John McGuinness: Rev Your Engine?

So let’s try this again; take two for our John McGuinness filming shoot…

After a day of mishaps, we began very optimistically on day two, then we looked outside. What has by all accounts become a common thread for this year’s festival is that it is going to be a damp one.

Unfortunately for us, the waterproof jackets we packed were all still inside our absent luggage.

Thankfully though we had not yet realised this as we tucked into our breakfast of scrambled eggs on toast with a side of croissant.

Redemption

Somehow we had all managed to wake up early – presumably our eagerness to make up for lost time – and were already on the case trying to arrange a hire car and chase down our bags. These managed to simultaneously resolve themselves which helped us set up a strategy for the day ahead.

Sitting around the remaining toast crumbs we were having a production meeting knowing what time we would have a car and when our luggage would finally arrive. Apparently, our bags were too heavy to fit on our flight, a sentence I was glad was referring to our bags and not to me.

All of this and we knew that our final member of the team would be arriving today, safe in the knowledge our journey would be worse than anything they encountered.

Having jotted down our ideas and begun to set our plan in motion we heard the announcement from the race officials that due to the weather all racing had been suspended, after our eventful first day we had that sinking feeling that day two would no longer have the racing we were chasing.

But having known the risks from what we had heard about the previous week we had a backup plan. So we ploughed ahead with that getting our car and bags before setting off to get shots and footage from around the course.

Hire car sorted and bags now unpacked we had a few hours to sort out our press passes and get the footage we had discussed. Having had the official race confirmation that all of today’s activity had been postponed until the morning we set off.

The Paddocks

Now from yesterday’s entry, you should know that not all plans have smooth sailing. We had just missed the person we needed to collect our press passes from but worry not we had a backup plan to the backup plan.

I don’t want to overstate anything in this blog in order for it to be a true representation of our experience as well as encompass the true interactions we have whilst making this documentary. Having said that I was not prepared for the size or scale of operation that we would encounter when we approached the paddock.

So much so that we had managed to somehow circle past the Norton paddock when looking for it. Only being in the hustle and bustle of the paddock do you realise just how much it means to the fans.

Groups gathered around in the rain to watch mechanics work away. Now a vast majority of the bikes had not yet had their livery added making it hard to distinguish – well to me at least – which bike belonged to which rider. Not so for these fans as I overheard them analyse the hydraulics, the coils, the tyres etc.

It is something I admire. I will have joined them by the end of our visit.

But we walked through the maze in search of the main man, and BetVictor Brand Ambassador, John McGuinness. The rain was coming down harder now and knew I would regret my bravado of leaving the umbrella in the car.

Meeting ‘The Legend’ John McGuinness 

Having scoped out the riders base camp he was nowhere to be seen so we headed back to the riders enclosure to try and get to work with John McGuinness. He was busy hosting a show and tell regarding his helmet history.

Unfortunately due to the lack of press passes we were initially unable to enter, however one of the group, who has worked with John before, went in to get the lay of the land.

Something I had overlooked in my first entry was that prior to flying here I had to visit the hospital regarding a knee injury I have sustained. Having had it looked at and been given the right medication to take care of it, I was thankfully able to come, however, I do currently have a limp.

This is John’s first Isle of Man TT on his return from injury – having suffered numerous injuries including a broken leg. Yeah, I felt like a lemon as I limped towards him.

But we met him and went over our schedule for the next few days and what sort of footage we were going to be looking for. It was at this moment that John suggested some other possibilities that we could film also. I love it when a plan comes together.

History Repeating

If you thought that everything was coming together then I am happy to report more drama on this trip. As I mentioned earlier the last person from our party was arriving.

A few of you may have guessed we have yet more luggage issues. Their bag was not on the plane.

I won’t bore you with this information again however what I will throw into the mix is losing a jacket and breaking their glasses. It’s probably mean to think this, but I’m glad that everyone has a story to take home.

Besides the lost luggage counter was beginning to feel like home.

Take a look at what happened on our third day here.