tirely sad. Heartfelt condolences
are due to the friends and family
of a man who loved road racing,
and ultimately gave his life to it.
The 46-year-old Spaniard
knew what he was doing. It was
his fifth TT week, and his 21st
race on the island. That morn
-
ing, in the Superstock TT, he had
achieved a personal best lap
of 125.470 mph, no mean feat.
He'd finished 20th out of 38 on
his Honda CBR1000RR-R Fire
-
blade, earning his 18th Bronze
Replica, a statuette awarded to
those between 105 and 110 per
-
cent of the winner's time (those
within five percent earn a Silver
Replica of the Montague Trophy,
dating back to 1906).
That afternoon, riding an
Aprilia RS660 in the Supertwins
TT, he crashed almost halfway
around in the last of three laps.
There is a line so often
repeated as to have become
painfully tired yet irreplaceable:
"He died doing what he loved."
The comforting cliche.
This, however, against the
backdrop of some 100 riders
who didn't die doing what they
loved. Riders who didn't crash,
while riding absolutely flat out
on twisting country roads, be
-
tween hedges and stone walls,
H
uge sigh of relief. The Isle
of Man TT is over, with
only (only!) one fatal ac-
cident.
Writing that sentence, and
I imagine reading it, leaves a
queasy feeling. But be clear,
no disrespect is meant to the
sole victim of the unforgiving
challenge of the open roads of
this rather quaint island. The
premature death of Raul Torras
Martinez (46) is of course en
-
P136
CN IIIN THE PADDOCK
BY MICHAEL SCOTT
TT OR NOT TT–
A RECORD YEAR
Peter Hickman smashed
the average-speed lap
record with 136.358 mph
on a near-stock BMW M
1000 RR in the second
Superstock race.
PHOTO: IOMTT RACES
