32 minutes | Monday, 17 June 2024
This programme has extra content, not in the broadcast edition!A potted history of the TT Races - from journalist and race commentator Geoff Cannell, teaches us that, in its early days, it didn't involve bikes at all, and even when the bikes did join in, the race was never about speed!Manx Radio's first Managing Director, John Grierson, explains the mysterious means by which the first race commentaries were broadcast, and there's interviews with race veteran Stanley Woods, and Formula 1 racing car and motorbike champion John Surtees. David Mylchreest talks about the years he spent doing one of the most sought-after tasks in the TT Festival - driving the Roads Open car - a task he took over from his father Brian, in 1977.And finally - one of the most original and entertaining additions to any TT Festival was the arrival of the Purple Helmets. In this extended interview, recorded in 2007, Purple Helmet Jim Davidson tells David Callister how they came into being - and other stories!