Throttle Therapy is a real thing for men’s mental health, but it’s not just the speed and focus of a race day. It’s also motorcycles and mates. The Townsville Tourist Trophy Race, like many other motorcycle events such as the Don River Dash are not just opportunities to ride bikes. They are opportunities to talk about bikes and meet up with other people who have a similar interest – “Bikes”.
Looking up from my camp site on the open grass land towards the setting sun, all I could see was the headless bodies of what looked like humans hanging from the ceiling of pit lane. These ghostly figures were silhouetted against the orange and gold glow of an outback sunset, it sent shivers down my spine. In the waning evening light, it was easy to feel I was in some sort of horror movie or about to be unwillingly included in a weird and terrifying occult ritual.
They could have been the remains of hapless escooter riders daring to invade the hallowed ground of an ethanol fuelled road racing culture. Are they hanging there as a warning? Or was this a sign of something even more sinister? But before I get too carried away with my next horror fiction novel, I should explain. I’ve been invited by friends to catch up at the 2025 NUWELD Townsville Tourist Trophy.
This three-day motorcycle racing event is held at the Manton Park Race Course, a 2.75 kilometre bitumen racing circuit. It is located halfway between Townsville and Charters Towers in North Queensland.
What is a TT Race?
If you’re not familiar with the TT format, it stands for Tourist Trophy and is about the rider’s ability to race against the clock. They effectively race against themselves in a time trial, the most famous of which is the annual TT Isle of Man, in the United Kingdom.
Throttle Therapy
The desire to go fast seems to be hard-wired into most guys, I say most because I’m not sure about the generation of Latte sipping, soy drinking, electric scooter woke idiots. But at least in older generations and the progressive young, it’s still a thing. In fact, I’m not sure if there would be a TT Isle of Man or for that matter a Townsville TT race if we relied on the woke young idiots to lead the way. Let’s face it, Rockers on their Triumph’s or Vincent Black Shadow’s, racing from London to Brighton in the heady days of café racing culture, would take exception to one parked outside the Ace Café.
It’s the machine
There’s something visceral about the sound of a well tuned motorcycle engine, and the thumping excitement of a performance exhaust. The silent acceleration of an electric motor just doesn’t have the same adrenaline pumping effect as the high revving performance of an ethanol fuelled beast.
The twist of a throttle, the acceleration and the sheer pleasure of listening to the high-pitched thunder of a petrol driven motorcycle engine makes the adrenaline pump and clears the mind of all unnecessary thoughts. Thoughts such as, those relating to anything other than going fast on the straight and resisting gravity in the corners. You know, thoughts like should I have Almond or Soy Milk in my extra light, half strength caffe latte. It’s called throttle therapy.
I was used to the concept of “Throttle Therapy” from my adventure riding on corrugated outback track. In many instances, it’s the joy of still being alive at the end of the day to sit back and have a cold beer or a glass of red wine with buddies.
The Road Racing Associate of Townsville (RRAT) run a number of events over the year. This is the pinnacle of their race calendar. It’s a three-day road racing meet, held in August to celebrate fast and mostly safe motorcycle racing. The feeling of watching a motorcycle race around a well-designed raceway and talking all things motorcycling parallels those conversations and feelings I get with adventure riding. Talking to one young racer and his girlfriend, I asked if he had a normal road bike, he alluded to a career of racing on the road. But after a friend died in a horrific accident he decided it was too risky and took up track racing instead. These were similar sentiments expressed by other young riders at the event.
Speed is better on the racetrack than the road
The Road Racing Association of Townsville (RRAT) provides an alternative for young men and women who want to go fast and test both themselves and their machines.
But it’s not just the young that appreciate this event, men and women in their 60s and 70s also test their skills, with one man pouring me a whiskey and saying:
“The fun is in building the bikes, getting them running in your shed with fellow race minded mates and then spending a weekend riding the crap out of them so you can go back to your shed the next week and rebuild them again”. “It keeps you young, when I’m riding I’m not 72, I’m 22 again”. “However, once I get off at the end of the race, my body reminds me I’m 72”. “That’s what the Whiskeys for”.
The Racing
The Townsville TT is an extremely well run three days of racing, with morning briefings and professional approaches to racetrack management. It feels more like an MotoGP race than a local club meet. Officials are friendly and willing to explain the different corners, racing conditions and any issues that amateurs like me want to know. And because it is a local race, the riders and pit crew are friendly and only too willing to talk about their bikes.
Safe access to the racetrack is important, and qualified professionals are on hand to assist if the worst were to occur.
Camping and community
While the main event is clearly the racing, it’s the camaraderie of fellow racers and competitors that really makes the weekend a family affair. A variety of camping modes are on display in the field just adjacent to the racetrack.
Still Some Spills
Even though safety is number one on the official list of requirements, things sometimes go wrong and riders sometimes take the wrong line or push their bikes to the limit. Cam Ellis’s fall on the final corner is an example, luckily there wasn’t too much damage to his Honda CBR250RR, Cam on the other hand had suspected broken ribs. This corner caused a number of accidents over the weekend.
Conclusion
It has been an exhilarating and enjoyable weekends watching all manner of racing machines and riders hit the track and pushing the limits. I’ll definitely come back next year, and who knows with a bottle of whiskey and a race tuned Royal Enfield GT 650, I might even line up on the grid.
