54th INTERNATIONAL VMCC TT RALLY
June 7th - 9th, 2009

The 2009 TT Rally took place over 3 days during race week in the glorious Isle of Man and was organised by the local section of the VMCC Events Committee.

Practise week was held under almost perfect racing conditions with lap records being unofficially broken and prospects for race week looking good. However, the weather had other ideas with the Saturday race programme postponed until Monday due to heavy rain and “Manannan’s Cloak”* being firmly in place on the Mountain.

Sunday dawned dry and sunny but with a stiff breeze – perfect motorcycling weather! 9.30am saw signing on get underway from St. Johns carpark with the usual problems associated with signing on – where’s my membership card ? what’s my name ?what bike am I riding? All dealt with in good humour with everyone being ready for the 11am start.

An interesting run in the south of the Island had entrants experiencing the quieter country roads and lanes before returning to St. Johns, but this time at Tynwald Mills a full half mile from where we started( though no one took this option)! The Neb Café had prepared a packed lunch for the return which everyone tucked into whilst comparing notes on the Run , when or if they went wrong. The rest of the day was free for riders to experience the delights of Mad Sunday.

As Mondays races had been moved to Tuesday, several members had to attend marshalling duties whilst the remainder of the entrants duly signed on for a Run in the north of the island from our rally base in Mooragh Park within the town of Royal Ramsey**.

Another leisurely run in perfect weather gave everybody the opportunity to enjoy the views and sights before returning to enjoy lunch in the park where the concours judges “did their stuff”. A venerable veteran Sunbeam rubbed shoulders with a Honda CBX, Royal Enfields (old and new!), Nortons, BSAs, Velos, Vincents,Triumphs et al were all well represented along with Italian and Japanese machines and a very rare flat twin Coventry Victor.

The Ramsey Sprint was in full swing which gave entrants the opportunity to see some slightly more powerful machines shredding tyres in the vain hope of finding some grip over the 1/8th mile promenade course. At 3.00pm precisely the Red Arrows display arrived over the bay to give their full programme of “ariel” manouvres. A perfect end to a Grand Day Out.

Thursday’s starting venue was again the Neb Café, Tynwald Mills , numbers being swelled by returning race marshalls. Laxey was the chosen finishing point for the day’s run to join forces with a Rally being organized by another local bike club. Careful planning avoided the heavy traffic of the TT Course, and our arrival swelled the already considerable numbers on Laxey Prom’.

Concours Judges again were kept busy whilst attempting to sort out winners from the many beautiful bikes on display and riders answered many questions from interested visitors. Again another “ariel” display was organised , but no Red Arrows this time , bi-planes and wing walkers being the order of the day.

The day’s finale was held at Pat and Tony East’s – home of the famous ARE collection – with over 200 people in attendance.A marquee with seating was provided but with a beautiful evening in prospect most chose to wander about the bikes, listen to the jazz band and enjoy the huge bar-be-que. The prizes for the concours were presented to the worthy winners and as entrants drifted off, the Rally drew to a close, a very happy and enjoyable event.

* Manannan’s Cloak – a mythical god , Mannanin, protects the Isle of Man from evil - his cloak refers to mist which he calls down to hide the island.
**Royal Ramsey – following a visit by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert to Ramsey the title Royal Ramsey was bestowed upon the town and can still be used.

Pictures to follow