Throughout the Isle of Man TT fortnight we rightfully appreciate the riders who entertain us with staggering speeds and nail-biting moments all around the course.

But how often do we tip our hats to the people behind the scenes that ensure this chaotic but brilliant two weeks runs smoothly?

John Barton has an extensive racing career that spans over 30 years, and since 1997 he’s called the Isle of Man his home.

Back in 1990, Mr Barton - affectionally known as ‘Barty’ to firm fans of the TT - finished 8th in the Ultra Lightweight TT, and competed year after year around the Mountain Course, winning 10 silver and four bronze TT replicas.

And with that extensive CV, and his general knowledge of the course, he has an extremely important role at the TT Races.

But you’d be forgiven for thinking it’s just a two-week role, and he has just one title.

Barty is the event safety officer and course inspection officer, as well as one of two deputy clerks of the course and one of two rider liason officers.

And that all seems like a hell of a lot, so we asked Barty to break it down as best he can.

He said: ‘Basically it’s my job to hand over the TT Course to Gary at the ACU to run the races.

‘Effectively what we do, we take 37 and three-quarter miles of pure roads, and we turn that into a racetrack. And that takes an awful lot of time and planning.

‘I work really closely with some of the government agencies, DoI and Defa, as well as landowners, business owners, homeowners around the course.

‘They're a massive part of this event, and obviously, without having the marshals we couldn't do any of this, so we work really closely with them guys too and make sure they're happy.

‘I've got to make sure the black and white curbs and the white lines have all been done, the hedge cutting has been done, we make sure the bales are where they should be, the prohibited areas, the restricted area signing, we've got to make sure that's all-in place.

‘The marshals too, we need to make sure the huts, boxes and all their equipment is where it should be ready for the first practice. So it’s a massive undertaking.’

Barty emphasised that it’s ‘amazing how much goes on behind the scenes’ and said that the team are now planning the roads for 2025 and 2026 TT.

And he does all that before any racing has begun!

Along with Richard ‘Milky’ Quayle, Barty is also busy preparing the fresh crop of newcomers ahead of their first time on the Mountain Course.

He said: ‘That happens all through the winter.

‘So anyone look looking to do the TT for the first time they get in contact with us, we look at their CV and get a feeling of whether we think they’ve got the right attributes to do in.

‘And if they do then we bring them over for weekends throughout the winter, and myself and Milky will travel around in the cars and just teach them everything they need to know about the TT course.

‘They're good riders anyway, so it's not down to us to tell them how quick to go, but we can give them all the do's and the don'ts about the TT course from all our 30 years experience of riding it, racing it and teaching newcomers it.’

John admitted seeing the newcomers enjoy it brings them a lot of satisfaction.

When you see them progressing through the two weeks and you see the smile on their face and they're getting quicker and quicker, and then they might win a replica or something like that, there's a lot of personal satisfaction that goes into it and it’s just nice to give something back.’