Over the second jump at
Ago's at close to top revs in
sixth, I flash past the big white
house on the left and dart into
the shade. Then, it's hard on the
brakes for Quarterbridge, where
the madness of the past 15 sec-
onds or so is replaced by a se-
rene first-gear, right-hand cruise
for three seconds or so, before
I'm back on the throttle and
pointing the motorcycle towards
the left of Braddon Bridge.
By now, the vast crowds that
line either side of the track turn
into a 3D water painting I con-
trol, and from now on, all that
matters is hitting my lines, stay-
ing on track and, most impor-
tantly, staying alive.
GETTING THERE
This is my first foray at the Isle
of Man, a place near and dear
to my family's heart. I grew up
with photos around the house of
my father racing his TT Ducati,
Yamaha and AJS, and while the
TT was always something I knew
I wanted to do, getting there was
another matter entirely.
My "in" came via the Pikes
Peak International Hill Climb,
where I won the final motorcycle
event in 2019. A quick visit
to the Isle at the end of 2019
confirmed that, yes, I did want
to take on this greatest of chal-
lenges, but with two-and-a-half
years of Covid-induced hiatus, I
had plenty of time to talk myself
out of doing the race—but not
enough time, as it turned out.
PRF Racing's Scott
Compsty pushes the
GSX-R through tech on the
morning of race two.
(Above) The King of
The Mountain, Peter
Hickman. The lap
record holder was a
great help to Rennie,
offering lots of
insights only a man
of his experience
would know. (Below)
Rennie trying
frantically to hang
onto Milky Quale's
exhaust pipe on his
belated rookie lap
on night one.
FEATURE I 2022 ISLE OF MAN TT: PART 2
P98
