I've not noticed many folk using this site of late, which I find a little worrying. There's so much to talk about, surely you guys and gals have more to chat about? You're not all away are you? There's a million TT related subjects to discuss, Shaun and Hilary's continued progress,(so pleased to hear that Hilary's improving), the Southern 100, Scarborough, all the Irish meetings, Ian's new book, even the odd short circuit snippet could appear on here.
I see that on another web site "they" are having a go at Paul Phillips. He does look to be fair game, but, give the lad his due, he always takes the opportunity to respond, using his own name, and make pretty sound sense. I don't for one minute agree with all the decisions that were made for the TT this year, but no one can doubt Paul's commitment to the job in hand.
I mentioned Shaun earlier. When I visited him, he told me that he'd retired. How many racers have retired while lying in a hospital bed? Well I chose to ignore the remark; it's amazing what a bit of fresh air and boredom can do to a man's retirement plans! So what do we think? The odds on Shauns retirement? Well I think it's 60/40 in favour of him having one more go. Personally, I do hope he doesn't race again, and the next time he's on that rostrum is when he 's conducting the open air service on the Sunday morning!
Next year's TT looks interesting. Everone has said that this year was a one off. There's no doubt that it was really really busy. Not on the prom, all the hotels have gone, but all round the island. However,a German friend told me that the Germans had joined together in force to make the effort for this year, but, due to the high cost, they won't be back in numbers next year. If visitors act similarly in numbers, it could make a difference. I hear that the BSB meeting clashes in'08, so a few competitors could be compromised. My opinion is that Paul has a huge task on to generate interest, by way of competitor quality, variety of classes, and new ways to entertain the general public on the prom in the evening. I was mesmerised by the entertainment on the Prom, but it WAS the first time I had EVER watched it. I thought Steve Colley worked hard for his corn,he's bloomin' amazing, but there's only so much you can do.
Methinks that the variety of classes is the big bugbear. Thinking caps please ladies and gentlemen. I think the organisers are going to have to accept slower bikes on the track in practice, just as someone mentioned that they manage alright at Le Mans. I don't think the public are going to accept effectively one class for solos, i.e. 4cyl Japanese.
There! Anyone got any thoughts. And before anyone says it, I know I don't contribute much on this website, but I will if it means you guys start pressing the buttons, and maintain the interest.

I agree with Nick that there is lots to discuss, but unfortunately you can guarantee that the "heads in the sand" brigade will not want to discuss some things - either rationally, or even at all!
Sadly, I think Mr Philips is being a bit premature asking for feedback on what people want for next year's races. The inquest on the deaths and injuries on the mountain has yet to be held, as far as I know, and I would have thought that there is a distinct possibility that the verdict could affect how, or indeed if, the races are run again.
If the weight and speeds of the motorcycles is permitted to continue increasing, then surely the authorities must look at where and how near spectators are allowed, and also to consider whether the experience of marshalls is enough to outweigh their declining reaction time and physical fitness due to age?
When I look at the pictures of spectators on the bank below the Creg, and imagine a 1000cc motorcycle under full acceleration hitting a patch of oil, or suffering a gearbox seizure, how many would survive?
The 24 Hours of Le Mans (cars) very nearly did not continue after a tragedy involving spectators. The TT, in the event of something similar, would not. I would fight for the right of riders to take the calculated risks of racing the mountain cicuit, but when it kills unprepared spectators, that is a different matter.

Lets have some considered discussion on this.
As a TT/MGP marshal with several years experience, and a strong sense of self-preservation, I would point out (and I am a friend of Hilary and her family) that the instances of marshals being injured are very very few and far between. Likewise, this is the first time spectators have been killed. Far more people die in household accidents. That does not diminsh the tragedy of what happened, but let us look at this as a complete freak accident. Many accidents with similar outcomes happen weekly on our roads, but we do not ban driving on those. Both marshals and spectators choose to be there, and are warned of the risks. Do you read a disclaimer to your passengers when you drive your car?
However, I take the points about both increased risk due to increased speed, and the changing perceptions of the general public.
On the first point, I strongly believe we should be restricting TT machinery to 600cc. This would, I think, be agreed by many riders, who find they can achieve almost the same lap times, but with less stress and risk, than on the bigger bikes. Remember all the declarations after the awful 1989 accidents... I for one, have not forgotten Mez. This also opens up the idea of other classes.. 250? two stroke? What do riders and spectators want to see happen? They are the joint lynchpins of the TT.
On the public's reaction... let's have some education, and some reasoned discussion about the balance between acceptable risk and health and safety.
I will be marshalling at the bottom of Bray Hill, as usual, at the end of August, and enjoying the diversity of machiery in the Manx Grand Prix, while lamenting the absence of sidecars (the best and most diverse class of all!!) I hope not to have to deal with any incidents, but if they happen we will be there, trained and dedicated. I do not expect to be hurt, but if I am, it will not be the fault of the MGP, but one of life's nasty little tricks.

Hi All having managed to gain entry in TT 07 after all lot of Lows and Highs.
I was just so pleased to be out there trying my best to prove i could do it
All be it after starting late in the day. Ok TT 07 ended on a very sad note indeed. But as it states in all Motorsports Programmes weather it be Cars or Bikes you are there at your own Risk. It is unacceptable that spectators get injured or even killed but life goes on one way or the other.

I dont think events at the 26th will be the end of the TT Races, but i can imagine the powers that be the FIM and the ACU will think long and hard about the future of Superbikes on the Roads Steve Hislop once said the Engines where outgrowing the Chassies and its gone well beyond that now.
Of course Health and Safety will have there say and it might have a bearing on what happens next.

This is my own personal View. With speeds reaching very nearly 200mph top speed and lap averages for the fast Guys reaching 128mph + on a Superbike and 122mph to 125 mph on a Supersports Model the time has come to look long and hard at what the future holds. We dont want our sport to be banned. I think Road Racing should be Restricted to Supersport 600 and i believe this is coming our way if the FIM have anything to do with it. But lets hope the TT continues for the foreseable future.

I agree with NJ they need to look at the classes if the future is to be good the way it stands these days you cant tell the difference between the Bikes if it wasnt for the Colour of the Front No Board you wouldnt be able to tell the difference. I spoke with a number of Riders at the TT this year and they truly believe that Newcomers should learn their Craft at the MGP before tackeling the TT proper ok their are exceptons like Plater and Co.
But if these Guys really want to have a go let them start at the Manx like 90% of us did. It could be best Newcomer to the meeting like they do at the Southern 100.

They should have a class in the TT where you can run machines that are not raced at World level this would add something different Modern Singles Twins and Triples of 650cc or over are very capable of lapping the course at over 105mph in the right hands and some have lapped in excess of 118mph this year like the 675 Triumph and the 749 Ducati i think a modern 650 Suzuki or Hoysung could lap the TT course with a little tweaking at over 110 mph depending on the rider of course i have wrote to PP on the matter and he,s been very constructive with his answers he is hopeing to announce the classes for next year by the middle of MGP week all being well.

Well thats enough BS from me for now hope all is well with you all this is the bussiest season ive had in years roll on MGP as im in the 250 classic
All the best one and All Irish Ago......

Nick J was asking why people dont use this site much, of late, well, in my case I got totally annoyed off with typing things out one finger at a time only to have them deleted by the moderators/website owner because they dont appreciate my "sense of humour" and are afraid of being sued for slander/libel or whatever reason. Ive got much better things to do with my time than that.

Now delete that :!: :!: :!: :!: :!: :!:

Nick, I think some of the people who normally contibute to this forum are still feeling the affects of the 26th and there may be a bit of negativity in the air at the moment.

With regard to requested 'feedback' from this year's events, well I don't think whatever we suggest would be taken on board. I wrote to Paul Phillips after last year to express my view as a three time visiting Aussie female and said that I found the races very repetitive, not much difference in machinery from my perspective and was very thankful to have the sidecars to give the meeting some sort of variety. I also told him I would probably not be returning to another TT. Manx next for me. (how many others feel this way - that is a real worry). The TT may struggle for a year or so, after this year's big one, and a lot of thought has to go into future events. I sincerely hope it continues to survive though.

NICK HAS A LOT TO SAY FOR HIMSELF DOES'NT HE, EVEN IF IT'S NOT TO OFTEN . WELL EVEN IF WE HAVE HAD SOME SEVERE ARGUMENTS HERE HE IS MORE OFTEN RIGHT THAN WRONG AND OPIONS DIFFER ANYWAY.

WHAT CANNOT BE DISPUTED IS HIS TRACK RECORD, AND CERTAINLY SERIOUSLY ENVIED, AND WITH HIS EXPERIENCE ON THE MOUNTAIN OVER A VAST NUMBER OF YEARS, LIKE A LOT OF US OLD DOGS HE HAS PROBABLY FOGOTTEN MORE THAN MOST WILL EVER LEARN AND KNOW, HIS POST CERTAINLY MAKES A LOT OF COMMON SENSE.

CERTAINLY I HAVE LOST INTEREST IN THE FORUM BECAUSE OF THE RESTRICTIONS ON WHAT CAN AND CANNOT BE SAID, WE HAVE NOT HAD ANY REAL SERIOUS POSTS ON HERE SINCE THE LICENCE FIASCO INVENTED BY THE GANGSTER POL POT OF THE ACU.

I WILL PROBABLY POST MORE OPINIONS LATER BECAUSE OF THE EYESTRAIN, BUT CERTAINLY SINCE THE SICKENING TRAGEDY AT THE 26th, I THOUGHT LONG AND HARD AND DISPARED.

As the guilty and unrepentant moderator refered to, I will reiterate my criteria for zapping posts, and, in extremis, posters.
Firstly TTwebsite will not tolerate personal attacks on anyone. This forum is about the TT, not about character assassination.
We will remove any postings which are totally negative, offensive or criminally boring.
Also, and I have been meaning to say this for a few weeks but been rather busy... I get a lot of PMs from people whose complaint I completely agree with. There is no validity in constant complaining from people who refuse to come to the TT, but claim the right to trash it on message boards.
I do not always agree with the arrangements, and say so , (contructively, I hope), but I, and many thousands of others, had an absolute ball this TT, until the terrible last few minutes, which were not the fault of anyone.
If you refuse to come and see whether the changes work, or if there are other aspects of this enormous, complex and evolving event that you might enjoy, then your jaded, one-sided repetitive complaints will, I am afraid, sound very much like childish dummy throwing, on the lines of "I'm not playing, because you won't let me win". These efforts come, I'm afraid, under the criminally boring heading, and put off other posters, who don't feel their comments would be given a fair chance, as they would be shouted down.
Present company surely excepted??
SO... can we have lots of positive suggestions, tempered language expressing constructive criticism, and your regular attendance at the races to remind yourself how magic they are.

Hi Gang, Id like to post this i know its about me, I just wanted to show what they get away with on the so called official Website for the TT Races.

User Name : Quayle.

Concentrate on going a bit faster Kevin Murphy,you might be keen but your a poor excuse for a road racer.You shouldnt be allowed in the TT,how you think you should have an entry astounds me,every road race isee you in you are always last and very slow,a danger to all other riders.

I dont think they have a moderator on that site it wouldnt have lasted long on here thats for sure. Signing on for the Southern tonight OH JOY....
All the best Irish Ago....

Hi Ago, I am disgusted at that posting. People are entitled to their opinion, but that is exactly the sort of offensive personal attack we will not tolerate here. I agree that the official site does not seem to be moderated at all... some of the stuff on it is complete nonsense ad othing to do with TT racing.
As moderator I MODERATE... try to keep you all polite and respectful. Feelings run high as would be natural with th subjects here, but there is no need to be rude, offensive or personal.
See you at the Southern, Ago.

thewitch Wrote:until the terrible last few minutes, which were not the fault of anyone.

You may choose to zap this Helen, but I strongly object to your assuming this - there is to be an inquest, there should hopefully be an enquiry, and there is a raft of possibilities that these could reveal.
I am making no assertions or accusations but it is possible that the post mortems could decide for example, that the spectators should not have been where they were either by being in a non-approved place, or that the place should have been assessed as too dangerous, that the marshalls were in a needlessly dangerous place, that they were settled down with chairs, blankets and flasks so were unable to react to events, that the organisers were criminally liable for the deaths through negligence in their inspections of the spectator positions, marshalls' posts, ability of the marshalls, equipment issued to the marshalls, the pre-race inspection of the machine, the competence of the rider. The list goes on, but I am sure you get my point?
Until all these and other factors have been examined in depth by competent people, it is surely very wrong to just decide that it "just happened"?
Of course, the decisions could just follow the pattern of all the others over the years, and come up with the usual "death by misadventure", ensuring nothing is done until there is a bigger tragedy.
The TT has reached a significant crossroads, having been largely destroyed by the Isle of Man authorities prioritising the desires of the later immigrants and not preserving their heritage by allowing so many bumps, curves and bends to be removed that the only way to maintain a challenge is to permit faster and faster motorcycles, meaning there is no way back. Instead of jumping up and down at the 130mph lap, the race should be made more difficult to complete at lower speeds - the problem now is that the course is so smooth and straight that the biggest danger on say a 500 Manx would be falling asleep in some sections! I remember when the Cronk-y-Voddy straight used to slam me around so much I had double vision, and the old Farmer Giles' played up for weeks afterwards! The tv coverage this year showed it to be so smooth you could write a letter on the tank-top as you went along.
No doubt this will all be far too negative for you, or ruled out because I have long since given up coming over until and unless the races find a way to interest me and many others. There are many things that could and should be done - with respect I suggest you are close to being in the "heads-in-the-sand" and "no one must say anything bad" camp.

I totally agree with Nicks post, more constructive comment is needed.However I think this site is one of the better sites if not the best site as it does not have the absolute pifil and drible that some others have where grown adults are firing off comments like kindergarton kids.
Regarding the treatment of a rider's family the original posting was a misinterpretation of the events by a relative and following a phone call was apologised for the misunderstanding.My understanding is that much support was given and indeed thanked for on another site, local to me. I think Mrs Evans has the most undesirable job at the TT&MGPP a post that not many of us would wish to do or be capable of doing and we should be thankfull that she does it with such compassion and profesionalism. Enough said

After much thought I have deleted or edited several posts including some of my own. I hope those whose posts were affected understand this is not a censure on my part but out of consideration for a family.
Thanks for all the PMs and info.