As there making all these improvements and all for the TT and with it being a special year next year do u not think they should remesure the length of the TT course cuz lets face it its not as long as they say anymore due to all the changes they are making Brandish being one. ?????

i've often thought that, hayley. where do they measure the 37.73 miles? in a car driving on the left side of the road? on a bike using the racing line? round the outside, round the inside, then take an average? do they dare to re-measure it, in case it's a lot shorter than it's supposed to be and the lap records are all way over what they should be?
ade!

No way is the TT course the same length as it 50/60 years ago when I first went there, in over twenty years rhat I raced there up till the early 80s the various improvements reduced the length.

Since then the further dramatic widening, straightening and chopping corners have reduced the length even more.

They probably darenot measure it because it would make a nonsense of the so called new lap records in recent years anf the spin doctors hoped for 120 MPH.

The reluctance4 to produce a true measurement only goes to discredit the TT.

Er, didnt we do a thread on this just recently?

MN

I think there have been a few threads on this and other sites.

Amazing how quiet the powers that be in the DTL and ACU were about it.

Gotta get that 130MPH lap even if it is all cobblers.

How long is a piece of string?
Determining the length of a race course is by no means as simple as I thought and some research by Curtin Uni in Australia http://www.cage.curtin.edu.au/~gordonsj/course/
is interesting to read.
It has always been a contentious issue for runners, cyclists, motorcyclists or anyone who races on the roads.
My opinion is that the winner is the fastest person to reach the finish line and the distance, while academic, matters little except for those statistically inclined.
Unfortunately we will never know the exact distance of the original Mountain Course as there is no accurate data available.
It would seem to me as far as changes to the actual course affects times, it would be the radius of the bends, the road crown camber, the surface material, smoothness and levelling of humps, that would be very important at the TT over the years.
This ignores the development of the racing machinery.
Perhaps riders who have raced over a number of years would know if there has been any change in the lines of sight around the course. I have seen old pictures where there seem to be less trees in some areas, Ramsey hairpin for instance.

This is all related to the current obsession with lap records. As Doon says, the first person to finish is the winmner, and that great rider...the first man to do a 100mph lap... Bob MacIntyre said you should win at the slowest possible speed.
Mak Haste Slowly.

Oh...I would still be inteerested, from an academic point of view what would be the mean distance, averaged out on the second laps (to give a rolling lap) of the winners of the two main solo races and the sidecar winner (of the first sidecar race)...take those measurements, add them together, divide by three and call that the length?? That would allow for overtaking etc, and different lines. It would give the length of a racing lap. Not the length of the course..
Well??? Got any better ideas, folks??
We could sell those raffle tickets where you guess the distance, and raise money for the Joey Dunlop Fund (She never gives up does she??)

Well its funny this mileage thing i did a lap on my 400 Honda 2 weeks ago now and i tried to stay as near as the center line where i could . Any guesses as to lenght well to my suprize from start line to start line my bike showed 37.92 miles taking into account my speedo id say its going to be very near dam 37.73 miles if not a wee bit more id love them to measure it before next years races cheersroll on TT 07 all the best for Christmas irish ago.... 8)

Ago
Did you sneak through ' Governers Dip'...............as that it'll make much difference

Oooopps Yes i did but Mums the word...... 8)