OVERVIEW

With nearly 250 colour photos of every twist and turn, a rider's view provided by experienced racers, and details of notable events, course changes and where to watch the action, this is a guide not just for competitors and enthusiasts, but for anyone interested in the most famous, unique and demanding road circuit in the world.

IAN LAWTON was first brought to the Isle of Man as a two-year-old, when he had the privilege to sit on the tank of Mike Hailwood’s Norton in the winner’s enclosure – his sister Pam and Mike were dating at the time.

His father Syd raced works Nortons, winning the Senior race at the 1953 NW200 with a new lap record before a bad accident at the Creg in practice for that year’s TT ended his career. Turning to bike preparation, his Nortons and Enfields won the prestigious Thruxton 500-mile race for five years in a row from 1962 to 1966. But he’s probably best remembered as the British importer of Italian Aermacchis from 1962. Apart from British championships, his bikes finished 2nd to Giacomo Agostini in the 1970 Junior, won several MGPs in the early 1970s, and took five consecutive Junior Classic MGP wins from 1987 to 1991.

Ian is enormously proud to have had Bob McIntyre as his godfather. He also raced his father’s Aermacchis with no little success from the early 80s, including multiple Classic Race of the Year wins in the Lightweight, Junior and Senior classes, before moving on to modern Yamahas and then car racing in the Porsche Supercup. Meanwhile on the roads he had some good results at the Pre-TT Classic races on the Billown Circuit.

He now lives in the Isle of Man with his partner Miroslawa, where he builds classic café racers in his spare time. This is his first book about racing.