Quote:
Originally Posted by san rensho
Road racing on real roads is no sport for old men. Joey Dunlop, probably the greatest TT racer, died at 48, racing in Estonia.
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I first met Joey in the early 1980's when he was a "privateer" Ulsterman out of Ballymoney in Northern Ireland (where he ran a pub) and raced on the Isle of Man in the other road race series, the Southern Hundred, which is held on a brutal road course in the southern end of the island. At the time, Joey built and drove his own bikes, and was so strapped for cash that friends used to bring his bikes to the IOM on Irish fishing trawlers because he had no money to buy a transporter. Joey was a short, bow-legged Irishman with a nearly incomprehensible brogue, but a persistent twinkle in his eye and a quick laugh. Joey and his bikes quickly became the dominant racers in the Southern and the TT, and caught the eye of Honda.
Later, he became a “works rider” for Honda, repeatedly wining the TT in record setting times on his infamous “V-for Victory” Hondas, winning a total of 26 times, more than even Mike Hailwood (The King of the Mountain course). Joey became known as “King of the Roads” on the island as well as Europe. Indifferent to personal wealth and scornful of celebrity, Joey was a throwback to another age; he raced simply because he loved it.
Joey was killed doing what he loved on July 2, 2000, at “Pirita-Kose-Kloostrimesta” road circuit near the medieval walled city of Tallin in Estonia. He was given an Irish state funeral attended by 50,000 fans, and broadcast live on national television.