On the surface, you'd obviously expect the mentality of an Isle of Man TT racer to be totally different from that of a circuit racer - with many people very much of the opinion that it takes a certain kind of crazy to be prepared to take on the challenges of one of the world's most dangerous races across 37.73 miles of public roads on a 240 horsepower superbike.
The reality, of course, is very different: simply put, you can't take on the TT course if you're not fully committed not just to racing it but to putting in the years of work needed to learn all the intricacies of the circuit's 260+ corners.
The whole nature of the TT tends to attract a rather different type of character to the stereotype: less of the daredevil and more someone who understands the relationship that it poses between risk and reward, something that perhaps no one has better experienced in recent years than homegrown star Conor Cummins.
Cummins was well on track to be one of the TT's future stars in 2010 when he had a horrific crash during the Senior TT. Breaking his back, arm and pelvis while fighting for the win, Cummins has arguably been forced to work twice as hard to get back to podium contention in the intervening years, and goes into this year's event with another decent shot at top results.
Yet when he gets the tap on his shoulder to head off down Bray Hill for the start of the first race, there won't be pressure to perform from new team boss (and former racer himself) John Burrows - because that's simply not the way things are done at the TT.
"It's a really interesting dynamic, really," Cummins explained to The Race. "It's like an unwritten rule. I've ridden for a few teams over the years. I've never really been sat down and told, 'right, you have to get a result here'.
"It's totally the correct way to go about it. If I was anyone on the team, knowing what I do about racing around these road races, I would never say to a rider, 'I expect a result from you'.
"That's the position I'm in now: I've got a team of really good, solid people around me. I'm the only rider and they're providing their bikes to the best of their ability and it's literally, 'go and have fun.'"
That's not, of course, to say that there's no pressure to perform, given the size of the stage that the TT presents. That issue is compounded by the calendar, as well; taking place over a single two-week period instead of a season-long championship, it can only take one factor to go wrong to bring the whole ‘season' crashing down around you.
That's something Cummins learned last year when he walked away from TT veteran team Padgett's Racing halfway through race week, calling it quits with the team after a decade together and essentially giving up his 2024 aspirations because things didn't feel comfortable.
"It's crunch time," he admitted of the ultra-compressed schedule. "If we balls the TT up, there's not another one next weekend. I suppose there's an element of pressure not just for me but for teams and all the personnel; there's a lot riding on it.
"But that said, there's no pressure on me from my team this year. They actually want to make a step forward, they want to go faster than what they have done previously, they've got me on board, I've got my sights set on a target and I want to achieve it and I know what pace I'm going to have to go at to achieve it.
"And they're happy just to be there for me and support me and give me the best possible bikes they can do."
Things are looking positive in that regard for Cummins, too, after a strong pre-season. Feeling better than ever on the bike and fast during their testing programme after using his extended time off to prepare fully for 2025, there's a sense of unfinished business from the 40-year-old ahead of this year's racing.
"I've got a minimum which, just being totally realistic, I have to do if I want to achieve what I want to do," he admitted of his goals. "And the rest is really down to a bit of fate.
"I've worked my arse off, I've trained really hard; I know it sounds a bit cliche and you get lads or lasses who probably say, 'I've worked really hard.' I genuinely have.
"My season finished really early last year and instead of sitting on my arse, I just thought ‘I'm going to get going early, I'm going to be ready', and I was literally ready come the end of January.
"I've turned a negative into a positive and I'm just sitting raring to go. I'm ready, I feel like I've done all I can, and I'll just keep working hard on the track. The results hopefully will follow.
"But you can't force it. I'm a bit long in the tooth to not see the signs, if you like. I'm content with how I'm riding, I've worked so hard in my preparation, and that's a big thing for me.
"If I've thrown the kitchen sink at it, I've done everything I can and the rest is just down to a little bit of extra hard work on the track."
Delayed start to TT 2025
Unfortunately for Cummins, his first chance to make amends at this year's TT is likely to face a few days of delay given weather conditions on the Isle of Man.
Organisers initially hoped to get a revised schedule away despite forecast rain on the first day of practice on Monday, but the arrival of wet conditions earlier in the day caused that plan to be scrapped after a single guided lap for the newcomers.
Tuesday's forecast doesn't look substantially better either, meaning that it could well be Wednesday's arrival of forecast good weather before we get a chance to see bikes on track in anger.
