Well, what did you think of it?
I take on board all that has been said about it not being a "real" TT as it was not on the Mountain course, but I think it was a brave and valiant effort to get 125s and 250s back here as requested by so many of you.
As far as the rigour of the Southern as opposed to the TT Course... the Southern is 4 1/4 miles of constant, demanding work, with not a second of respite while the TT is 37 3/4 miles, with some more restful stretches (at unbelieveable speeds, of course!).
The TT is a time trial, with space between riders, too, unlike Billown, where the awesome sight of everyone crowding into Ballakeigan on the first lap takes your breath away.
12 laps of that is absolutely exhausting.
Chris Palmer, 125 TT winner on both courses, said, after doing both 125 and 250 on Saturday, that he wouldn't... nay... couldn't do the Steam Packet race, because he was completely knackered after the two races. I still remember him jumping with delight when he won the 2003 (?) 125 TT... he was too weary for jumping on Saturday, so it is not a lesser race... just different.
Personally, I think 4 of the races this fortnight will stand out for me for many years...
1. The second sidecar.. one of the all time greats... at least 6 brilliant performances and what about Martin Hull (not Matthew Hall, Charlie W... that's a building firm!!)
2. The Billown 250... what an amazing race
3. The Senior
4. The Billown 125.. Dan Sayle... a top sidecar passenger and now a top 125 rider.
We are still also left with the question... how many of those who raced on Saturday would have entered for the Mountain Course, and, given the perceived unreliability of two-strokes, how many would have finished? As the biggest criticism of this year's races seems to be the number of retirements, that's important.

Really enjoyable day. Great racing esp in the 250 race and brilliant weather. Was a great chance to spingboard the 2 strokes into the limelight but cant really see them going back to the mountain course with only 20-odd starters in each race.

Was a bit disappointed by the third Guy Martin no-show in 3 years.

Is Dan Sayle the first person to podium on 2 wheels and 3 at the same TT? Quite a feat!

It proved one thing, they are finished on the mountain for good.

still waiting to see it on itv4,,where is it ?its listed but has yet to appear,,

Helen,really,too tired for jumping!

heeheehee!

It's his age, you know!

The real TT has pits stops

I really hope we don't see any more TT races around Billown again. The entry was poor and the spectacle wasn't great. I would agree with Guy Martin's comments, races at Billown are simply not TT races. I agree with the comments above, great start to the 250 race, but it wasn't a TT race. The Southern 100 club has been pulled to pieces over the last 9 months and at times it hasn't been very rosy. Another 12 months of that will have a real impact, sod that.

I would say this is the final opportunity to run the 2 strokes on the Mountain. How about a large prize fund for a 125/250/400 race. It could potentially attract 40 250's, 25 125's and 25 400's, a higher entry than any of this year's races. See this year's NW200 stats below - 95 started the races. The race would only require two thirds of them and they would all turn up for a good prize fund and the chance to race around the Mountain. You could set them off based on their overall qualification time and have 3 separate races? Set them off in pairs to avoid them being caught too early. It's one idea anyway. Practice and Neil Tuxworth would be the biggest difficulties to overcome, the latter being the biggest problem, especially with his birthday coming up.

Paul Phillips said on Manx Radio that the 2 stroke problem is not individual to the TT and that the same problem exists throughout the sport. I was trying to think of one other road race in the UK which doesn't have a 2 stroke race, there isn't one. The two strokes are at every event except the TT. In fact, 2 stroke racing at the other International road races has been brilliant over the last couple of years.

Number of race starters at the 2008 NW200:

125's 28
250's 39
400's 28

Total: 95

Ben Oates Wrote:Practice and Neil Tuxworth would be the biggest difficulties to overcome, the latter being the biggest problem, especially with his birthday coming up.

At least one main manufacturer (in direct opposition to the majority of fans who want more variety back) doesn't want 2-strokes at the TT. If the TT reverted from being a manufacturers' showcase for the big bikes the toys would be out of the pram again.

Which makes me wonder if this was behind the demise of the very popular parade lap. There was lots of spare/wasted time when they could have run a proper parade lap or a 250 TT on Senior Race Day, even after the two or three guests on Ducatis had been out to play. Has that "vacant" slot been pencilled in this year simply to accommodate a big manufacturers' sales presentation next year?

Could anyone have said, "We're not turning up this year and we'll only come back when you let us have the TT Course to ourselves as a showroom?"