One for the record books - Carl Cox on the 2023 Isle of Man TT
What can I say, this year’s TT was probably the best one I’ve ever been to. Super fast epic battles in every race, and us fans were properly treated to some amazing weather.
We went over as usual as a group of mates and tried to do it all, from Glencrutchery Road on the grid to right up in the hedges, plus we got to ride some laps of our own, and make time for a pint at the legendary Creg-ny-Baa!
Our favourite place though has to be the Black Dub. It’s quite close to our house and the guys who run it have made it a real mecca for TT fans with big screens, tunes, commentary and all-day food and drink. Oh, and it’s situated on the fearsome Black Dub corner where the riders come through at crazy speeds.
And what about the racing itself! Everything clicked into place for our man Michael Dunlop and even in the early practices you could see he was a man on mission posting light-speed times and looking like he was in full-attack mode into every corner. We’ve been with his MD Racing set-up for a few years now and I can’t say how happy (and a bit nervous) I was to see him flying the way he did.
In Qualifying he posted a 135.531mph average speed lap – the fastest ever circulation of the TT, just amazing. And that’s how he attacked the opening Supersport race and Superbike races, taking wins number 22 and 23. When he won the Supertwin race he overtook the great John McGuinness to become the second most successful TT rider ever, just two wins short of the TT GOAT, his uncle Joey.
We started to dare to believe… but a DNF whilst leading the next Supertwin and some amazing performances from his great rival Peter Hickman slowed the win rate. He did go on to win the next Supersport race and shatter the 130mph lap record. How he did that on a little 600cc I have no idea!
“130mph average speed on a little 600cc?
I have no idea how Michael did that!”
Our friends at Padgett’s didn’t have such a great time as both crowd favourite Davey Todd and local ace Conor Cummins had bouts of illness, but they gave good showings in the last races. And they’ll be back fighting for podiums next year I’m sure of it.
I’ve always loved the sidecars and it being the 100th anniversary of that class at the TT, we were supporting three crews. World Champ Tim Reeves with his passenger Mark Wilkes and local Manxman Dave Molyneux/Dan Sayle had some technical gremlins meaning some frustrations for these lads. It was great to see John Holden/Maxime Vasseur get a podium with John having his final TT! The main thing though is that everyone came home safe.
As ever the atmosphere down in the holding area and startline is something to behold, you can cut the atmosphere with a knife. We went down a few times and got to spend some time with Michael and the other racers, but you really can’t beat getting out on the course.
And that’s exactyl what Carl Cox Motorsport plans to do next year when Michael looks to become the most winningest IOM TT rider ever!