EARLY June means that the road racing scene descends upon the Isle of Man once again for the TT races.
And if the races are on, there will be a Dunlop there, as has been the way since 1978, when Joey first took the ferry over to Ellan Vannin - Manx Gaelic for Isle of Man - to give the mountain course a crack.
The course itself is a 37.7-mile trek around the northern half of the island, starting at the grandstand in Douglas, overlooking the picturesque scene of the sloped capital of the British crown dependency and passing the towns and villages of the island.
It first goes through the densely-covered Glen Helen before breaking out into the north of the island through Sulby, before passing through the seaside town of Ramsey and coming down by Snaefell, the mountain after which the course is named, before the Grandstand emerges again, with the hoards of fans cheering the riders on.
This event is one of the most unique sporting experiences on the planet, offering the average fan front-row seats the whole way around the course. Just find a space in the hedges and you’re pretty much good to go.
The first practice session took place on Monday, with Michael Dunlop setting the pace on the Superbike, a Hawk Racing Honda to be precise, setting a pace of 129.59mph.
However, he only just squeezed past Davey Todd by just over a tenth of a second, such are the fine margins in this sport, even at these crazy speeds.
Dunlop will be hoping that he can break his own uncle’s record of 26 wins on the streets of the Isle of Man and keep the Dunlop name as the royal family of road racing.
He will be facing tough opposition with Peter Hickman looking to build on his stellar year in 2023, the reigning Senior TT winner comes to the island in hot form, having taken the Supertwin class double at the North West 200.
Dean Harrison will be itching to get that elusive top spot after he finished second once and third five times in last year’s races.
Last summer, the TT reached new heights, with English rider Peter Hickman setting a new lap record average speed of 136.358mph, finishing the course in 16:36.115.
The bikes will only get faster and the margins will only get finer, but with this excitement, comes danger.
One rider, Raúl Martínez, died during last year’s event, just one of 269 total competitive motorcycle riders who have lost their lives on the roads of the TT course.
The deadliest year was 2005, when 11 people died; three riders and one marshal died during the June race, and six riders and one course bystander died during the Manx Grand Prix between late August and early September 2005.
In fact, since 1937, the only year that there have been races without fatalities on the mountain course was 1983.
