"I'm here because I want to and because I love it, I don't need people to understand it, but at least they do respect it." The reflection was by Raül Torras (Sant Hilari Sacalm-Isle of Man, 46 years old), motorcycle racer and Mosso d'esquadra de trafic of the Vic division, when asked by Autobild magazine about the risk of death inherent in the mythical Isle of Man Tourist Trophy race, the deadliest motorcycling event in the world, and in history, that is being disputed these days.
Torras, who had been participating on the Island since the 2017 edition (he had contested 21 TT races), was aware of what was at stake. On Tuesday, in the Supertwin test, he found his fatality between miles 16 and 17 of the 37.7 (60.72 km) final lap of three of the death race.
With Torras – the only deceased this year in Ellan Vannin (the original name in Manx) – there are already 266 deaths in the various races that have been held since 1907 on the island under British sovereignty.
In fact, the first race of the 500cc World Speed Championship (the current MotoGP championship) was held in 1949 on the Isle of Man on a 60.7 km road course with seven laps. calendar until 1976: its extremely high mortality (36 deaths in those 27 years) made continuity under the auspices of international motorcycling organizations unsustainable.
Racing on the Isle of Man – a tiny semi-independent island in the Irish Sea, the size of Ibiza, with little restrictive legislation for motorcycle racing – has something special, almost mystical, in the imagination of thoroughbred pilots. It is the mecca, a legendary circuit, 60.72 km on winding roads closed to traffic, but without the protections of a circuit. Those who have run explain that it is a wild experience, savoring risk at every angle, with gushing adrenaline and death around every corner... It has something addictive, exclusive, only suitable for the brave.
“The fear of killing yourself keeps you alive. I don't know of another race in which you see death so closely, you see the risk in the walls, you see yourself so close, at 300 km/h, and you say to yourself: 'Goodbye'”, Antonio Maeso (Madrid, Madrid, Spain) explained to La Vanguardia. 1979), the Spanish rider with the most experience in the Isle of Man TT, with seven participations. The last one was in 2017. Enough was said.
"Yes, because statistically you have a high percentage of making mistakes," he explains from Almería, where he lives, works as an English teacher and has switched to cycling. "I no longer do motorcycle races." You don't need to ask him. "On the Island I spent all the luck I could have, with the ratio of people who die I no longer have more cat lives to spend," explained Maeso, who was about to stay on a stone wall on the Isle of Man in 2013. He only grazed it, but he blew out his knee and nearly had it amputated in a Liverpool hospital after 12 hours in surgery. He spent three years in rehab. He ran again in 2017, and that's it.
“I knew Raül [of the same age]; in fact, I passed the baton to him, since his first race was my last ”, Maeso comments with sorrow in his voice.
Raül Torras, who ran with an Andorran license (the Spanish Federation does not issue them for the Isle of Man), had set the fastest lap of a Spaniard on the mountain circuit, at an average speed of 201.92 km/h in Superstock . It was his last feat.
