The lines on Anstey’s face are not forged through old age and long life, but through a young life being lived to the full, and, as the tattoo on the chest of the young, “General” Lee Johnston proudly proclaims, “I Don’t Fear Death, I Fear Not Living”.
The lines on this face tell a story. A story of life. Its twist and turns, its ups and downs, its stresses and strains. Is this the face of a clergyman, who delivers his sermon to his regular Sunday morning gathering in a calm, sensitive manner? Perhaps that of the gardener scorched by the sun on his allotment? Maybe it is the face of an explorer, a mountaineer, a pioneer, a kind, wise man, a loyal selfless man……. a quiet man?
At the time of writing, 47 year old Bruce Anstey is not a clergyman and may well enjoy time spent in his garden, but he most definitely embodies many of those other attributes. This is the face of an unassuming gentleman, a softly spoken New Zealander, a kind and caring man, a generous man. A man who has, over the past 20 years, honed his skills and conquered the daunting and unforgiving 37.73mile Mountain course of the Isle of Man TT, and who, in 2014 and surprisingly to many, covered these 37.73 miles in a time of just 17minutes 06.682 seconds. Now do the maths. His average speed around these roads is a staggering 132.298mph, a speed only bettered in 2015 by the legendary John McGuinness (who has 23 TT wins to his name), and in 2016 by Ian Hutchinson (The first and only rider to date who has taken five race wins in a week) and Michael Dunlop of the famous Dunlop racing dynasty, with Dunlop pushing the record to an astonishing 133.962 mph
These mind-boggling speeds are reached not on a race track surrounded by recticel air bags to protect riders in the event of an accident, but on normal roads, roads with slippery white lines, and bumps, and patched repairs, roads used on a daily basis by Messers’ Quaile and Kinrade going about their lives at a sedentary pace on this normally laid back, beautiful and quiet Island in the middle of the Irish sea, and where it is often joked as you arrive on the Steam Packet ferry, that you have to turn your watch back………20 years!. And, where the most common superstition of locals and racers alike is to wish a cheery “Hello Fairies” as they pass Fairy Bridge en route from the airport to the race paddock. Roads where the price paid for mistakes can be unthinkably high, and where one small lapse of concentration can mean the difference between life and death. The Isle of Man TT is the ultimate road race. At speeds of almost 200mph, Anstey’s reactions may be compared with those of a combat fighter pilot – they need to be!
If these men were businessmen, they would be the Lord Sugar, Richard Branson, the Peter Jones’ of this world. Calculating often tremendous risk and taking great reward. The decisions made by these ‘Kings of Commerce’ may take days, weeks or even months and are based on a plethora of information and data from numerous advisors. Occasionally, the risk doesn’t pay off, or, if they feel the decision is wrong, they back out of the deal. TT racers are in many ways the same – it is only the speed of the decision making process and of course the stakes that are different. This is their choice and, just as no one would question a business risk, the right for the riders’ to make their own calculations should be without question.
For Anstey and the rest of the racers who take on the mountain circuit, their calculations are made in split seconds, thousands of decisions on each of the six race laps, no one to offering advice, no return if they get it wrong, and with each and every one of these decisions meaning a difference between glory at best and loss of life at worst. Each decision becomes instinctive. No time to consider if it is going to be right and no time to reflect before the next one needs to be dealt with.
One young pretender to Anstey’s crown is relative newcomer, Lee Johnston. At twenty-seven years old, he is two decades Anstey’s junior. Johnston is a diminutive Irishman with a twinkle in his eye, a cheeky sense of fun and who, by choice runs the race number 13. Johnston has raised almost £30,000 for “F13k Cancer”, the charity he began just over a year ago when his father was diagnosed with the disease and he relishes the challenges thrown up by the Mountain course. Johnston didn’t set up the charity for recognition, he didn’t set it up for his own personal gain. He did it, with a great deal of hard work for the benefit of others and perhaps most importantly …. because he wanted to. This decision remains unquestioned!
People may question the running of the Isle of Man TT races – they have every right to. People may question Anstey’s outlook on life and his reasons for racing – they shouldn’t. People may ask whether racing motorcycles on this potentially perilous circuit should be allowed? To question is their right, to attempt to put a stop to it based on their personal opinion is not. For many, the bottom line is this. The men (and women) racing these roads do it because they want to. For some, just to ride these hallowed roads, steeped in over a century of legend and tradition is a lifelong ambition. They are more than aware of the risks, and the reward is an adrenaline fuelled experience that cannot be obtained by racing motorcycles anywhere else in the world. As for the people who may pose these questions, they may have never experienced excitement, never had a real adrenaline rush, never felt the greatness of victory, and indeed, may not need that for them to feel alive. That is their choice and it, like those of the racers, should be respected. And equally, just like those who will never understand why anyone would want to ride a motorcycle at 200mph on a road circuit, those who do may never understand why anyone would NOT want to do it.
In this somewhat sterile age, where the multi-millionaire drivers of Formula 1 herald MotoGP racers Valentino Rossi and Marc Marquez as heroes, the racers of MotoGP see the likes of Anstey, McGuinness, Dunlop, and Hutchinson as theirs. Does this put TT racers as the absolute pinnacle of the racing world? The best of the best? The bravest of the brave?
As the riders leave the start on Glencrutchery Road for the literally breath-taking 170mph drop down Bray Hill, they are not doing it for the fame, they are not doing it for the fortune, they are doing it because they want to, and that alone should draw respect.
Choice. A blessing bestowed on everyone and as individual as life itself.
Words: James Wright 2016
Images: © Double Red
Not for publication
