When the great British Government refused to permit the closure of roads for racing in 1907, the Auto-Cycle Club approached the self-governing Isle of Man authorities with a proposal to hold a race there. And when the Manx government agreed, the TT races were born.
The first Tourist Trophy race (so-called because the event was for ordinary road-going touring bikes rather than the 'freak' machines being raced on the continent) started at 10am on Tuesday, 28 May 1907 on the 15.8-mile St Johns course. The honour of being the very first men to start a TT race went to Jack Hulbert and Frank Marshall, though it was Charlie Collier on a 3.5hp Matchless who picked up the £25 cash prize for winning the single-cylinder class, becoming the first recipient of the trophy which is still presented to the winner of the Senior TT today.
Winner of the twin-cylinder class was Rem Fowler on a Norton. He later described what it was like to take part in that first ever TT.
"My most exciting moment was when I had to make up my mind whether to stop and maybe lose the race, or to plunge blind through a wall of fire which stretched right across the road - caused by a bike which had crashed there. Owing to the density of the smoke and flames I had no idea where the wrecked machine was. I decided to risk it, and luckily came through okay. But I shall never forget the hot blast of those flames."
Fowler also set the first outright TT lap record at 42.91mph, at a time when top speeds were around 55mph.
The races continued to grow in popularity until WW1 interrupted, but when the TT returned in 1920 it went from strength to strength. In a time before Grand Prix there was no better way to demonstrate the speed and robustness of a motorcycle.
The 1930s produced the first TT superstar, Irishman Stanley Woods. Woods dominated the inter-war years, racking up 10 wins on a variety of machinery, even a Husqvarna. A likeable, down-to-earth man, Woods set a template for Irish stars to come.
WWII stopped the races from 1940-1947, but by 1949 the TT had the honour of hosting the British round of the first ever Grand Prix world championship - the direct ancestor of today's MotoGP series.
During the 1950s the races entered a golden era, partly thanks to the success of bike racing's first household name - Geoff Duke. Duke won six world titles and six TT races, was voted by the public as Britain's Sportsman of the Year in 1951, and was also responsible for creating the first one-piece leather race suit in 1950. He was also briefly credited with setting the first 100mph lap of the Mountain course (which had first been used in its full form in 1920) in 1955 before the timekeepers downgraded his time to 99.97mph. The honour of setting the first official 100mph lap therefore went to Bob McIntyre on a Gilera in 1957 (Duke being sidelined with injury).
The 1960s saw many of the greatest riders and machines in the history of racing compete on the Island. Mike Hailwood, Giacomo Agostini, Phil Read and Jim Redman were just a few of the legends who rode factory exotica, such as three-cylinder MV Agustas and six-cylinder Hondas, to victory and world championship glory. The decade peaked with the epic 1967 Senior clash between Hailwood and Agostini, which ended with Ago's chain breaking on the last lap while leading. The 15-time world champion still considers it the greatest race of his life.
The death of Ago's friend Gilberto Parlotti at the 1972 TT led to top riders boycotting the event on safety grounds, and in 1977 the TT was stripped of its world championship status. Many thought the event was doomed but it was saved the following year by one of the greatest comebacks in 20th Century sport. Mike Hailwood's victorious return after an 11-year retirement saw the TT attract more crowds than ever.
In the 1980s, the TT was dominated by Joey Dunlop, the most successful and most popular pure roads racer of all time. After scoring 13 wins, Dunlop was forced to miss the 1989 event through serious injury. In his absence, Steve Hislop took over briefly as the King of the Roads, winning 11 races between 1987 and 1994. His Senior victory on a Norton in 1992 - the first Norton win since Hailwood's in 1961 - remains one of the greatest TT achievements of all time. Hislop also set the first 120mph lap before turning his back on the event to concentrate on short circuit racing.
As Dunlop slowly regained full fitness, he started racking up the wins again. Three victories in 2000 took his overall tally to a record 26 - 12 more than closest rival Mike Hailwood. Sadly, just a few weeks after his 26th win, he was killed in an obscure road race in Estonia.
In the new millennium, David Jefferies, or DJ to everyone who knew him, was the man to beat. As a nine-time winner and the first man to crack the 125mph lap, Jefferies was the undisputed Number One at the TT as practice for the 2003 races drew to a close. He had just reeled off another 125mph lap when tragedy struck: Jefferies hit oil on the track at the flat-out Crosby section and lost his life in the resulting crash.
With the loss of its star rider the TT once again looked doomed, but yet again it bounced back and it was Jefferies' close friend, John McGuinness, who picked up the gauntlet and set a new standard of excellence as the TT approached its Centennial year. On his way to win number 11 in the 2006 Senior, McGuinness lapped at a 129.45mph average speed. With road improvements at Brandish Corner now completed, a 130mph lap looks likely to be on for TT2007.
From 40mph to 130mph average lap speeds; from 3.5hp to 210bhp machines, and from top speeds of 55mph to the stunning 206mph clocked by Bruce Anstey in 2006, the TT has come a long way in its 100 years. The history of the event is the history of motorcycling itself. Perhaps the dangers of the TT will force its closure eventually, so we should all enjoy this unique event while we can before all that's left of it are history books and memories.
