'Motorcycle road racing is the most dangerous of all motor sports. A sport in which men compete at speeds of up to 200 miles per hour on closed country roads. Roads that on any other day service cars, buses, tractors. Roads that are lined with trees, telegraph posts and stone walls. Unforgiving obstacles when struck by the human body. It is a sport that has claimed many lives over the years and continues to do so to this day. Ireland and the Isle of Man are two of the few places in the world where the sport still survives. Narrated by Liam Neeson, ROAD is the heartbreaking and adrenaline-fuelled tale of a family who have dominated road racing for over thirty years. Robert and Joey Dunlop. Quiet men from a rural village in Northern Ireland - but racers who risked everything to win. And Robert s sons, William and Michael. Two of the world's leading road racers today. Young men determined to continue a family tradition.'
Having just watched 'Road', a story about the Irish road racing dynasty that is the Dunlop family. I'm sitting here with a massive lump in my throat. What a fantastic film. I recorded it when it was shown on Northen Ireland BBC, so not sure if its been shown on the BBC here. But I urge all racing fans to watch it, its a must see in my mind.
As the cliché goes; they definitely broke the mould after Joey was born. There's never been a rider like him and never will be ever again. Absolutely fearless to his last bone but got to have been borderline mentally defective. I watched him 4 times in the 80s and even got to shake his hand once. He was a remarkable man, a proper nice bloke. Still brings a lump to my throat after 15 years nearly. I've always thought his death was inevitable because he only new one life. That of a road racer. RIP yer maun. PS. The movie is excellent with Liam neeson narrating.