Rider grows beard each Classic TT 'for good luck'

Jeff Smith has been racing classic bikes on the Isle of Man for 14 years

A "very superstitious" racer in the Isle of Man's Classic TT has said he grows a beard every year to bring him luck out on the course.

Jeff Smith has been competing at the August races for 14 years, and growing out his facial hair is among several good luck rituals he undertakes before taking part.

The Classic TT runs alongside the Manx Grand Prix until 29 August, and has been extended to cover 13 days instead of the shorter nine-day programme introduced in 2022.

Smith, who has been growing his beard since the end of April, said he also keeps "lucky charms in my leathers that people have given me" as well as going down to Fairy Bridge to ask for help each year.

The rider from Cleethorpes starts growing his beard only after his entry is confirmed, and only after the final race when "our riders are safely home, I then shave the beard off".

This year the beard was bigger than normal as entries were confirmed earlier than usual, he said.

"The beard has got somewhat wild and woolly, and apparently it does add some years to me."

Jeff Smith is competing in the junior and senior Classic TT races

When it comes to racing, Smith said "there's nothing like it" and racing on the 37.75-mile (61km) course on closed public roads was "an absolute thrill".

He said: "It's really amazing that someone will let me go as fast as I possibly can on their beautiful island, it's just fantastic."

While he rides alongside major competitors like John McGuinness, Smith said he was only competing with himself.

"I aim to go at least as fast as the year before," he said.

Looking back to his first time racing as a newcomer in 2011, Mr Smith said: "It was the most daunting thing ever".

He recalled how the controlled speed lap made him feel "out of my depth" and he worried he would not qualify.

But he said: "I did qualify and I did manage to finish, and that was it, I was hooked."

Talking to other racers hoping to compete on the island, he warned them once they raced the TT course that other tracks in the UK "won't seem the same ever again".

"You will just race those circuits just to get back here to do the Isle of Man," he said.