#AndrewCapone

The 2024 Isle of Man TT is done and dusted, and a new King of the Mountain has been crowned, Joey’s own nephew Michael Dunlop. With three more victories, he now stands at 29 TT wins, the most successful rider in TT history, breaking the 24-year-old record held by ‘Yer Maun.’ But the fortnight also saw a new force emerge, Davey Todd, who won his first two TT races. The Milwaukee BMW Motorrad rider nipped Peter Hickman in the first RL360 Superstock TT Race by a scant 2.2 seconds, the lead pinging back and forth throughout.

If, in 2024, you were to plonk yourself beside virtually any segment of the 37 ¾ mile Isle of Man TT Mountain Course, and witness the incredible sound, sight, and fury of race bikes blasting past a mere few feet away, you would be experiencing virtually the same thing (more speed and less tweed notwithstanding) as someone in that same spot 117 years ago. Keeping this event alive and thriving despite a world that has changed beyond what that person in 1907 could have ever imagined is the challenge. And the pull of tradition vs. the push of progress is where the friction lies.