The dream PART ONE BETWEEN THE HEDGES
RACING AGAINST THE WORLD’S best riders at the Isle of Man was once a rite of passage for Australian riders with dreams of making a name for themselves on the world stage. Up until 1976 the Tourist Trophy was a round of the world championship, so the vast majority of riders competing in the world championship had to ride there, whether they wanted to or not.
The TT has always had an aura about it, a sense of danger, of unforgiveness, but also a lure of adventure. Where once there was a well-trodden path to the TT by Aussie riders, this dwindled somewhat after the 1980s, and it was only sporadically that Australian riders in the last 30 years would venture to that island in the Irish Sea to take on the Mountain Course. Riders like Cameron Donald, David Johnson, Josh Brookes, and Alex Pickett. These four riders have all tasted success at the Isle of Man, but as they will tell you, it doesn’t come easy, cheaply or without scars, some physical, but almost always emotionally too.
I caught up with Alex Pickett and his father Chris (who’s also raced at the Isle of Man) to find out how a young bloke, barely 18, found his way to the starting grid on Mona’s Isle, the road racing Mecca of the world.
Alex: “I was conditioned to the TT at an early age. My dad loved it and always dreamt of racing there but the reality of a young family and living on the other side of the world meant he never had the finances to actually make that dream happen. He consoled himself with buying TT videos and DVDs through the years and we would watch these together. Dad loved his racing but was really only a club racer, mainly on classic bikes.
“In 2006 our family went to Europe for the first time and of course we had to go to the TT. We could only get accommodation for practice week so we missed out on race week. The first rider I saw come through on the first night of practice was Martin Finnegan on a CBR1000RR. Dad and I were sitting on the hedge at the end of Cronky-Voddy straight and we could hear him before we saw him, the engine on the limiter
