Andrew George

The Isle of Man TT is described as the world's most dangerous race, a complicated and unforgiving course. Yet every year more and more motorcycle enthusiasts come to this tiny British island to race in the event. Is it some kind of fatal attraction? It is a three-hour ferry ride from Liverpool to Douglas, the capital of the Isle of Man, which is a self-governing British Crown Dependency. Year after year in late May more than 25,000 people make this journey to the small island about 70 kilometers off the English coast in the middle of the Irish Sea. The TT race has claimed almost 150 lives in its 105-year history and the course itself has claimed more than 250 lives. Most of the riders are amateurs with full-time jobs a world away from the megabucks of Grand Prix racing, and for them this is a very expensive business.