26th Milestone, Isle of Man (also known as Joey's) is situated on the primary A18 Snaefell Mountain Road in the parish of

Lezayre Lezayre ( ; ), formally Kirk Christ Lezayre, is one of the seventeen historic parishes of the Isle of Man. It is located in the north of the island (part of the traditional ''North Side'' division) in the sheading of Ayre. Administratively, par ...

in the

Isle of Man The Isle of Man ( , also ), or Mann ( ), is a self-governing British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland. As head of state, Charles III holds the title Lord of Mann and is represented by a Lieutenant Govern ...

. At the 26th Milestone racing marker used for the

Isle of Man TT Races The Isle of Man TT or Tourist Trophy races are an annual motorcycle racing event run on the Isle of Man in May and June of most years since its inaugural race in 1907. The event begins on the UK Spring Bank Holiday at the end of May and runs fo ...

and

Manx Grand Prix The Manx Grand Prix motorcycle races are held on the Isle of Man TT Course (or ' Mountain Circuit') annually, usually at the end of August and early September. Traditionally the event has been staged over a two week period but this was reduce ...

, the bend was named in honour of 26-times TT winner

Joey Dunlop William Joseph Dunlop (25 February 1952 – 2 July 2000) was a Northern Irish roadracing motorcyclist from Ballymoney, County Antrim. In 2015, he was voted Northern Ireland's greatest-ever sports star. Dunlop lies second on the list of all-ti ...

who died after a racing motorcycle crash in

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

in July 2000. The area is the location of the only accident in which spectators at the Isle of Man TT races or Manx Grand Prix have been killed in a motorcycle racing accident.

Racing

A serious fatal racing accident occurred at the 26th Milestone during the Centenary TT races in June, 2007 resulting in the death of a solo race competitor and two spectators during lap 5 of the

Senior TT The Senior Tourist Trophy is a motorcycle road race that takes place during the Isle of Man TT festival, an annual event traditionally held over the last week in May and the first week in June. The Senior TT is the wiktionary:blue ribbon, blue r ...

race. Newcomer-competitor Marc Ramsbotham riding a Suzuki and spectators Dean Jackob and Gregory Kenzig died, with TT race marshals Hilary Musson and Janice Phillips suffering injuries. Safety work was carried out before the 2007 Manx Grand Prix in late August with the removal of part of a grass bank and a new race marshal's shelter created by the Isle of Man Department of Transport. During the winter of 2007, the 26th Milestone road-side marker, the A18 Mountain Road metal 13th milestone and Mountain Course marker board were also moved from the site. Three-times British Supersport champion Karl Harris was killed in 2014 after a collision with another competitor at the 26th Milestone during the second lap of the

Superstock TT The Superstock TT is a motorcycle road race that takes place during the Isle of Man TT festival. The event for production based motor-cycles racing on treaded road tyres is based on the FIM Superstock 1000 Championship specifications. Engine c ...

race.

A18 Snaefell Mountain Road

The 26th Milestone curve, situated on a steep up-hill section of the primary A18 Mountain Road, was part of the

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 ...

and

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

used for the Gordon Bennett Trial and Tourist Trophy car races held between 1904 and 1911. The 26th Milestone is part of the

Snaefell Mountain Course The Isle of Man TT Mountain Course or ''TT Course'' or ''Snaefell Mountain Course'' or ''Elmo’s Mountain Course'' is a street and Road racing, public rural road circuit located in the Isle of Man, used for motorcycle racing. The motorcycle ''T ...

used since 1911 for the TT and Manx Grand Prix races. The A18 Snaefell Mountain Road was developed in the mid-19th century from a number of pre-existing roads and bridle paths. This included the building of a number of sheep-gates including the East Mountain Gate, the Beinn-y-Phott sheep-gate and

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 ...

. The primary A18 Mountain Road section road from Park Llewellyn (North Barrule) to

is a product of the Disafforesting Commission of 1860 and it reflects typical nineteenth century highway and railway construction practices which includes many small scale cuttings, embankments and revetments which follow land contours with purpose built graded-sections intersected by right-angle bends, road junctions and sheep-gates. Improvements including road widening and landscaping occurred at the 26th Milestone for the 1938 TT races. A small-size metal milestone from the period of James Garrow as Isle of Man Surveyor-General was situated at the 26th Milestone1870 Isle of Man Survey – Ordnance Survey Map Grid Ref 230872 as the 13th milestone marker on the primary A18 Snaefell Mountain Road.

Sources

External links

Prohibited and Restricted Areas for the Isle of Man TT Races, Classic TT and Manx Grand Prix, 26th Milestone
{{coord, 54, 18, 04, N, 4, 23, 37, W, display=title, region:IM_type:landmark 26th Milestone