Hi Fitz,

On a positive note the 100th TT was always going to get a lot of attention and the following year will restore a modicum of normality.

You mention the riders who will be dissapointed at not having their entry accepted, I know how they feel. I wonder how many riders chose not to submit an entry for 2007 to avoid the agony, I for one remember spending a lot of cash on engines, spares and travel which has to be done before you have confirmation of an entry. Only to recieve the 'Sorry but' letter.

I will suffer withdrawal symptoms but will stay positive. I have used the time to save for a new sidecar to focus on TT2008. So after the TT I shall be across for three or four visits this year and a couple early next year.

Will give you a call and arrange a refreshment.

Regards

Couperman

Nice to hear from you Couperman. You know you can reach me here anytime so I will look forward to seeing you.

Hi fitz,
You are going to hate me for this, But i fully agree with you,
Theres always a first time for everything,,

As has been posted elsewhere, if they knew that it was going to be overwhelmed with entries, Put the extra race on that the Paying Public have been asking for,,

You could have used it for the people that have been supportint the event for years,,
& before Paul Shots that one down, regarding practise, All you have to do is think back a couple of years, 3 solo seissons, & a slidey!!

" Also I truly believe that your face has to fit..."
You have hit the nail on the head, you have to be in the click & always have been when getting entries excepted with the MMCC even going back 20 years or more, & iam sure other people if they had internet access would back me up on that one,,

"Bryan & Julie Downy. Local Sidecar Crew whos face clearly does not fit as they have been turned down for three successive years despite all the racing they do in the UK. The one time they got an enrty they failed to qualify by 30 seconds? Why? because they were learning and lapping the course being mindful of faster riders around them and moving out of the way (slowing their own progress) to let the fast guys through. I know this because we passed them just before Windy Corner and got a BIG thumbs up from me. Please bear in mind this was only practise and in reality they would probably only have been caught on the road by the top 3 or 4. "


To be honest, Whilst not the quickest people out there, but are committed to the event, How are they going to get there TT experience, when as you say they have been refused for the last 3 years!,
The last year i drove the slidey at the TT, Newcomers to the cicuit where a complete pain in the as--,, 4th gear down sulby straight along side wally S, whilst we worked out what the fu! ! these newcomers were doing,,,
So much for tic tac toe , As was brought up at the riders breifing,,
Did the CoC do anything ,when approached by mr W/S , No "they have got to learn the course!!!"

Going back to the Downies, as i seem to got off the point of things,, they cant do that much worse than some other newcomers, give them a reserve ride, for no money,, Done that it the good old days ,
& low & behold got qualifyed, (somehow) but when i got the cheque, it was predated to the day after i offered to ride for nothing!!!


As always a long winded post from myself, but it just pi!! me off when the races that i was such a part off for so long are degenerating into what could be best described a Pr exercise for the main manufactures,, Honda in particular,
Lets shaft the small guys,,Mike Grant must be laughing his soaks off, 20 years after making the suggestion , it seems to be coming true"Lets just have the big teams here"


Hope ive not offended anybody too much ,,but if not i will try harder next time,,

All the best to all the guys & girls that have got a ride,

Regards
mike

Wayne Boyde will be sadly missed, what a man, he came and raced every thing without pay, solo,s side cars, beach racing motor cross, stock cars the list go,s on, The TT would not have a winner without the losers.
IM wondering how much sucking up Ginger Snap had to do to get a ride this year.

Paul,

I don't think anybody would disagree that you likely have a thankless job and can't please everyone all of the time. Just remember, you like the rest of us was once upon a time, first and foremost, a racing enthusiast.

Sadly now you are employed by a Government Department who are only interested in what revenue can be generated for their own coffers and like it or not you are no politician and are being put in the firing line for people to take a shot at.....meanwhile Adrian Earnshaw will take any glory that will come from the TT for himself.

I don't deny that maybe some of these contracts might have been put in place for a number of years to apparently protect the TT for years to come but let me ask you a couple of questions.

1. Have these sponsors stumped up three years worth of cash now or are they legally bound to do so? What happens if they decide nest year they don't want to? Is the Isle of Man Govt going to take on Arai, spending the tax payers money if they decide to pull the plug?

2. After the paying public...you know the once with their pants down, waiting to be taken from behind decide to vote with their feet and not return next year...then what? Who will be to blame? It won't be the DTL obviously will it?

3. What happens when the riders who have been snubbed this year apply to ride, get accepted and then say 'Poke it...we were not good enough in 2007?' I will refer back if I may to Brian & Julie. Does not matter which way you look at it, their faces don't fit and yet Brian will still don his Scruiteneers Overalls and give back!

Finally, No one disagrees (I don't think) that some true stars have been found...Cam the biggest I can think of and they are all heros. But what about the little hero who like me, wants/wanted their own part in the TT History. I am not saying that you need let every one who applies ride but nor do I think the TT should be made up of just the big guys.

You said that the last man away in the Senior?...was a podium man in the MGP?....Does that mean that for the race there should not be anyone lapping at say under 115mph?

I am sure we can meet up at some point in the Sulby Paul and I have no problem buying either. This is not a personal axe to grind with you, this is about the wider picture of the TT and how people are being screwed because it is 2007.

I am not racing this year but I will be Marshalling at Ballacraine/Ballaspur but in the meantime if there is anything I can do to assist and give back to the Races (not the DTL) that I love, I will only be too happy to.....the only reason being I love the TT and want it to be a success.

Just remember where your roots lay Paul, as a fan not as AE's puppet.

Regards

Fitz.

Well Fitz you hit the button right on the head,the TT is a premier road race event and if you can't get round at 115mph then you should be riding in the MGP,but of course that is more expensive

Easy answer Allow ex TT riders to return to the MGP, that should solve any problems and may be a boost to the event.

Hi Paul, I take my hat off to you for your efforts as far as the TT goes, but as far as the slowest rider in the Seinor lapping at 116 mph i think your living in a dream world . Maybe his fastest lap will be 116mph and maybe if he,s lucky he might average 112 mph . But my predictions for the Senior the slowest Rider will have a Fastest lap of lets say 112+mph and a race average of 110mph and i wonder how many will make the grid for the Senior when you think of last year 19 N/S and you only have 5 reserves and you had 17 DNF,s dosent make great reading doe,s it. I believed in myself for this year especially with the Buell as it was my type of Bike and its on the Island Ready to Race at TT 07 i know i could have achieved better things if given the chance but thats racing i suppose. I have appealed my entry,s as suggested but have not recieved conformation one way or the other it would be nice to know with only a month to go now. MMCC told me i should recieve a letter this week so for now my fingers crossed. for now Paul all the best with TT 07 hope it lives up to your expectations and the Fans, will see you about over the forthnight ...........Kevin Ago Murphy.....

Kev - The Best of Luck with the Appeal

There appears to be a number of questions involving rider participation in TT 2007. There is disapointment from Wade Boyde with not being able to race at this years TT Races. After looking at the results, Wade Boyde finished in 56th (last) place in last years TT Suberbike Race at an average speed 107.965 mph. To include only riders who lap over 115 mph in this years race from last years TT results would in this years Suberbike and Senior Race would give you a field of about 30 competitors and would excluded William Dunlop, Les Shand, Fabrice Miguet and Ian Forristal. The competitors for the Manx Grand Prix used treaded road tyres and last years Manx Grand Prix winner averaged 116 mph in windy conditions compared to 120 mph average race speed for the winner in 2005.

The commercial aspects of the TT Races has been evident for a number of years and not a feature of the TT post 2003. I am surprised that Paul Phillips has replied to the comments on commerical aspects of the TT Races. What he has not mentioned that the government financial regulations are about financial stewardship and transparency in regard to tendering for government contracts. What Paul Phillips has mentioned is that local companies are involved in the tendering process in regard to commercial aspects of the TT 2007. Perhaps what he should have mentioned (if he was going to comment at all) is for example the printing of the TT Programme was placed for tender in the usual manner using the correct part of the financial regulations over the winter of 2006. However, the departments way of dealing with this aspect of the commercial elements of the TT races is to advertise in the local media for "Registration of Interest" for a particular part of the commercial operation of the TT Races. As far as the financial regulations are concerned this is acceptable, if the persons or companies registering an interest are approached to tender for a particular contract using the normal tendering arrangments. The criticism of this approach may be that the "Registration of Interest" may not mention a possibility of a tendering process and all the interested parties may not be aware that they have been included in a tendering process when that the tendering takes place. At the end of the day it is a question of transparency in regard to tendering for government contracts and perhaps the "Registration of Interest" method may cause problems with members of the public and local companies when the financial regulations are mentioned by Paul Phillips in this context.

I have only mentioned this as the intial comments of this posting was about a problem with trading spaces behind the TT Grandstand. I must admit that I am unsure what the problem was or how it was resolved by the department. Although this string is about commercial aspects of TT 2007 in respect to this problem of spaces behind the TT Grandstand can be compared to the recent tendering for shop units in the Villa Marina Arcade. The normal tendering procedure has been used for prospective tenants by the Department of Local Government and note that no "Registration of Interest" notices have been used. The point that I am trying to make is that perhaps that there is better way to deal with traders that use the facilities behind the TT Grandstand that follows not only uses the governments financial regulations, but also follows normal commercial expectations, even if the tenant is using the space for a short space of time.

Another commercial aspect mentioned for TT Races 2007 has been the advertising for milestone marker post and TT directional boards. Again commerical advertising is nothing new for the TT Races and not something that has happened post TT 2003. I have noticed that in mid-April 2007 that some TT milestone marker posts still have advertising although this contact has come to an end. Some milestone and directional boards are faded and showing signs of fading paint and rust. The directional board at the 13th Milestone is the older wooden board type attached to a tree.

Although, Paul Phillips has mentioned commerical aspects of this advertising, he has again not taken the opportunity to explain the situation. However, I must admit that this is a complex area. For example, if the commercial advertising aspects have been contacted to company to approach either local or UK companies to advertise on milestone or directional boards or other hoardings around the course and the company has tendered for the contact using the normal government tendering process then perhaps this should this should have been mentioned (if he was going to comment at all) I do not see a problem in this area as long as the correct tendering process has been followed.

Nevertheless, in regard to contacts a there appears to lack of understanding in regard to the princiapals of commercial law. Although one company has be mentioned by Paul Phillips, it was not explained if the contract was with the department (as holder of the commercial rights to the TT Races) or the MMCC the body responsible for the running for the TT Races. Again this is a complex legal area and I only mention this with my points in regard to the "Registration of Interest" method used by the department. To illustrate this, there has been the advertising for sale of TT 2007 Programmes on the internet before they are for sale to the general public in the Isle of Man. This is by at least two local companies and one enterprising indvidual on eBay. I am not sure of the tendering for this right of sale or it has been "Registered as an Interest." Perhaps it may be seen as trying expanding commercial interests, although it may be poor understand of commercial and contract law by the department and as regard to the general Isle of Man population as semi-monopolistic.

Reg - no wonder it took you so long to park..............

Reg, the expression 'get a life' springs to mind.

It seems that the Manx crabs are out again. Lets get one thing straight Paul is not GOD so can not work miracles but as a great supporter of the TT and other races Paul has put his heart into what he believes is the way forward. As most of you know I can be the first to give others stick over the TT but on this occasion I feel its best to give the Lad a chance.

The amount of work that must go on behind the scenes is not worth thinking about, plus how many people do you think Paul may have in his Department that are as enthusiastic about road racing as him, you can bet not many most are only in the job for the pay day..

Over the years that Ive sponsored riders I always hear the same thing from the riders and that is What the feck is so and so riding in the TT for he a dashed Danger and sadly thats true. If by what his happening with the races by ommiting the slower riders from the event, saves a riders life then thats the way forward, no one wants to see an other rider get slammed up the ass by a front runner but thats what could have happened.

I hope and would say I know Paul has got the shoulders to take the stick, I just hope that some of you have the hands to shake his when all is proved.

The point was about rider saftey. I did not express it this well. If I remember correctly Kevin Murphy was not lapped at last years Senior and deserves a ride this year!

Also, I think if you take the time to look at other posts that you find comments about the dtl and a recent court case....

Back to reverse parking.

Reginald Molehusband Wrote:The point was about rider saftey. I did not express it this well. If I remember correctly Kevin Murphy was not lapped at last years Senior and deserves a ride this year!

Also, I think if you take the time to look at other posts that you find comments about the dtl and a recent court case....

Back to reverse parking.

Recent Court Case ????????? has it anything to do with racing I cant recall.