Race on the legendary Mountain course with four complete on-board laps of the 37.7-mile circuit filmed during the Dainese Superbike TT, the opening race of the 2011 Isle of Man TT fuelled by Monster Energy. The best-ever on-bike picture and sound quality, courtesy of North One Television, puts you at the heart of the action as speeds hit 190mph just inches from walls, houses and hedges.
We begin with Wilson Craig Honda-mounted Cameron Donald as he flashes across the Glencrutchery Road start/finish line into lap four. The Australian is alone on the road for most of his lap, allowing you to focus on his racing line and how he battles to control the head-strong Superbike. His run through Kirk Michael, captured by the forward-facing camera, is truly white-knuckle stuff, and his determination is clear as he swiftly despatches two slower machines at Cronk-y-Voddy and exiting Ballaugh. Donald averages 128.714mph on this lap before heading into the pits and on to a well-deserved podium place.
Next is ‘Mr TT’, John McGuinness, who we join on lap three of the Dainese Superbike race, a race he would win for the 30th TT podium and 16th TT victory of an incredible career. Despite starting from the pits and being forced to back off on the Mountain due to yellow flags, McGuinness still averages 124.048mph on this stunning lap. The forward-facing camera lets you share a ‘big bike’ racing lap with the undoubted Superbike master, seeing the smooth style and precise lines which have made McGuinness the ‘man to beat’ on the Mountain.
The unfortunate Bruce Anstey is our next guide to the Mountain course, his rear-facing camera offering a different view of the TT as lap one gets under way. Despite a standing start, the New Zealand star averages a huge 130.725mph on this lap, which put him in contention for victory – until mechanical gremlins struck on lap three. It may be a race the Kiwi doesn’t want to remember, but the footage from his Padgetts Honda machine is so breathtaking as he bursts through the countryside – and stomach-churning as he leaps Ballaugh Bridge – you’ll never forget it.
Finally there is the heroic Keith Amor who tackled the six-lap Dainese Superbike TT – one of the toughest challenges in motorcycle racing – just two days after suffering a painful shoulder injury. The forward-facing camera mounted on his Honda TT Legends Superbike for the first lap shows while the Scot may have been lacking strength in his right shoulder, he certainly wasn’t lacking bravery and circulated at an average of 128.182mph. Try not to be too shocked on the Sulby Straight as Guy Martin scythes past, just inches away, and then enjoy following in the wheeltracks of the Suzuki GSX-R1000, at least until it pulls away over the Mountain section!
“The 2011 TT races are, as I write, only a week or two behind us and already the video editors at Duke Video have collated the best of the on-track action onto DVD. Your hosts for TT 2011 On-Bike Laps Volume 2 are Cameron Donald, Keith Amor and Bruce Anstey and John McGuinness” Streetfighters