Out And About At The 2026 Isle Of Man TT
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An Essay on Before and After
John McGuinness at Ballaugh Bridge. Still a top 5 Superbike TT rider after 30 years on the Mountain Course. Photo by Tracey's Pictures IOM.Approaching 20 years of attending the Isle of Man Tourist Trophy (and/or Manx Grand Prix) races, I have a suspicion that the TT's history will someday be divided into two distinct eras.
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Before the movie. And after the movie.
Upon seeing Channing Tatum and Eve Hewson in race suits and producer Brad Pitt surrounded by film crews at work on "The Isle of Man" at the 2026 TT, that thought kept creeping into my head. While spectating from a rickety platform at Rhencullen with my main man from Manchester, Kes Scott. In the parc fermé talking to racers like Shaun Anderson. Bopping through Douglas for another spectacular dinner at Peter Ingrassia's Nuovo Isola. And at my favorite local pub, The Woodbourne. Especially at The Woody.
Two film bikes with stunt riders aboard at speed on the TT course, part of the ‘Isle Of Man' film now in production. No, that's not Channing Tatum. Photo by Tracey's Pictures IOM.Things I heard: "The movie will ruin the TT." "It was so much better in the old days." "We're going to lose what makes the TT special." "After 55 years of coming over, I'll not be back."
Now, I've heard versions of those conversations for years, but they seemed louder this time around, and the concern is understandable. Unlike MotoGP or Formula 1, the TT has never been a polished entertainment product. For 119 years, it's been an analog, semi-professional, blue-collar, history-drenched, "Is this really allowed?" adventure. A place where, beyond a handful of stars, many competitors and team members are still bricklayers, carpenters, mechanics, and small business owners using holiday time and hard-earned savings to chase a dream around the Mountain Course, sleeping in the van for two weeks. And almost every year, some bad things happen. The passing of Daniel Ingham, a 33-year-old rider from England, after an incident in qualifying, was another chilling reminder of the unique dangers of the TT. All of this is held together though with the unequalled feeling of ownership by the fans and the Manx people, a community that has supported the riders, teams and the entire meet through thick and thin, death and glory.
Two film bikes with stunt riders aboard at speed on the TT course, part of the ‘Isle Of Man' film now in production. No, that's not Channing Tatum. Photo by Tracey's Pictures IOM.But newer and younger global audiences who may not have been alive for Joey's exploits have different experiential expectations and new technologies that present sports, and the TT in particular, in ways unimaginable back in the pudding- bowl helmet era. And the TT must evolve in terms of the racing, the experience for attendees and viewers, and the economic models needed for it to survive and thrive in a very different world.
Hey, a movie is what did it for many of us far afield of the Isle of Man. When I first discovered the TT, as a dirt bike kid in New Jersey in the ‘70s, I'd wait for motorcycle magazines to arrive a month or two after the event, and pore over grainy photos and race reports and wonder what it would feel like to stand beside Bray Hill or watch motorcycles fly over Ballaugh Bridge. But it was Peter Starr's film Take It To The Limit, with the Mike Hailwood on- board scenes around the Mountain Course, that gave me the first video glimpse I'd ever seen. I immediately knew I was going to the TT someday. But I didn't know a single person who had ever actually been to the TT until I was nearly fifty years old. And that guy was me.
Michael Dunlop astride the beautifully turned out replica of the winning Honda VTR1000 SP-1 ridden by Joey in the 2000 Formula One TT race. Photo by IOM TT Press.I became obsessed with a wonderfully obscure and dangerous thing on a misty island. I came over year after year, Marshaling the races, the knowledge passed on to me by stalwarts like Peter Thompson of Llandudno, Wales, 60+ years of TT and Manx Grand Prix trips under his belt, a proud TT Marshal on Bray Hill, with every nook and cranny of Mona's Isle memorized. US attendees were thin on the ground back then. I made friends from around the world, I got hooked, and the TT became the center of my moto and travel life. But it still felt like a secret. I'd mention the TT to non- motorcycle folks, and they'd tilt their head like a dog does when you ask it a question.
Riders use all the road, and then some. Especially Dunlop. Photo by IOM TT Press.I suppose the scarcity was part of the mystique. But over the years, I've evangelized the TT and the wonderful Isle of Man here in Motorcycle.com, and to anyone who made the mistake of asking me what my TT T-shirt was about. I spent great energy explaining to my bewildered yet immensely supportive spouse Cynthia why decamping to a damp island to watch motorcycles disappear up a mountain while sitting on hedges where midges bite and cow patties are abundant for two weeks is a perfectly rational annual vacation choice. I eventually brought over scores of people to the IOM on trips of their lifetime. I passed on the knowledge as it had been passed on to me.
Well, the secret is out now. The TT reaches the world instantly. Live streaming. Social media. Daily videos. Influencers. And within the next year or so, there will be a documentary and a Hollywood movie introducing millions of people to an event they've only vaguely heard about.
Peter Thompson of Wales and the Author, Marshaling at Manx Grand Prix 2008. 60 years of the knowledge being passed on. Photo by Andrew Capone.Formula 1 discovered that to grow, they needed audiences beyond diehard fans, people who crave stories and personalities with their sports. I know people whose automotive passions peaked with leasing a Subaru Outback, who after watching Drive to Survive, now speak confidently about tire degradation, pit windows, and the emotional fragility of Italian team principals. The same people who, not long ago, were buttonholing me at neighborhood parties to explain the strategic nuances of pickleball. Give the TT the same Hollywood treatment and it may be only a matter of time before your accountant has very strong opinions about whether it's best to watch the Supersport Race from Cronk-y-Voddy or Ballacraine. (The answer is Cronk-y-Voddy.)
John McGuinness and Dean Harrison at Glen Helen, dicing at 130 in a very technical part of the course. Photo by Tracey's Pictures IOM.The crew for the Isle of Man (that is the film's full title) has been embedded on the island for nearly four years. I met again with Paul Phillips, the IOM Head of Motorsport, and we discussed how the feature and the documentary will impact the TT and the island overall.
"Reid Carolin, the writer and director, really cares deeply about the nuance of the event and the cast and crew have been fantastic in terms of adjusting on the fly to the realities of capturing something as unique as the TT." He added, "I must say it's still a bit surprising having Channing Tatum stroll by and say ‘hi' to me." Things normal in Brentwood are not necessarily normal in Douglas.
Paul Phillips, IOM Head of Motorsport, starts working on the next year's TT the day after the Senior.We discussed the push and pull of the new versus old, the before versus the after. Paul has a firm commitment to keeping the TT healthy and accessible. "Ultimately, my job is about managing growth, ensuring we can thrive in a changing world, and always pondering where will the TT be five years from now? But as a working-class kid myself, I can never see the day where the TT doesn't allow a fan to grab a space on the ferry, use a hotel or Homestay or pitch a tent for accommodations, and watch free racing with an open paddock and have loads of cheap fun. It is always going to have a blue-collar core, even if some people want a more deluxe experience, which we can also deliver."
The most intense conversations at TT 2026 weren't about Hollywood, they were about the sidecars. After serious qualifying accidents involving Maria Costello and Shaun Parker and, a day later, race favorites Ryan and Callum Crowe, on the heels of some terrible crashes over the last few years, the unprecedented decision was made to suspend the entire Sidecar program for the remainder of the 2026 TT. Everyone I spoke with was shocked, pensive, worried.
The Crowe Brothers during the bedeviled Sidecar Qualifying session. Photo by IOM TT Press.Outfits are part of the TT's DNA and have been astonishing spectators on the Mountain Course for generations, requiring a unique blend of courage, engineering, and a complete disregard for Newtonian physics. Watching a passenger climb around an outfit at triple-digit speeds remains one of the great spectacles in motorsport. The lingering question is what happens next.
Maria Costello, the most prominent woman competitor at the TT suffered a terrible incident and is beginning a challenging recovery. Photo by IOM TT Press.TT Clerk of the Course Gary Thompson said that the recent incidents require further investigation before the class returns. He has just launched a TT Sidecar Sustainability Review. "The decision to suspend the Sidecar class during this year's event was not taken lightly. Sidecars have a long and important history at the Isle of Man TT and are valued by competitors, teams, officials, and fans alike. We are committed to ensuring that the process is open, balanced, and evidence led."
The sidecars and their avid supporters and fans deserve that effort. They're too much a part of the TT's history, character, and identity to become a museum piece.
Touring around the island this year, I found myself thinking that change has always been the story here, often in the same fortnight. Practice Week (Okay, fine qualifying week - there I go resisting change) 2026 arrived under glorious blue skies and 75-degree weather. My trusty Suzuki V-Strom 650 started with the push of a button after a year-long nap at Ian Birdsall's Classique Vehicle Care in Ballasalla, and I took to the seaside at Port Erin. Newly crimson-skinned locals frolicked on the beach. Once the first ice cream of many were downed, it was a sweet run over the Round Table and up through Injebreck, ending up at The Raven Pub in Ballaugh for a qualifying session. Ideal weather during Practice Week allowed for time to poke around the island, visit friends, meander the paddock and talk to teams and riders, and view evening qualifying sessions before the hordes descend. Doing the TT the right way means stolen moments on a motorbike on the backroads and towns all around the beautiful Isle of Man.
The author's trusty Suzuki V-Strom 650, off the grid up Druidale way. Photo by Andrew Capone.Then race week arrived, and the weather remembered where we were. The Cloak of Manannan descended. Rain. Wind. Cold. Race Delays. Rescheduled races. Re-rescheduled races. Cancelled races. The Senior TT, completely cancelled due to weather last year, was red flagged after one lap this year, with Dean Harrison getting the trophy. Throughout, pubs were filled with amateur meteorologists. Stories grew taller by the pint. Sod it. Delays at the TT and the time spent chatting with hale fellows well met often become some of the best memories.
But we saw John McGuinness, at 52, still on it and nailing 5th place in the Superbike race. Will it be his last TT? Dunlop maintaining his Supersport dominance and now owning a remarkable 36 TT victories. Twenty-year-old Rhys Stephenson was the youngest rider in the 2026 TT and won the Vernon Cooper Newcomers Trophy. The TT is still an aspiration for racers.
The author's trusty Suzuki V-Strom 650, off the grid up Druidale way. Photo by Andrew Capone.Carolyn Sells at the front of the massive Legacy Lap, with WRWR and the new Norton Manx. Credit IOM TT Press.
One of the key moments this year was the annual Legacy Lap, this time led by Women Riders World Relay. Watching women motorcyclists lead a multi-mile long parade of riders taking a lap of the Mountain Course felt like another glimpse of how the TT, and motorcycling, will broaden their appeal.
Leaders of the ride included Carolyn Sells, the first female to win a solo race on the TT Mountain Course at the Manx Grand Prix in 2009. She rode the exquisite new Norton Manx. And there was friend, and former colleague at the Women Riders Now publication, the remarkably accomplished land speed record holder Erin Sills-Kuykendall as well, who summed it up perfectly.
That's rightly proud American land speed record holder Erin Sills-Kuykendall with hand in the air. Credit IOM TT Press."This gathering of hundreds of women from around the globe exemplifies what happens when someone with a simple idea networks with her community - that idea becomes a movement," she said. "I couldn't be prouder to represent women in land-speed racing as I travel the 37.73-mile TT course in front of 3,000 other riders making history." This was Erin's first TT visit. She will be back.
Some people come to the TT and decide the Isle of Man is the place for them and plant roots. Chris Beauman did it 44 years ago. The Bronx native is now a cornerstone of the sidecar community, a big supporter and media documentarian of the TT, and proprietor of the brand-new and thriving Motor Isle Bar and Grill in Douglas. "I love it here, and feel strongly about giving back, creating a center of gravity around racing, building a community," said Beauman, surveying his packed bar.
From The Bronx to Long Island to The Isle Of Man. Chris Beaumann has had a big impact on the TT community. Photo by Andrew Capone.Some move to the Isle of Man for other reasons, stumble upon the races, and become radiant fans. Catherine Hall found the IOM stunning and peaceful while visiting her son and decided to move over in 2022. Over drinks with a group of friends and family at the Top Bar at the Falcon's Nest Hotel in Port Erin, (grab a sunset seat and a drink here or at nearby favorite Foraging Vintners, and you'll want to move to the IOM too) Catherine said "The TT was not on my list of reasons to move here, but experiencing this tiny island become the vibrant, welcoming epicenter of the global motorsport world every year is an absolute thrill. I love the racing now and I feel enormously proud to live here!"
The Author with friends made at the TT, at sunset at Foraging Vintners in Port Erin. Photo by Andrew Capone.So, as I tucked away the Wee-Strom (I still say it's the ideal bike to leave here and faultlessly carry me around each year) it hit that the rest of the world may soon understand what the Isle of Man has been proudly presenting since 1907. I suspect, due to the film and docuseries, that the TT will appear on more bucket lists. Maybe a few ‘get ready with me for the TT' TikToks. Perhaps a Kardashian at The Creg-ny-Baa. It will bring more visitors and viewers who don't own motorcycles but find the spectacle engrossing. It will bring tourism and sponsorship and streaming revenue to the IOM government, the populace, businesses, the racers and teams. It may create some dissonance with long time fans and locals.
I do understand the old-timers. Staring back from the mirror myself at 68 years of age, I wonder if some of what we're mourning isn't the old TT, but our own youth. Some of us, I suspect, would rather roll the TT up and take it home with us than accept that the TT will evolve, the next generation will discover it on their own terms, and make it their own passion play.
The TT fan base is growing and evolving, and we shall see what the future holds. Photo by IOM TT Press.No doubt there were grizzled veterans in the 1970s convinced that the new crowd of long-haired café racer kids were soiling the event, and that Peter Starr had bloody nerve making a movie that would bring over know-nothing undesirables. But if you weren't born yet in 1978, it doesn't matter whether the TT was "better" then. You only get the TT of your own time. And it is the best time.
Many people say the movie will be a farce and destroy the TT. They're wrong. Yes, some newbies will come because of the movie. Or streaming, or YouTube or TikTok clips. The same way my generation came because somebody handed us Cycle magazine and said, "You've got to see this." And some may only come over one time when they realize that it is expensive and hard to get to the Isle of Man, competitors die, it is often wet, there are only two Starbucks, and the burgers kinda suck. (Sorry, most of them do, except for Porters Kitchen… theirs are great.)
From a few years back, our friend group comes from far afield, and makes new memories each TT. Photo by Andrew Capone.But many will get hooked and become the new TT veterans over time. They'll Marshal. Sponsor riders. Evangelize the Isle of Man and the TT. Twenty-five years from now, today's newcomers might be the old guys sat in The Woody talking to the TT virgins at the next table about how wonderful the races were the first time they came over back in the 2020s.
Hollywood may change how people discover the TT, but I doubt it'll alter what they find when they get there. Only the delivery system changes. The magic doesn't.
The impressive Dean Harrison with his impressive Superbike trophy. Photo by IOM TT Press.Become a Motorcycle.com insider. Get the latest motorcycle news first by subscribing to our newsletter here.