ISLE OF MAN TT GREATS : IN THEIR OWN WORDS VOLUME 2
Just like Volume One, this is another collection of recollections about the greatest motorsport event in the world, the Isle of Man TT races. It’s not another history of the TT, that has been covered many times and rightly so. These are the tales told by the riders over a beer or two, amongst themselves once the chequered flag has been folded away, stories that never make the TV or radio interviews.
This book continues in the same vein as the first, covering many, many decades of racing around the Mountain course with contributions from competitors who raced wearing pudding basin crash helmets and goggles through to the modern day 130+ mph Superbike stars. Roger Burnett’s TT career may have been relatively short but he managed a Senior win and an incredible ride on a flat tyre during another race. Another rider to race in the 500cc World Championship Grand Prix and win a TT is New Zealand’s Graeme Crosby. He too packed in a lot during his relatively fleeting time at the Isle of Man but he mastered it very quickly, Northern Ireland has produced many great road racers and Ryan Farquhar is up there with the best of them. He rode through the pain to claim victory at the TT beating some legends in the process. There have been many great riders from Wales too and Selwyn Griffiths enjoyed a long and distinguished career around the Mountain course which began in the 1960s and concluded in the 1990s. Nick Jefferies is part of one of the most famous TT families and holds the unique distinction of being the only rider to win the TT, the Manx Grand Prix and the Manx Two-Day Trial. A two-time TT winner Ivan Lintin began his career as a speedway rider before achieving glory at the Isle of Man. There is arguably no greater character at the TT than Jim Moodie, one of many superb Scottish riders to win a TT and he reveals his incredible story in these pages. From reluctant TT entrant to TT winner, Mat Oxley rode in just six races, incredibly winning in only his second one, finishing in the top five on each occasion. Dave Roper is well-known as the first American competitor to win a TT but his story too is incredible, having faced the dangers of the war in Vietnam he then faced the dangers of the walls and hedges of the Isle of Man TT. Les Trotter is another who began racing in the early 1960s and enjoyed a varied and successful career not just at the TT but at the Manx Grand Prix as well while the story of his great friend and rival Frank Whiteway is documented here, a rider who somehow has gone under the radar somewhat despite winning the Manx Grand Prix and then the TT just two years later. There’s also a foreword by legendary TT racing commentator Fred Clarke.
If you love the Isle of Man TT then you will certainly love Isle of Man TT Greats Volume Two.
