I couldn’t summarize it any better than Honda did below, so this is a direct quote from its You Tube channel:
As the fastest ever man around the Isle of Man TT, 19-times winner and Honda TT Legends rider John McGuinness is what you might call an expert on the 37.739-mile mountain course. Here, he talks through the Isle of Man TT lap, giving a unique account of his techniques and feelings on some of the most famous sections – from Bray Hill to Rhencullen, Kirk Michael and the Sulby Straight, to the Mountain, the Verandah, Creg-ny-baa and the start/finish on Glenclutchery Road. A legendary lap by a legendary rider.
There’s a decent vidoe game on the old X-box which allows you to run on this and other English & irish Road racing circuits. OK, it’s not gonna scare you the same, but having ridden several of these circuits when in their dialy guise, and even having ‘gone for it’ in sections, it gives you a good impression of how complicated it is to learn a 37 mile circuit and how one corner affects the 3 after it. It was a great feeling to get a 130mph+ lap eventually!
For those that are interested – reading ‘Riding Man’ by Mark Gardiner. Fantastic book about one man’s experience chasing the dream.
I wonder what it would be like to practice for a week and give it a go? Like really try to learn it and then go balls out. Death? I wonder how close a mere mortal could come to the lap records. Back in the real world: these guys are true superheroes. Incredible.
re: “I wonder what it would be like to practice for a week and give it a go?”
or don’t practice for a week. hop the ferry and attend then pick up a rental bike and run ramsey to douglas on mad sunday.
You can, but thats when most of the deaths occur.
A map next to his tea LOL I doubt he needs a map of the place.
Thank God this guy won. Can you imagine Guy Martin doing commentary on his lap. Jesus H. Cristos I would need a dictionary for the subtitles. Can anyone understand that Guy (see what I did there)?
Hey!! Guy’s the reigning, undisputed, universal TT champion, mind you. TT in this case being Talk-Talk, btw.
He’d put all them MTV rappers to shame!!
Balls of unobtanium.
really good to see your overall coverage of the TT in 2012 – what a contrast to its complete omission in previous years …….
I can’t imagine the concentration, memory, practice, and balls it takes to do anything like that! I’d love to try, but I would probably look like an Ice Cream vendor on a moped..
Love his descriptions on parts of the course, and how you really have to focus on some parts, then you are smelling fans barbeque off one side, or pints of beer on the other! To be able to have thoughts like that while hitting 160mph through parts of towns is amazing.
Isle of Man… Bucket List!!
What the heck is up with those subtitles?
Seen this one already, courtesy of Asphalt & Rubber.
The scary thing about McGuinness is, like Cal Crutchlow said, his 80% is like everyone else’s 100%. Plus, just to rub it into the others this year, his bike had those faux headlights (stickers), so it looked like he won the Superbike TT while on a ride to the shops, though you’d think he was from the way he talks about the course.
The Ballagarey kink is as petrifying as ever, even more so at the pace the fast guys do. Shame the Senior TT got rained out this year.