Manx locals welcome the return of thousands of Isle of Man TT race fans

After around three years without TT racing on the Isle of Man, Manx locals have welcomed the return of thousands of bikers to the island.

“It’s been terrible without the TT. It was a big shock to everybody’s system,” David Mason, General Manager of The Empress Hotel in Douglas, told MCN. “I’ve been in this industry for 30 years and I’ve never known anything like it.”

With the hotel sold out for the TT fortnight, the Mason has welcomed a return to the action.

“The locals have definitely missed it. You’ll always get a few people who maybe don’t like it, but for the last six months it’s all people have talked about.”

It’s not just hoteliers happy to see a return. Richard Quayle owns The Tuck Inn takeaway, also in Douglas, and said: “Everyone’s in a good mood and sales are like a Friday every day. It would be nice to have it like this for six months – I could have the winter off!”

The former racer and current rider sponsor joked: “It’s bittersweet because I make loads of money, but I can’t watch the races.”

Elsewhere, Natalie Hutchesson owns The Hutch café in Ramsey and is enjoying her first TT in business, having lived on the island for 22 years. She told MCN: “The atmosphere is amazing. It’s been really daunting, but good fun so far.

“It’s been quiet without the TT. It brings the place alive.”

Manx locals Geoff and Elan Karran have grown up with the racing on the island and say it’s completely different at TT time.

“The island has missed it considerably,” said Geoff, who is also Vice President of the Manx Grand Prix Supporters Club. “The island is totally different during these two weeks.

“It’s just fun to come up here, I like the buzz,” Elan added. “We live outside the course, so we don’t have any obstructions.”

This was added to by 83-year-old Reg Read, who said: “We just got on with life… but, of course, it’s nice to have the TT back… I’m a motorcyclist, aren’t I?

“You notice the difference when it’s over,” he added. “Wherever you go at the moment you’ve just got to be aware of motorcycles. There are many nationalities.

“You get the few moaners don’t you – those people who have moved here in the interim and not done their research to find out if they’re on the inside of the circuit. Then they’re stuck and then they complain.”

These positive comments were echoed by TT Business Development Manager, Paul Phillips, who said: “It’s only when it wasn’t there that it was truly understood how far the tentacles of it go out. And there’s nothing else like it on the Isle of Man.

“I’ve grown up here and there’s two things that define the rhythm of the year in the Isle of Man – it’s the TT and Christmas.”