DVD Review: Road Racing 2009
For road race fans the "Road Racing Review 2009" is a must. Get your mates round, get the beers in and settle down for 206 minutes of balls out pure road racing.
This DVD steps away from the bigger events and brings you the buttock-clenching reality of small Irish road races. The action starts at the Cookstown 100 in County Tyrone then moves to the Tandragee 100 in County Armagh. A trip across the Irish Sea brings the Southern 100 from the Isle of Man's Billown course and then back to Ireland for the fastest road race in the world - the Ulster Grand Prix.
As well a gut-wrenching racing antics you are treated to rider profiles, pre and post race interviews and superb on board footage. There are excellent graphics showing the layout of each track as well as informative commentary with former TT star Jason Griffiths adding his thoughts.
For the uninitiated the Cookstown 100 really is an eye opener. To see the narrow bumpy roads that the riders are taking too on 1000cc bikes is incredible. The on board cameras show the puddles lurking at the sides of the slender roads as well as the uneven surface - it certainly sorts the men from the boys.
The racing is close and fraught with Ryan Farquhar and Keith Amor doing battle on the big bikes. To add to the thrills Gary Johnson gets out of the seat and Amor gets it all wrong crashing into the barriers, thankfully unhurt. The little bikes were also on fast form with the Dunlop brothers, William and Michael fighting it out.
Moving to the Tandragee 100 brings even narrower roads, motocross style jumps and rough road surfaces. This section starts out with a feature on local TT star Phillip McCallen followed by profiles on the Dunlops which are both insightful and relevant. The on boards from this event are breathtaking and give you a very clear idea just how little space there is for error on the back roads of Ireland.
The dash across the water to the Isle of Man brings even more spectacular racing with even bigger names coming into play. Guy Martin, Ian Lougher and Chris Palmer all join in the fray with amazing racing across all classes. Martin's technical gremlins appeared to have followed him from the TT to the Southern as his machine catches fire. There is some marvellous footage of members of the public trying to put the fire out - it could only happen at a pure road race. There is also a very brave interview with Martin after this incident, it is first class reporting. How close the riders get to the stone walls and houses is unreal and once again the camera work is superb at capturing this phenomenon.
"Road Racing Review 2009" finishes with a flourish as the racing returns to Ireland and the ultra fast Ulster Grand Prix. This year young Manx Man, Conor Cummins, took the lap record for the circuit up to 133.282mph during the Dundrod 150, which runs just ahead of the Ulster Grand Prix.
More road race stars join in the action at the Ulster with Ian Hutchinson and Bruce Anstey battling it out with the usual suspects. The camera work at the Ulster is amazing and really gives you a good indication of the speed involved which isn't always obvious. The wide shots as the riders head out to Budore are brilliant and Amor's high speed off shows just how on the limit the riders are.
If you have never attended any of these races then you need to at the very least watch this DVD, it is a whole new experience between the hedges.
Gripping racing, top notch interviews and breath taking camera angles all add up to a great night in for race fans.
To view the Duke Video range of titles, visitwww.dukevideo.com.
