The Isle of Man Tourist Trophy 2022

Practice week 29th May - 3rd June

1st June 2022

Arriving on the Isle of Man on the 1st June half way through the TT practice week, we were looking forward to spectating and photographing the best road racing in the world. The hedges, ancient raised banks and fences would be our home for the next eight days on 37.73 miles of the most dangerous race track in the world. 

This year's Isle of Man TT practice week was always going to be full of emotions after the two year hiatus of motorcycle road racing on the island.

Meeting up with friends, chatting about road racing with the roaring thunder of superbikes reverberating round what were small quant quiet villages, the week before has to stir something even in the most grizzly hardened road race fan.

So, standing in the front garden of a guy I met a few years ago preparing to take some photos of TT22 we chatted about the good times and the bad and briefly on how CV19 had affected the island's economy and the TT. 

Most people were not bothered about talking about COVID now and just want it to be a distant memory and get on with living life, making a living and enjoying the racing.

And living life to the fullest is what the road racers do, but sometimes that life can end in the blink of an eye.

This is what happened to #70 Mark Purslow who died following an accident on his third lap of the session at Ballagarey during our first day and the fourth day of qualifying at around 8pm on that beautiful sunny Wednesday evening.

The crowd were enjoying the practice session watching the bikes jump the Ballau bridge. Germans, Dutch, Americans and Australians were just a few of the nationalities standing around me when the shout of “ RED FLAG” went out. 

When the red flag comes out at a short circuit it’s usually not a big deal, but at the TT you can see the emotions in the faces of the experienced road race fans. The longer there is no news the more concerned those expressions get. 

As soon as a red flag is shown at the TT the riders must stop and pull in. At Ballau we had Glen Irwin coast to a stop next to us. The first thing he did was ask for a phone and started texting, I presume to tell everyone he was ok.

As the time passed and the realisation that something bad had happened Glen stayed upbeat and chatted to the crowd even letting one lucky young man sit on his bike. 

Eventually the session was cancelled, allowing the travelling marshals to collect the racers and escort them back to the paddock at Douglas. We also headed off once the roads reopened. It wasn’t until the following day that we discovered the sad news of Mark's passing.

2nd June 2022

Sitting in hedgerows is all part of the TT experience as is the anxiety of trying to find a new hedgerow that will give you a good view of the racing and a safe place to watch. The anxiety, or in my case the excitement of going to a new location is palpable. 

So after a short discussion my shooting partner and I decided that after reviewing our first images we had a load of keepers and could take a chance on a new place to shoot.

We headed out early to give us time to get to the location and pick a spot before the roads were closed. As with all new locations we look for indications of where a good spot would be to shoot from.

The first thing to look for is flattened grass. This tells you spectators have been at this location and it’s probably a safe place to watch from. However, I have seen people getting themselves all settled two hours before the roads close and then being moved by the marshals who normally turn up an hour beforehand.

The second big indicator is the roads. Are there rises, dips, and turns? This is where the action shots are. Also we look out for witness marks on the roads - scrapes and black lines from the tyres will tell you a story.

Lee Johnston did just that leaving his mark with an excellent pair of tyre tracks in what is one of my favourite shots of TT22. 

After finding a promising spot we were discussing the possible shots when a young couple turned up. I asked them if they had been here before.

They had, so I engaged them in conversation. The best part was yet to come. Out comes his iPhone, Instagram is loaded and a picture shown that he had taken a few years before.

I looked at it then at my shooting buddy and we immediately started to unpack - the picture was a cracker.

The photo he showed us was about the same as the shots you see here. I was going to chat to him at the end of the session about his photography and pass him my card as he mentioned while showing us his pictures that he was struggling to get published. Unfortunately he departed before the end of the session and I didn’t get a chance to.

This session went well with the sidecars out first and gave me a rude reminder to put my ear plugs in when race machines are this close.

The Superbikes, Supersport and Twins all made an appearance with no incidences and they were all making good progress. Six racers posted average speeds around the 37 and 3/4 mile circuit of 133mph.

Peter Hickman set the pace and was on a hot lap, about to post the fastest time of the day until he ran out of fuel. Looks like the FHO racing team might have to turn the wick down for the next session.

3rd June 2022

The plan was to run the final practice of the week in the morning but the Gods of Rain had other ideas, delaying the start so off to the paddock we went to have a look at the bikes being prepared for the rescheduled evening session. Sam West and his crew were trying to salvage anything from his BMW S1000RR which he crashed just before we arrived on the island.

He wasn’t having much luck, but on the upside he only sustained hand and leg injuries in the very high-speed crash at Laurel Bank. He was good to go racing again after a few days off, borrowing a bike from one of his friends in the paddock.

A bit of merch shopping and a quick stop for some zesty drinks and a chocolate bar and we were ready to get on our bikes and head out to Kirk Michael for the next and final practice session.

Hicky was setting the fastest pace again. Interestingly, he was taking a different line over the jump where we were compared to the other racers.

All the other riders were landing on the opposite side of the road whereas Hicky was brushing the grass on the bank we were on. It really made me jump back first time he did it!

He ended up with a fastest lap of 132.874mph in the final practice session on the Gas Monkey Garage by FHO Racing BMW.

The Sidecars were out last but the session got red flagged. Thankfully no crashes but bizarrely because of a burst water main! The sidecars were not having much luck. They had a load of sessions cancelled during the practice week. 

Photographic Postscript 

If you are a regular reader of our PistonClick ramblings you will know we like to focus on the riders further down the results list, especial if they attract our eye or are particularly stylish.

Two riders that did that were #50 Matt Stevenson and Michael Russell. Michael a Serving Aviator (new PC word for Airman) in the Royal Air Force was trying to compete in all of the TT races, a monumental feat of endurance considering he was out on two wheels for a practice then jumping on his sidecar.

Here is a little teaser of them out on the course. In our next report we will cover the race week where will see how Mat and Michael got on.