The long-awaited new TT gallery at the Manx Museum in Douglas will officially be opened next week.

Although members of the public can get a sneak peak at the new displays while museum staff put the final touches to the exhibits, it will be officially opened by Lieutenant Governor Sir John Lorimer next Thursday, May 25.

Matthew Richardson, curator of the gallery said: ‘We have been thinking of having an exhibition on the TT for a long time and we started collecting seriously in the 1990s, because the TT is still the biggest thing that happens in the island.

‘We have been planning this gallery seriously since 2016.’

The gallery has six key areas, Mr Richardson said: ‘We have got an area which looks at how the TT has sat in relation to other races. In the past it was part of a wider championship, but sometimes it hasn’t.

‘We have an area that looks at the role of women in the event which has changed over the years.

‘In another area we look at technology and innovation. For example, the TT started as a means of improving road-going motorcycles.

‘In another area, we look at what motivates people to race.

‘We also look at what it takes to be a TT rider, so we have Dave Molyneux’s sidecar outfit from 2006, when he had a very bad crash.

‘Everyone thought his career was over after that, but he went on to two races the following year.

‘We look at how the TT sits within the culture of the Isle of Man, and how the landscape has got a symbiotic relationship with the event.

‘It’s not like these sterile flat circuits in the UK where it is just turn one, turn two, turn three, here every bend has got a name or is named after a famous rider.

‘The history is encapsulated in the landscape in that way.’

Finally, the gallery also looks at what it is to be a super fan of the TT.

Admission to the gallery is free, with the opening hours from 9.30am to 4.30pm.

The museum will remain open in the early evenings throughout TT.