Supporters' Club ready for busy TT
Members of the TT Supporters’ Club are making final preparations for what promises to be another busy TT fortnight.
Following the excellent Centenary TT, the Club Shop will again be based at the rear of the TT Grandstand in Douglas and will be open from Saturday May 24 to Friday June 6 inclusive.
Often a focal point where fans gather to reminisce or chat about the current standing of the TT, the Shop is where members are able to renew their subscriptions, assisting the Club to fulfil its principle aim of supporting those men and women who chose to pit their skills against the world’s most demanding road circuit.
The Club is always on the lookout for new members, and the annual subscription charge of £15 is put to good use. Competitors who are members of the Club receive a useful gift package, worth about £45 and including a TTSC fleece. They also benefit from the Riders’ Draw, co-ordinated live on Radio TT by Club President Charlie Williams, with £1,000 up for grabs.
Dick Hawes was delighted to win the first ‘prize’ of £400 last year.
Competitors in the Junior Supersport races will be riding hard to take home the TT Supporters’ Club Trophy – a silver tray on a plinth – to be awarded to the rider with the best overall performance across the two races.
This is a change in direction for the trophy this year – Roy Richardson has current possession as the leading competitor on a 600cc machine in the 2007 Senior TT.
The Club also presents the Susan Jenness Trophy. This fine piece of silverware, in memory of Susan, who tragically lost her life while marshalling at an off-road event in 1987, is awarded to the lady who is adjudged by the Club’s General Council to have made the most meritorious performance during the TT meeting.
On Sunday June 1, Sylvie LeBlond will receive the trophy from Club Chairman Roy Hanks outside the Press Centre at the TT Grandstand for her efforts in the sidecar events of last year, when she came home alongside husband Francois in 25th position in Race B at an average speed of more than 102mph.
Visiting the Shop during TT fortnight gives supporters the opportunity of purchasing TT-related clothing – fleeces, sweatshirts, polo shirts, baseball caps, badges, mugs and many other items of memorabilia. All profits are returned to the competitors in one form or another.
The competitors’ physiotherapy service – Liz and Emma – is also co-ordinated via the TTSC Shop.
What do members get out of the Club?
As well as seeing competitors benefit from their efforts, they also receive two glossy 52-page magazines each year. The Summer 2008 issue, to be distributed to members in the very near future, features Gary Johnson and Ivan Lintin from the current solo brigade, a conversation with Irish legend Con Law, three-wheeler experts Alan Langton and Dicky Gale, a ‘blast from the past’ in which Isle of Man resident Dorothy Greenwood writes about the career of Jack Brett, and information from the Marshals’ Association, as well as news from TTSC overseas branches in Italy and France.
The magazine also features more than 30 photos of TT heroes in action.
For more information about the TT Supporters’ club visit the website.
Graham Bean