By Olaf Wolff Sr. Staff Writer

You are forbidden to dream about becoming a motorcycle road-racing legend, or to refer to yourself as having been as such, without first validating your cajone status, and pitting your entire skill-set against the 37.75 miles of public roads that form the legendary TT circuit. Granted this is an unwritten law, enforced by purists, yet, that in no way demises the vivacity with which it’s upheld.

During more unruffled times, when motorcycle racers were household names and the TT was the zenith of the international two-wheel calendar, the entry list read like a who’s who of motorcycling legends: Woods, Guthrie, Simpson, Duke, McIntyre, Surtees, Hailwood, Ubbiali, Agostini, Redman and Read.

Later that list of legends grew to include Grant, Rutter, Hislop, Fogarty, McCallen, Jefferies and McGuinness, but one name still stands out - Joey Dunlop. Arguably the greatest of all, Joey scored a record-breaking 26 victories, becoming synonymous with the event and an ambassador for the TT. A company named after Joey now makes a damn fine racing tire.

Motor racing first came to the Isle of Man – the jewel of the Irish Sea – in 1904 when the Gordon Bennett car trials were held there, and a law was passed allowing public roads to be closed for the race. In England, the Government made it impossible to close public roads for any sort of motor racing, preventing a much-desired British motorcycle race on English soil. So, the organizer the Auto Cycle Club, turned to the Isle of Man and, in 1907, the TT was born. 102 years later, for two weeks of every year, the eyes of the road-racing world still focus on the “Road Racing Capital of the World.”

The first motorcycle race held on the Island was the qualifying trials for the International race to be held in Austria. The race ran on the St John’s course, a 15.8-mile circuit in the west. It wasn’t until four years later that it was moved to the legendary Mountain Course – the most challenging and demanding circuit in the world. No BS. The Motorcycle World Championships were first held in 1949, and the mountain circuit was one of the venues that year. Two of the great riders from the pre-war years were to win their last TT's that year, Harold Daniell (Norton) won the Senior and Freddie Frith (Velocette) won the Junior.

During the early years, the mountain road was little more than a cart track with gates stationed across the road. It was the duty of the first rider around in the morning to open all the gates, and the last one through to close them all. Word spread fast and The Isle of Man TT Race became for many years the most prestigious motorcycle race in the world. It was part of the FIM Motorcycle Grand Prix World Championship during the period between 1949-1976, before being transferred to a track in the United Kingdom after safety concerns.

The Isle of Man TT Races became part of the TT Formula 1 Championship during the period 1977-1990 to preserve the events racing status. Since 1989 the racing has been developed by the Isle of Man Department of Tourism, and has been billed as the Isle of Man TT Festival. A gi-normous party filled with tens of thousands of fun loving, ale swilling, motorcycle geeks and freaks.

The race is run in a time-trial format. The winner of the single-cylinder class, and overall winner of the first event in 1907, was Charlie Collier riding a Matchless motor-cycle in a time of 4 hours, 8 minutes and 8 seconds at an average race speed of 38.21 mph. The winner of the twin-cylinder class was Rem Fowler riding a Peugeot powered Norton in a time of 4 hours 21 minutes and 52 seconds at an average race speed of 36.21 mph. Last year’s winner, John McGuiness (Honda) averaged nearly 128 mph.

After the exhilaration of the ‘08 race, when fans were treated to some of the most competitive racing the event has ever witnessed, a very bold declaration indeed, all eyes are now on TT09. The greatest motorcycle show one earth will roar back to life on May 30th, 2009!

Records are set to be broken. Legends on pedestals are meant to be redefined and rediscovered. And, the Isle of Man TT Race is required to endure forever. It’s another one of those unwritten purists’ laws that needn’t be screwed with.