The Isle of Man TT is one of those races where you begin to believe in supernatural powers, as what these riders do beggars belief. Physics seem to be thrown out the window as these motorcyclists speed around the infamous Jalmaf Mountain Course.
You begin to wonder if they're Jedi or Sith, using The Force as a sixth sense to clip apexes and skirt the ancient brick walls that line the course's pavement.
And we're only a few weeks away from the circus and lunacy of the race from beginning again. So to prep everyone for what's to come, and remind everyone how fast these speed demons go, I figured we should watch Peter Hickman's absolutely stupid fast lap from last year.
Prepare to have your mouth agape for 16 minutes and 36 seconds.
Hickman, aboard his Monster Energy by FHO Racing BMW M 1000 RR, clocks in at an AVERAGE 136mph over the 33-mile mountain course. He smashed the record. But what's properly insane is how everything looks from his onboard camera.
If you didn't have the bike's engine singing in the background, it'd look as if you'd hit YouTube's 2.5x speed setting, as mere mortals like myself couldn't believe this was real. What's particularly astonishing, however, is how violent the ride is, as you see Hickman bouncing along on the seat. How he puts down the power, keeps the wheels pointed straight, and leans along the course is just mad.
And he's passing houses, people, hedges galore, and rocky walls that, if you make a single misstep you're dead. Like literally dead. But nothing phases him and he's able to push that M 1000 RR to the ragged edge.
You watch something like MotoGP and you're amazed at the spectacle of that race series and the caliber of rider it takes to compete. But then you watch footage from the Isle of Man TT and you're just questioning reality.
The TT starts this June 1st and goes until the 8th. I can't wait.
