JULY 2ND 2000
A DATE THAT WILL BE
FOREVER BURNT INTO OUR MEMORIES.

THE GREAT JOEY DUNLOP DIED FOLLOWING AN ACCIDENT IN TALLINN, ESTONIA WHILE RACING IN THE 125cc CLASS.HE HAD ALREADY WON THE 600cc RACE AND THE 750cc RACE.THE EVENT WAS AN INTERNATIONAL, TWO-DAY, NON CHAMPIONSHIP RACE SERIES WHICH JOEY HAD SUPPORTED PREVIOUSLY.AFTER THE ACCIDENT
RACING WAS CANCELLED.

I don't know about you but when I read the teletext information, I was sick to my stomach and felt as though I had received a blow to my solar plexus.
I admit I had tears in my eyes and I wept for some significent time.
We have lost a gifted sportsman, a brilliant rider, a great ambassador...
I have seen him race in the TT since his first ride on the Mountain Circuit which he has made his own for over 25 years and we saw him win a total of 26 TT Races..
He has been a works rider for Honda for 18 years !
Yet he remained approachable, unassuming and natural..
A family man, he was married to Linda, with five super children, he always put them first and at the Prize Presentations he had them all there to see their Dad get the trophies and the accolades.

He had a brilliant TT career during a period when there was an apparent levelling, compared with earlier decades when riders rode pure Grand Prix works machines.
Joey had works supported machines but so had a higher percentage of the opposition and his rides against the new era of experts, puts Joey in a class of his own.
He knew the circuit like the back of his hand but also had that total concentration which put him in first place time after time.

JOEY DUNLOP

Do not despair
for Joey-head-in-air
He sleeps as sound
as Joey undergound
Fetch out no shroud
for Joey-in-the-cloud
And keep your tears
for him in after years
Better by far
for Joey-the-bright-star
to keep your head
and see his children fed

From "For Johnny" by John Pudney

SELECTED PHOTOGRAPHS FROM THE VAST COLLECTION WILL FOLLOW SOON