Ballagarey ( gv, balley-y-gharee – 'sourland, wet area farm') is located between the third and fourth milemarkers used for recognition of the

Snaefell Mountain Course The Isle of Man TT Mountain Course or ''TT Course'' is a street and public rural road circuit located in the Isle of Man, used for motorcycle racing. The motorcycle ''TT Course'' is used principally for the Isle of Man TT Races and also the sep ...

road-racing circuit on the primary A1

Douglas Douglas may refer to: People * Douglas (given name) * Douglas (surname) Animals *Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking *Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civil W ...

to Peel road, in the parish of

Marown Marown ( , rhymes with "gown"; gv, Marooney) is one of the seventeen historic parishes of the Isle of Man. It is the only landlocked parish on the Island. It is located in the centre of the island, in the sheading of Middle, though historical ...

in the Isle of Man.

Description

As part of a wayside residential ribbon development, Ballagarey is situated on the eastern edge of

Glen Vine Glen Vine ( glv, Glion Vian) is a village on the Isle of Man in the parish of Marown. It is on the Isle of Man TT course four miles by road from Douglas. The Church of England parish church for Marown is St Runius church in Glen Vine. In 1844, P ...

and Crosby villages on the primary A1 road in the Douglas-to-Peel central valley. The nearby area is mainly farmland of Elm Bank and Ballagarey farm estates including the Baldwin Valley and with nearby summits of Greeba Mountain , Slieau Ruy , Colden and Slieau Ree (near to

Keppel Gate Keppel Gate, Isle of Man () is part of a former UK HM Commissioners of Woods and Forest estate, including a series of former highway mountain gates. It is now Common land in public ownership and is one of three purpose built former Crown Ro ...

) at .

Motor-Sport heritage

The Ballagarey Corner (or Elm Bank) section of the A1 Douglas to Peel road was part of the short

Highland Course Highroads Course was a road-racing circuit used for the Gordon Bennett British Eliminating Trial held in the Isle of Man for the 1904 and 1905 Tourist Trophy Race involving touring automobiles and cars. The events were held on public roads clos ...

(40.38 miles) from 1906 and the also the 37.50 Mile

Four Inch Course The Four Inch Course was a road-racing circuit first used for the 1908 Tourist Trophy Race for cars, held on public roads closed for racing by an Act of Tynwald (the parliament of the Isle of Man). The name of the course derives from the regu ...

used for car racing including the RAC Tourist Trophy car races held between 1905 and 1922. In

1911 A notable ongoing event was the Comparison of the Amundsen and Scott Expeditions, race for the South Pole. Events January * January 1 – A decade after federation, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory ...

, the

was first used by the Auto-Cycling Union for the Isle of Man TT motorcycle races. This included the Ballagarey Corner and Crosby village sections and the course later became known as the 37.73 mile

Isle of Man TT Mountain Course The Isle of Man TT Mountain Course or ''TT Course'' is a street and public rural road circuit located in the Isle of Man, used for motorcycle racing. The motorcycle ''TT Course'' is used principally for the Isle of Man TT Races and also the sep ...

which has been used since 1911 for the Isle of Man TT Races and from 1923 for the

Manx Grand Prix The Manx Grand Prix motorcycle races are held on the Isle of Man TT Course (or 'Snaefell Mountain Course, Mountain Circuit') every year for a two-week period, usually spanning the end of August and early September. New for 2022 is a period re ...

races. It was the setting for a spectacular crash in 2010 when Guy Martin's race bike crashed at high speed, with a full tank of fuel after a pit stop just minutes earlier, exploding into a fireball a day after a fatal racing accident involving New Zealand rider

Paul Dobbs Paul Dobbs (5 October 1970 – 10 June 2010) was a motorcycle road racer and development test rider from New Zealand. He first competed in the Isle of Man TT races in 1999. Racing career Dobbs' motorcycle racing career included a first place ...

at the same location. Keith Amor, closely following Martin, had to ride through the immediate aftermath, having been alerted by seeing smoke and trackside marshals running. Martin escaped serious injury, and after being helicopter-airlifted, recovered in hospital from bruising to both lungs and minor fractures to his upper spine.Isle of Man TT: Guy Martin on danger, death and Everest
BBC Sport, 25 May 2012. Retrieved 21 November 2015 Due to the high-speeds attained through Ballagarey during motorcycle competition, it has become known as Balla''scarey''.Press Pack 2008
IoMTT.com, p.19 Retrieved 8 May 2021Big-balls corners: The Isle of Man TT’s fastest five…
bikesportnews, 4 June 2020. Retrieved 8 May 2021

Media

Ballagarey Corner featured in the Isle of Man Film CinemaNX production TT3D: Closer to the Edge after an accident to road racer Guy Martin during lap 3 of the

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

Senior TT races caused a number of protective hay bales to be set alight by a petrol fireball.''Isle of Man Examiner – Brialtagh Ellan Vannin'' page 1 Monday 15 June 2010 Isle of Man Newspapers Ltd (2010) Johnson Press Publishing ISSN 1358-4383 "Miracle Escape – Martin left at scene with minor injuries"

Sources

External links

{{Isle of Man Racing Circuits Ballagarey Corners of the Isle of Man TT