An Austrian newcomer has made his Manx Grand Prix debut and marked the occasion by proposing to his partner after his first race.

Thomas Altendorfer got down on one knee for Nadine following the opening race of this year’s Manx Grand Prix, creating an emotional moment after achieving a long-held ambition of racing on the famous 37.73-mile Mountain Course.

For the determined Austrian, making it to the start line was the culmination of years of work, preparation and sacrifice.

And after completing his first race, he had another important question to ask.

The couple were captured sharing the touching moment at the Grandstand, with Nadine accepting his proposal.

Speaking to Isle of Man Today after his debut meeting, Altendorfer admitted that words could barely describe the experience of tackling the Mountain Course for the first time.

‘Incredible,’ he said.

‘I think the English language is not enough to describe it for me because it's not my first language.

‘But it's really incredible. It's bumpy. It's fast. It's long. It's just incredible, just incredible.’

The Austrian racer had spent considerable time preparing for the challenge before travelling to the island.

That included driving laps of the course in a car, watching countless onboard videos and even using the PlayStation game to familiarise himself with the circuit.

The Austrian racer had spent considerable time preparing for the challenge before travelling to the island
The Austrian racer had spent considerable time preparing for the challenge before travelling to the island (Media Isle of Man)

‘I flew over, got a lot of laps with the car, and then also hours of watching onboards,’ he said.

‘I did four laps on the PlayStation and tonnes of onboards. It's like every three minutes I spent on the TV watching onboards on YouTube.’

Altendorfer said the dream of competing in the Manx Grand Prix had only really developed in recent years.

When he first started motorcycle racing, he did not consider himself good enough to contemplate competing on the Mountain Course.

That changed after he began road racing.

‘It was just like the last two or three years when I started road racing, and then some of the people said to me, “Yeah, you can go to the Manx’”, he said.

‘Since two years ago I was thinking, you have to work for this.’

That preparation included losing weight and undertaking extensive physical training, alongside the countless hours spent studying the course.

The hard work eventually paid off, bringing Altendorfer to the island for his first Manx Grand Prix.

He now has his sights set on going further.

The ultimate ambition is to compete in the Isle of Man TT, although he accepts that there are significant financial and racing considerations before that can happen.

‘I can say that now, as I like the course,’ he said.

‘But it's also a financial thing to go to the TT.

‘I want to spend some years in the Manx Grand Prix to just build up the speed, and then when I have the speed, maybe I will go to the TT.’

He added: ‘The dream is the TT, of course. But if it's not happening, it's not happening.’

Away from racing, Altendorfer said he had also fallen in love with the Isle of Man and its relaxed atmosphere.

He contrasted life on the island with the more hurried nature of racing in Austria and mainland Europe.

‘It's really relaxed, calm, and also the paddock is like really, really relaxed place,’ he said.

He was particularly struck by the trust and sense of security he experienced during his stay.

‘Where we're staying, there's no keys on the house, or they just leave the keys in the car,’ he said.

‘I couldn't imagine that in Austria, but that's nice.’