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A world traveler on two-wheels, Asphalt & Rubber reader and good friend Colin Evans is attending his first Isle of Man TT this year. We asked him to share his perspective on the trip, as both someone new to the Isle of Man, but also as a veteran of the world and riding motorcycles. Our hope is that it will be an informative, yet different, perspective than your typical coverage of the IOMTT. Please enjoy! -Jensen

The Isle of Man TT is all about the Course and the Crowd, so I spent all of today learning about both.

I rode the course twice more and, with traffic lights, speed limits, fog, and rain, I just about beat the race winning time – from 1911.

The fog on the mountain was so thick the first time this morning before breakfast that the postman overtook me in his little red van. Well, he does have windscreen wipers, which my Shoei does not. That’s my defense, and I’m sticking to it.

My best time was 45 minutes for the 37.7 miles, and this evening Bruce Anstey just did it in less than 18 minutes. The more you get to see the details of the TT course, the more respect you have to afford these riders.

The reliable AutoWeek is reporting that it has the skinny on the new host for the BBC’s popular Top Gear car show, and one of them is a very familiar face: Guy Martin.

The famous road racer will be part of a trio of hosts, with Philip Glenister and Jodie Kidd (a pick that ensures a pretty blonde will always be in the front row), who will be replacing Jeremy Clarkson, James May, and Richard Hammond.

There has been a lot of talk around Guy Martin’s 2015 Isle of Man TT bid, with several outlets speculating with various amounts of reliability as to whether this will be the charismatic rider’s last TT.

The latest publication to add fuel to the fire is Scunthorpe Telegraph, a local English paper, which quotes Martin in a Q&A session as saying, “I’ll go there whatever happens. Whatever I do I’ll give it 100%. If I go and finish 20th I still know I’ve done my best. It’s the last time I’m doing it.”

“Let’s be honest, it would be mint to win. It would be great, I love motorbikes,” Martin added. “But it is only motorbikes. Tomorrow is another day. I’ve this sort of mindset – it is what it is.”

I’m going to start the 2nd and final part of my 2014 photo retrospective with the image above of Marc Marquez. Taken at Woodcote during Sunday mornings warm up for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

Woodcote was one of the most exhilarating sections of track I shot last year. The sensation of speed as the riders came past, back wheel sliding, only feet away was indescribable.

Guy Martin has had some amazing rides in his life, but we imagine this one will stick out for quite a while.

Testing the Britten V1000, ahead of the John Britten Memorial Tribute in Christchurch, Martin’s name gets added to the very small list of priviledged individuals who have ridden John Britten’s masterpiece.

The road racer has some high-praise for the now nearly quarter-century-0ld design, and makes note of how the Britten V1000 is both similar and different than superbikes of the 1990’s and superbikes of today.

Your moto-jealously starts right after the jump.

As the countdown to the new season gathers momentum I thought I’d have a look back at some of my favourite photographs from 2014.

The image above of Scott Redding was taken as he came in for a tire change during qualifying at Le Mans. Sometimes the riders will disappear to the back of the garage during qualifying.

If you’re lucky they will stay on the bike while the crew get to work. If they do, it provides a great opportunity for a portrait as was the case here.

You can’t talk about the Isle of Man TT without talking about Guy Martin. The affable rider can be an enigma at times, both on and off the track.

Immensely popular, Martin is surprisingly mercurial with his fans. Supremely talented on a motorbike, the Lincolnshire man has surprisingly never won an Isle of Man TT race.

Britain’s Channel 4 has put together a great short documentary on Martin, which should start help marinate the juices for this summer’s Isle of Man TT race fortnight.

British A&R readers should be able to click over to an even longer video on what makes Guy Martin tick, while us “colonials” will have to suffice with a seven-minute YouTube clip.

Whichever version you watch, it’s a pretty candid and well done insight into one of the TT’s more mysterious riders. Enjoy!

We are six months away from the start of the 2015 Isle of Man TT, which for fans and media seems like an eternal amount of time, but for the organizers and competitors, the waiving of the green flag must surely seem like the event is rapidly approaching.

The off-season posturing is already in full-swing, with Michael Dunlop and BMW Motorrad seemingly parting ways, despite a very productive 2014 season. Instead Guy Martin will be on the German brand, perhaps giving him his best shot at a TT race win ever.

No one can count out John McGuinness, of course, as he looks to top Joey Dunlop’s outright TT race-win record. McPint is a contender in every class he enters, though his best hopes are surely in the electric class, where Team Mugen is the outfit to beat.

The electric bikes will be looking to lap 120 mph on the Isle this year, which is proper fast — no matter what standard you use — and puts those top competitors will be in supersport-pace territory.

After the resounding success of the Superprestigio indoor dirt track event back in January this year, the race is to return. On December 13th, the Sant Jordi stadium on Montjuic, the hill south of Barcelona, will host the second running of the Superprestigio, featuring the cream of motorcycle road racing taking on some of superstars of American flat track racing.

Reigning Superprestigio champion Brad Baker will be back in Barcelona once again, to defend the honor gained back in January. He will be joined by reigning AMA flat track Grand National champion Jared Mees, the two Americans defending the reputation of the home of dirt track, and the country the sport originated in its current form.

They will have their work cut out for them: they will face some the best circuit racers in the world, with reigning and former champions taking to the short indoor oval. All three Grand Prix champions – Marc Marquez, Tito Rabat, and Alex Marquez – will be lining up in Barcelona, the three avid practitioners of the art.

They will be joined by legendary former World Superbike champion Troy Bayliss, now spending his retirement racing dirt track and running his own invitational dirt track event, the Troy Bayliss Classic, which will run on January 17th next year. Another world champion will also be taking to the dirt, with Supermoto S1 world champ Thomas Chareyre also joining the fray.

The final race of the 2014 Isle of Man TT is upon us, the “blue ribbon” event as they call it on the Isle, we are of course talking about the Senior TT.

Six laps of high-octane racing, the smart money pick was of course on Michael Dunlop and his BMW S1000RR superbike — despite BMW having not been at the Isle of Man in decades, and Dunlop never having won a Senior before in his career.

With perfect weather on the Snaefell Mountain Course, TT fans were treated to a fine Senior TT, which was full of close racing.