Motorcycle racing is the motorcycle sport of racing motorcycles. Major varieties include motorcycle road racing and off-road racing, both either on circuits or open courses, and track racing. Other categories include hill climbs, drag racing and land speed record trials.
1. Isle of Man TT
First held in 1907 the Isle of Man TT is the oldest and argubly the most dangerous motorcycle race in the world. Held on public roads around the Island, the Snaefell Mountain Circuit is 37.73 miles of pure insanity. The course is extremely varied taking in villages, glens, bridges and country roads; oh and did we mention it goes over a mountain?
It takes around three years to fully learn the track and unlike many other forms of motorsport, outright power and technological advantage won’t secure you a win; experience is key. And with the bikes being so close in terms of performance, the racing is extremely close. For example, in 2012, after four laps and 150 miles of racing, Bruce Anstey won the supersport from Cameron Donald by a margin of only 0.77 seconds - incredible.
2. National Irish road racing
It’s difficult to pick one event which is capable of taking the title of ‘most extreme’ National Irish road race. They’re all mad in their own unique ways - Tandragee is extremely undulating, Cookstown is incredibly fast and Skerries is unbelievably narrow - but in recent years our favourite event has been the Armoy Race of Legends.
The event has only been around since 2009, but it has a surprisingly rich history. Back in the 1970s, there was a bitter rivalry between two sets of Irish motorcycle racers, the Armoy Armada and the Dromara Destroyers (two towns in Northern Ireland). The Armoy Armada comprised of the legendary Joey Dunlop, Frank Kennedy and Mervin Robinson. Their illegal testing of their race bikes on the roads around Armoy was documented in the brilliant BBC film ‘The Road Racers’. So when it came time to organise a new event, Armoy was the obvious location.
3. International Irish road racing
As well as the smaller ‘National’ events there are also two major international Irish road races, the North West 200 (NW200) and the Ulster Grand Prix (‘the Ulster’). Both tracks are incredibly fast and flowing, which allows riders to regularly break 190mph. The NW200 is made up of a triangle of fast B-roads running through Portstewart, Coleraine and Portrush. The vast straights allowed Martin Jessopp to hit a GPS-verified 208mph on his way down to University corner back in 2012. When Ducati engineers looked at the telemetry they couldn’t believe the throttle trace - it made Monza look like a glorified car park.
4. The Dakar Rally
he Dakar Rally encapsulates everything we love about bikes; camaraderie, high speeds and adventure. The classic route, first run in 1978, started in Paris and finished in Dakar, Senegal. It was a brilliant mix of terrain including the iconic African Dunes which could trap bikers for days on end. Cyril Neveu was the first motorcycle winner in ’78 cementing bikes at the heart of the event. Unfortunately after security threats the event had to be moved to South America in 2009 which is where it remains to this day.
5. Erzberg Rodeo
The Erzberg Rodeo is our idea of hell on two wheels. Marketed as the ‘toughest enduro competition known to mankind’, the Rodeo basically consists of the world’s best enduro riders scrambling from the bottom of a huge quarry to the top of the ‘Iron Mountain’. Competitors only have four hours to reach the finish line, with the top guys just making it across with minutes to spare.
6. La Bañeza road race
Irish motorcycle racing originally started out on the roads and it has remained there to this day. And when you look at the facts, this unorthodox approach makes sense. Ireland is a relatively small Island, so there isn’t the space for vast purpose built circuits. There is also a unique culture which accepts the danger of these events. Other European countries have the luxury of space and high investment, so very quickly after World War Two we moved off the roads and onto specially designed tracks.
