Event: Isle of Man Classic TT preview

This year marks the 40^th anniversary of Mike Hailwood’s incredible win in the Formula 1 TT at the Isle of Man after 11 years away from racing. Spectators at this year’s Classic TT at the Isle of Man between Friday, August 24 and Monday, August 27 will get to see another TT legend, John McGuinness ride a parade lap on the original Sports Motorcycles Ducati ridden by Hailwood in 1978. The bike will also be displayed in the paddock throughout the event.

The weekend will also see serious racing of its own in the form of the Bennetts Senior Classic TT and Dunlop Lightweight Classic TT on the Saturday, and the Junior Classic TT and RST Superbike Classic TT on the Monday. With riders including John McGuinness, Michael Rutter, Lee Johnston and James Hillier taking part, the racing is set to be fierce.

Festival of Jurby

The Festival of Jurby will take place at the Jurby Motordrome in the North of the Island on the Sunday and promises to be a full day packed with motorcycling based entertainment.

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The Festival is organised by the Isle of Man section of the Vintage Motorcycle Club and brings together a remarkable collection of motorcycles for an expected 10,000 visitors to see. There are also a number of track sessions, pop up exhibitions and appearances by legendary TT riders, past and present.

Honda RC30

It’s also thirty years since the introduction of Honda’s RC30 in Europe, and over 30 bikes will take part in celebrations, with a parade lap on the Monday and there will be a pop-up museum in the paddock.

Although the bike was first seen in Japan in 1987, it was 1988 before it came to the UK. Iconic bikes as once raced by Joey Dunlop, Steve Hislop, Phillip McCallen, Carl Fogarty and Freddie Spencer will be the star of the show and as part of the display there will be five full-factory NLOB bikes.

The paddock will play host to a carnival on Friday with live music, stunt shows and food and drink. There will also be chat shows with stars including McGuinness, Dean Harrison, Josh Brookes and Lee Johnston.

Sundown cinema

The Sundown Cinema returns to the Classic TT with screenings of four ’70s classics on an outdoor cinema behind the main TT Grandstand. Free-to-watch, it opens on the evening of Friday, August 24, with Star Wars – A New Hope. The first instalment of the now iconic Star Wars series was released in 1977 and captured the imaginations of viewers all over the world.

Saturday evening’s film is Grease, the High School Musical of its day. See John Travolta as Danny Zuko attempting to woo Olivia Newton-John’s character Sandy without sacrificing his street cred.

Sunday has the first Superman movie, a million miles away from today’s blockbuster superhero films but a great watch nonetheless.

The series ends on Monday 27 with two-wheeled cult classic Quadrophenia. Released in 1979 but focusing on the ‘60s, this film centres around the famous seaside clashes between mods and rockers. The soundtrack is definitively mod, featuring tracks by Booker T and the MG’s, James Brown and the Ronettes as well as the Who of course.

Classic TT Grandstand tickets are available now starting from as little as £5 with race day tickets priced at £30. VIP experiences, tickets for the Classic TT Party on Saturday, August 25 and the RST Classic TT Heroes Dinner on Sunday, August 26 are all available to buy now at iomtt.com

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