterday. "It's bad times but the racing community is strong and I've been through it so many times for so many years." Another rider, Tom Tunstall, 47, is in the Royal Stoke University Hospital with significant back and abdominal injuries, while five other riders suffered minor injuries. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Racing paddock 'certainly more sombre' McGuinness is preparing to compete at the North West 200 road race in Northern Ireland, and says the paddock is "certainly more sombre" after Monday's accident. A number of riders who were competing at Oulton Park, both in the Supersport class and on other bikes, will race this week on the Triangle Circuit, which comprises 8.9 miles of closed public roads. McGuinness says it is "tricky" having to prepare to compete just days after two riders have lost their lives and that "nobody never said to stop racing, we've just got to find a way to make it safer". ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement The 53-year-old reiterated that riders who were involved or witnessed the accident will receive support if they need it. "There's going to be people there who will have nightmares about that for a long time, sometimes they need an arm put around them, said McGuinness. "I still have nightmares now about things I've seen on tracks over the years. "I still ask them to look after me, you know. I'm not a religious person or anything but I ask the boys and ladies that aren't with us any more to look after me. "It's a bit of weird thing but it's a superstition I've got." ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Peter Hickman, who is a winner in the British Superbike Championship, North West 200 and Isle of Man TT, said the crash was "tragic". "It's difficult for people who are not in this sport and haven't been around it for a very long time to understand how we can all just move on," said Hickman. "As riders, it's something that we already accept as a risk before we enter. "It can be quite difficult for everyone - everyone does it in a different way. We're looking forward to the North West 200. "We've got to clear it out of our minds as riders and ride in their memory. If that's something we can do, that's something we will do." 'It's affected everyone in the sport' Lee Johnston was competing in the Supersport race but was in front of the accident that claimed the lives of Richardson and Jenner. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement He will not be racing at the North West 200 but will be part of BBC Sport's punditry team at the road race. "Firstly, my thoughts go out to the families of all the people that were involved. There were obviously other people injured in the scene as well so it's really, really sad and very hard. "You can see how close the sport is because it's affected everyone within the sport." Johnston said he sympathised with the other riders involved in the accident and said "you can't do anything about what's happening in front of you at that speed". "I feel a lot for the riders that were injured in the crash and in the midst of trying to help those riders afterwards. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement We know each other, a lot of the riders. We're not all close, personal friends but you still know guys and when you race them you have a mutual respect. "I can't really say anymore, I'm just thinking about the families at this time. If anyone needs anything, hopefully the whole biking community gets together and helps them out as much as possible."
Observer
01-03-2025
- General
- Observer
Lotteries... Made round to go round, surely
Being perpetually poor, well no, not really, that would be disingenuous to those genuinely in poverty, so, how about if I say, just perpetually not rich? That's a bit better I think. But I do like to buy lottery tickets once in a while. Just in case you aren't 'au fait,' with what a lottery is, here is a dictionary definition: 'A game, often organised by a state, or a state permitted charity, in which numbered and coded tickets, with lines of randomly chosen numbers from a set selection (ie numbers 1-50), are sold to 'players.' If a player's line of numbers matches those drawn in a 'lucky' draw, those ticket holders will be lottery winners. The names of some of the state lotteries around the world have their own character too. New Zealand has the 'Golden Kiwi,' named after its national symbol, a nocturnal, flightless bird, which so far perfectly describes my lottery winning efforts. Nigeria has a 'Give-and-Take (sounds dicey!),' Malaysia has a 'Special CashSweep,' South Korea its 'Special Lottery 500,' Denmark the 'Landbrugslotteriet,' Germany a 'Glukspirale,' but I like best the 'El Gordo de la Primitive,' the 'big fat one,' or its Christmas themed counterpart, the El Gordo de Navidad,' which must be the big fat Christmas one, I guess. In the England, since 1698, it has been illegal to run a lottery unless sanctioned by the state and to generate money for 'good causes.' Ironically, or maybe oxymoronically, the 'Million Lottery,' and the 'Malt Lottery,' had been used by the British Government of the time to... wait for it... fund successive wars, namely against the Jacobites in Scotland, France and Spain. You couldn't make it up, could you? They do say you can't buy love and some lottery winners have counted themselves unlucky, but honestly, you would have to be as thick as two short planks to not make even a couple of million work for you, wouldn't you? John McGuinness was one, after winning £10 million in 1997, he decided to back his local football club, Livingston FC, who promptly went bust and left McGuinness the next best thing to a pauper. Sixteen-year-old Callie Evans, cashed a £1.8 million winner's cheque in 2003, and in 2022 confessed that the lot had been swallowed up by cosmetic surgery and a dissolute lifestyle. I guess now she is pretty and penniless? Well, they do say 'fools and their money are soon parted.' American Edwin Castro was the sole winner of the California Lottery Jackpot in 2022, winning the incredible sum of $2.05 billion, which was to be spread over 30 years. However, Castro opted for an instant payment option of just $872 million instead. No matter how you look at it, or even which option you would choose, that is an awful lot of cash isn't it? In Europe, the largest pay out so far has been the Italian Super Enalotto Jackpot win in February of 2024, which saw a syndicate of 90 players pocket nearly €4 million each, a total of €359 million. Spain's La Primitiva Lottery, in 2015, paid out €98.4 million to a sole player from Barcelona, while previously, in 2006, France's SuperLotto paid out €30 million to two lucky winners. The largest EuroMillions Jackpot pay out thus far saw a single anonymous ticket-holder scoop £195 million in 2022. The national Lottery in the UK, somewhat strangely hasn't paid out a record amount since 1996, when three players scooped £14 million each. So, to move to the crux of my thoughts. It's all very well marketing these lotteries as multi and mega-millions prizes, but rather than having one winner of £100 million for example, wouldn't any society be better served by having a hundred different millionaire winners? Imagine it... a hundred families could pay off their mortgage, maybe retire creating more jobs, buy a new car, boosting local industry, and with greater spending power, maybe get them off benefits, maybe get them onto private medical schemes, thus supporting their local communities... and so much more. That way, as well as raising money for genuine good causes, lotteries could help more people, more families who genuinely need it. The world really doesn't need more millionaires, like mega-millionaires, but wouldn't it be nice to see a greater of families get the ultimate helping hand?
