Ballacrye Corner Explained
Ballacrye[1] (in Manx baləˈkʰɾaːi/, "Crye's farm")[2] is situated adjacent to the 19th Milestone of the TT Course, on the primary A3 Castletown to Ramsey road at the junction with the B9 Ballacrye Road, in the parish of Ballaugh in the Isle of Man.
Description
The area of Ballacrye is a former Quarterland including Ballacrye farm which are part of the former Treen of Ballyvall.
Motor-sport heritage
The Ballacrye corner was part of the 37.50 Mile Four Inch Course[3] used for automobile racing for the RAC Tourist Trophy car races held between 1906 and 1922.[4]
In 1911, the Four Inch Course for automobiles was first used by the Auto-Cycling Union for the Isle of Man TT motorcycle races. This included Ballacrye Corner[5] and the nearby Ballacrye jump and the course later became known as the 37.73 mile Isle of Man TT Mountain Course which has been used since 1911 for the Isle of Man TT Races and from 1923 for the Manx Grand Prix races.[6]
During practice for the 1953 Isle of Man TT races, John Surtees crashed near to Ballacrye, suffering an injury which forced him to withdraw from his first Isle of Man TT races.[7]
Notes and References
- Daily Express page 57 Tuesday 9 June 2009
- Place Names of The Isle of Man – Da Ny Manninee Dooie Volume Two. Sheading of Michael: (Kirk Michael, Ballaugh and Jurby) page 112 Ballaugh by George Broderick – Türbingen; Niemeyer NE:HST (1995) Manx Place- Name Survey, (Gesamtwerk) 3-484-40130-3 (Band 2) Druck und Eiband: Weihert-Druck GmbH Darmstadt. "QL name applied to fm at SC39SE SC35579370.")
- TT Pioneers – Early Car Racing in the Isle of Man page 22 Robert Kelly, Mercury Asset Management (1996) (1st Edition) The Manx Experience, The Alden Press ISBN No 1 873120 61 3
- Isle of Man Car Races 1904-1953 page 30 by Neil Hanson (2015) Lily Publications
- Isle of Man Times page 8 TOURIST TROPHY RACES – JUNE 1957 Friday 3 May 1957 “3.-BALLACRYE. BALLAUGH TO AND INCLUDING STONEBREAKERS HUT SNAEFELL.”
- The History of the Manx Grand Prix page 7, 8, 9 by Bill Snelling Amulree Publishing(1998) Manx Heritage Foundation
- TT Special page 26 IT HAPPENED LAST YEAR edited by G.S. Davison Wednesday 9 June 1954 “….while John Surtess, sixth best in the Junior, came off and injured his hand at Ballacrye, Sulby, when the forks collapsed on his 125cc EMC - Puch."
