The TT Grandstand Area - Isle of Man - geograph

The TT Grandstand including the startline, pit lane, re-fuellers, merchandising, scoreboard and paddocks for the

Isle of Man TT The Isle of Man TT or Tourist Trophy races are an annual motorcycle racing event run on the Isle of Man in May/June of most years since its inaugural race in 1907. The event is often called one of the most dangerous racing events in the world ...

and Manx Grand Prix races is situated on the A2 Glencrutchery Road, in the town of

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 Civi ...

Isle of Man ) , anthem = "O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europe ...

History

The startline for the 1911 TT races was originally situated on a level section of the A2

Quarterbridge Road Quarterbridge Road ( gv, The Quarters or Quarter Dub – quarterlands of Ballabrooie and Ballaquayle) is situated adjacent to the 1st Milestone road-side marker measured from the startline at TT Grandstand used for the Snaefell Mountain Course ...

between Selborne Drive and Woodlands Lodge in Douglas. The startline and refuelling area was moved to the top of

Bray Hill Bray Hill ( Lowland Scots: ''Brae'' a slope) was formerly a country lane known as the ''Great Hill'' during the time of the ownership of the Duke of Atholl, and was previously known as ''Siberia'', originally a triangle-shaped parcel of land i ...

for the 1914 TT races, and then moved in 1920 to the Nobles Park area of the A2 Glencrutchery Road at the junction of Greenfield Road in Douglas. For the 1920 TT races, changes were made to 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 ...

and competitors turned left at

Cronk-ny-Mona Cronk-ny-Mona () is situated between the 36 and 37 mile markers used for the Snaefell Mountain Course, being on the primary A18 Mountain Road at the road junction with the A21 ''Johnny Watterson('s) Lane'' and the tertiary C10 Scholag Road in t ...

and followed the primary A18 Mountain Road to Governor's Bridge Dip with the new start/finish line nearby on the A2 Glencrutchery Road which lengthened the course to 37¾ miles. For the

1926 Isle of Man TT Further changes occurred in the 1926 Isle of Man Tourist Trophy with the scrapping of the Side-Car TT and Ultra-Lightweight TT Races from the lack of entries. Most of the TT Course had now been tarmacked, including the Snaefell Mountain Section ...

races the startline section at Glencrutchery Road was improved by road widening and building of a new grandstand complex at a cost of £2,000. The 1920s wooden structure was demolished and replaced with a modern purpose-built brick design on newly acquired land for the 1986 TT Races. The new development incorporated a race control and communications tower, a wider pit-lane and seating placed further away from the refuellers due to

FIM FIM may refer to: Organizations and companies * Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme, the International Motorcycling Federation * Flint Institute of Music, in Michigan, United States * Fox Interactive Media, now News Corp. Digital Media * ...

requirements for enhanced competitor and spectator safety concerning fire-risk. Proposals to re-locate the facility to the other side of the Glencrutchery Road were rejected as being more costly than the projection of £GB450,000.

Concourse facilities

The official TT regulations paddock diagram shows many public, technical and administrative areas developed into the Grandstand,IoM TT race regulations 2014 with concourse diagram
p.5, pp.14-15, pp.25-26 Retrieved 28 November 2016 including: File:John McGuinness TT paddock 2013.jpg, TT rider John McGuinness awaiting a press interview at a picnic bench in the public catering area at the rear of the TT Grandstand during 2013 TT races, with Mrs McGuinness standing to left File:TT Grandstand Isle of Man pit refuelling stands and scoreboard.jpg, View from the Grandstand seating area showing pit-boxes with refuelling stands, then-used for visitor bike-parking on a non-race day, with scoreboard to far side across the Glencrutchery Road File:Race paddock IMG 0249.JPG, Pre-race assembly areaIoM TT race regulations 2014 with concourse diagram
p.23 "''At the conclusion of all races the finishers will be required to return their machines to the Parc Ferme. This will be located in the Assembly Area.''" Retrieved 28 November 2016 adjacent to startline showing machines with tyre warmers plugged into wall-mounted

electrical outlet AC power plugs and sockets connect electric equipment to the alternating current (AC) mains electricity power supply in buildings and at other sites. Electrical plugs and sockets differ from one another in voltage and current rating, shape, ...

Acceleration/deceleration lane and return road

The acceleration lane leads from the pit lane to re-join the main road. The deceleration lane provides a braking area, terminating in a hairpin turn-around loop in Nobles Park before connecting to the return road, leading back to the ''winners enclosure'' and ''

parc fermé ''Parc fermé'', literally meaning "closed park" in French, is a secure area at a motor racing circuit wherein the cars are driven back to the pits post- and sometimes pre-race. Area For example, according to the FIA Formula One regulations, th ...

'', situated as part of the paddock complex, for all race finishers.

Temporary accommodation

Temporary holiday accommodation in the paddock for TT time was established from 2012 until 2017. The complex was provided by

Snoozebox Snoozebox is a pop-up hotel company which used modified recycled shipping containers. History It was founded by leisure entrepreneur Robert Breare in 2011, with former Formula 1 racing driver David Coulthard as a principle. The portable hot ...

, a business having former Formula 1 racing driver

David Coulthard David Marshall Coulthard (; born 27 March 1971) is a British former racing driver from Scotland, later turned presenter, commentator and journalist. Nicknamed 'DC', he competed in 15 seasons of Formula One between and , taking 13 Grand Prix vi ...

as a principle. The accommodation was in the form of stacked

shipping containers A shipping container is a container with strength suitable to withstand shipment, storage, and handling. Shipping containers range from large reusable steel boxes used for intermodal shipments to the ubiquitous corrugated boxes. In the context of ...

, modified and fitted-out as commodious sleep cells.Snoozebox to be a permanent feature at TT Races
manx.net, 27 February 2014. Retrieved 1 February 2021

Sources

External links

Map of courseTT Grandstand, paddock and campsite
section 11 of Noble’s Park 5-Year Development Plan 2012-2017, Douglas Borough Council {{coord, 54, 10, 04, N, 4, 28, 41, W, display=title, region:IM_type:landmark

TT Grandstand The TT Grandstand including the startline, pit lane, re-fuellers, merchandising, scoreboard and paddocks for the Isle of Man TT and Manx Grand Prix races is situated on the A2 Glencrutchery Road, in the town of Douglas, Isle of Man. History ...

Snaefell Mountain Course