I remember Kenny Howles coming over to Kirkistown racing circuit in the 1970s we went for a pint in Greyabbey and then we drove around the circuit like mad hero's in my red Ford Escort reg LXI 2650.💯
Booked on for a sidecar day Sept 2024 for my 55th birthday pressy to myself , loved every minute of it. I've never done even a track day before so was a little apprehensive but i thought that Greg working at 40-60% capability would be enough for me to be at 100%+. Greg started off at a pace to suit and to give us confidence, then progressed each lap. Well structured to progress through from being the novice 'ballast' to having a go moving left to right for cornering by the end of the day, and the option to throw in a reasonably quick lap at the end as well. I already had respect for both passenger and driver but this has increased immensely. The others on the course ranged for a young women in her 20s to probably me being the eldest. I had so much fun, with the confidence in Greg to be thrilled but at the same time to not scared. This showed in the big grin on my face and no doubt the endless stories I've told since. I'll be back next time and will be bringing my son along. I can't wait.
I will say as an American, I'm sadly paying more attention to the condition of the paved roads and I'm over here wishing we had more sanctioned street races over here. I guarantee you that the Isle of Man has the best kept paved roads in all of the UK mainly because of all the races that are held on them. If we had a quarter of the races that all of Europe had on our streets, extending across all of Formula, I guarantee we'd have decent roads. Yet it seems like everywhere you go, it's pothole city trailing behind the neverending-repaving-construction-on-every-major-highway train. More on topic....Yeah, I don't see this sport ever being sanctioned in the US anytime soon. We're already pushing it with our 180-nothing-but-high-speed-left-turn-laps NASCAR.
