Craig Doyle's final TT blog

Published: Monday, 15 June 2009, 10:21AM

As the sea mist rolled in over Douglas this morning hundreds of bikers rolled out, homeward bound after a week of stunning racing.

On the last day, Steve Plater was the very popular winner of the senior race. Steve has been a regular winner on the British racing circuit for years, but is a relative newcomer to the TT. 

The, well 35-year-old (he has been 35 for at least five years), bagged the big one on only his third attempt, which is unheard of as they say it takes at least three to five years to learn the course.

Local boy Conor Cummins took second, which had the partisan crowd going crazy and Gary Johnson, who had the ominous task of leading off every race, took third.

The Senior is seen as the most prestigious race of them all, and this one provided endless drama. It is a six lap race of the 37.7 mile course. Within that there are two pit stops. Now you may be used to pit stops in F1, but it doesn't usually happen in the bike racing world, and I now know why - it is mayhem.

As the bikes come in a bell rings to give all and sundry the 'heads-up', they fly to their station at 70mph, have their visor cleaned, tank filled, tyres changed, and off they go. Seems simple enough, doesn't it? But when there are loads of bikes coming in at once, chaos ensues.

During Friday's Senior race, favorite John McGuinness's chain broke at the end of lap 4 and Steve Plater took the lead. As he left the pits, Cummins the man in second place, came in and almost smashed into Plater right in front of me.

Meanwhile Guy Martin, tried to tear out, only to snap his chain which landed two feet from the camera man and I. 

He sat on his bike dazed with shock at what had just happened - to his left, Keith Amor, who thanks to the mayhem around him was in with a chance of a podium finish, was screaming at his pit crew, as they messed up the tyre change, he too was out. In 60 seconds, the whole complexion of the race changed, right in front of us in the pit lane, unbelievable drama and some amazing images for our show.

Interestingly, when Valentino Rossi was over earlier in the week, it was the pit stops that fascinated him more than anything.

It was a fitting end to a fantastic week. This morning, as I hacksawed the lock off my bike (lost the key) and packed it up for the journey home, I did feel a little bit sad about leaving the island.

It is a beautiful place, and I really think our shows have done it justice. But it's not just the scenery that make it such a wonderful place to visit, it's the people.

They have been so welcoming and helpful - there is an olde-world feel to place, everybody has time for a chat, and they don't explode with anger when their roads are closed for hours on end due to the racing.

The other revelation over the past few weeks is televisions newest and increasingly popular double act - The Steve Parrish and Jamie Whittham Show!

The two lads have never worked together before, but their commentaries and analysis of the racing has gone down really, really well with the viewers. I have known Steve for many years, as we worked together on the British Superbikes, so I was well used to his practical jokes - although he did manage to draw a fake beard and glasses on my media pass, change the language on my phone, put a fake poo on my desk, and hide his remote fart machine under my chair.

It was my first time to work with Jamie, and he is a gent with the most infectious laugh to come out of Yorkshire.

Finally, on behalf of all of us here, I would like to pass on my condolences to the family and friends of John Crellin, who sadly died following an incident during the Senior TT race.

John was an experienced TT competitor and his death cast a shadow on the week. Last month he was forced to abandon his third attempt at climbing Mount Everest when he was taken ill. Although in his fifties, he clearly had not lost his sense of adventure. May he rest in peace.