AN EVENING TO REMEMBER

1978 - For Doris Mulligan and her husband Howard, the '78 Isle of Man TT was definitely one to remember. They were able to have dinner with Classic winner Mick Grant after winning the special Motorcycle Rancing magazine competition in our May issue.

From the huge number of correct entries received, it was unbelievably difficult to sort out one winning reason as to why the entrant wanted to dine with the TT star of their choice. So into the hat went the bundle of postcards and out came the one from Doris of Craigvad, Holywood, Country Down, Northern Ireland.

She chose Mick Grant as the man she would most like to have dinner with. Her reason? "He's one of the best public relations promoters in motorcycling today. And he's lovely!".

That seemed to be a good enough excuse for Doris and her husband, que ride a BMW R90 and have been attending the TT for 12 years, to have a great night out with Mick and his wife Carol, at the Coach-house, Ballasalla, regarded as the Island's top retaurant.

The life-long motorcycling enthusiasts thoroughly enjoyed the evening... and couldn't wait to tell their friends of the night they spent with the Island's fastest racer.

Mick Grant was a popular choice to dine with but there were many other Island aces who were nominated by readers.

Phillip Richardson of Walsall, went for Pat Hennen because of his "riding skill and determined display", while Samuel Campbell of Annalong, named Charlie Williams as he "is always very approachable in the paddock or elsewhere".

Ian Stubbs from Brant Broughton, felt he would "rather have a meal and talk bikes with John Williams than spend a night with Raquel Welsh!".

Burton, Staffordshire, fan R. Hinshellwood went for Mike Hailwood because "he's a promising newcomer", and Sue Jones of Wallasey, plumped for George O'Dell as "he has done more for Sidecar racing and Britain than anybody else".

"Better than Barry Shenne, more handsome than Hennen, faster than Fau, greater than Grant...It's persevering Steve Parrish for Mel" was how Sue Day of Leatherhead, Surrey, described her choice. Jacqueline Weeden of Dartford, Kent, wanted John Williams to "ask how he felt after pushing his bike in after leading all the way in the 1976 Senior".

Those for Mick Grant included John Ellis of Swansea for the way "he has treated the course with respect and mastered it, but still remains modest and sociable"; Jocelyn Looker of Swindon for "being a true gentleman on and off the circuit and he rides with my initials on my helmelt"; and A. Bancroft of Rochdale, Lancs, as "like many other great sportsmen, Mick Grant gives one hundred per cent effort, has a good personality and a sense of fair play."

Romantic touch too from Dubliners John and Vivianne Gray who nominated Mick Grant because "we spent our honeymoon at the TT in 1975, the year he broke Mike Hailwood's lap record".

Just some of the other star choices from the many hundreds of entries received included Ulster's Ray McCullough, Scottish sidecar wizard Jock Taylor, eight-times World Champion Phil Read, Chas Mortimer, Giacomo Agostini, Ron Haslam...

Also appreciated was the entry from Miss Moira Flockhart from Musselburgh, Midlothian, who said: "I would like to dine with any rider because everyone who competes in and supports the TT race are stars."

MV AGUSTA

1958 - Thankfully fire is not a common occurrence in TT racing, but when it happens the combination of high octane fuel and difficult to extinguish metals make for a hair-raising situation.

Image what was going through John Hartle's mind when the factory MV, ironically nickname Fire Engine, burst into flames as he exited Governor's Dip in the 1958 TT Senior.

As the photograph shows the less than adequate fire fighting equipment failed to dampen the flames and all Hartle never the luckiest rider on the island, and the startled marshals could do was watch the priceless MV Agusta  go up in smoke.

LIFESTYLE ... MUST HAVES

1939 - When german BMW rider Georg Meier took the checkered flag in the Senior Tourist Trophy race at the 1939 Isle of Man, it marked the first time a non-Briton had won since the beginning of the TT in 1907.

In 1939 BMW arrived at the island early and well prepared. Meier, quoted in a story on the BMW Group Press Club USA site, said, “With BMW’s small racing department we arrived in Douglas in good time, since the official practice sessions started 14 days before the race. Early in the morning, at the break of dawn, we were already out there on the roughly 60 kilometre-long island track where people claimed that ‘only an English rider was able to win the race.’ And believe me, the circuit with all its substantial challenges really demanded the utmost of the rider.”

Proof of that demand was, for the second year in a row, another accident involving BMW rider Karl Gall, who came off at Ballaugh Bridge during a practice lap. His injuries were serious, and he died 11 days later.

Although it considered withdrawing, BMW decided to stay in the race, and on June 16, Meier started the Senior TT with 42 other competitors. “I was really under great mental stress at the start, with each rider setting out in 30-second intervals,” Meier said. However, Meier dominated the event, setting a new lap record his first time around and becoming faster on each subsequent lap.

“And then, after 2 hours and 57 minutes, I at last saw the man with the black-and-white-checkered flag waving me in as the winner. What I really wanted to do most at that point was literally kiss and hug my wonderful machine with its white and blue colors on the tank which, apart from all those flies on the wind deflector, still looked brand new, without the slightest trace of oil or any signs of the incredible race we had just been through.”

Schuco BMW R50 TT 1/10 scale Art no 06610