OK, so there are problems with the system being used for recording the race timings. This sort of thing has to be expected when taking into consideration the complexity of this unique event. What with the length of the course, the nature of the terrain, the number of timing points, plus the number of riders and the number of bikes each requiring an independent transponder to be fitted.

All of this at great expense not only to the riders themselves, but also to those who are trying to implement the usage of the recording system. However, one question does remain; was this system ever tested anywhere, simulating the above mentioned criteria for the TT ? I would think perhaps not.

However give the guys who are working with it, the time, and I am sure that the system will prove to be a fantastic advance on what has gone before. Anything that advances the event and brings it into line with other like events that use similar type systems, can only be good for the TT in every way.

I have read and have heard personally, many gripes about this years TT, particularly the manner in which the general public are made aware of official information relative to the event, particularly the posting of the racers finishing times and the race results.

Due to the above mentioned malfunctioning system advancement and the lack of the usually provided information being made available through time tested and proven methods, this year, so far, it has been fair to say that it has not been a success, as yet. Give it a chance, the new system may prove to be brilliant when the bugs are ironed out of it.

What I will say however, is that the discontinuation of the past proven methods for the release of official information into the public domain before any new system has been fully tested and proven appears to have been a mistake.

I do know that there are many people who in the past have applied and received Press Passes from the Press Office, who this year having applied in the usual manner have discovered upon arriving at the Press Office that their request has been denied, myself being one of them. This has not helped in permitting the interested public to know the practice/race results and finishes, and in fact is most likely the reason for there being a dire lack of information on the usual websites that you have visited during past TT's.

A.N.Other official was somewhat perplexed to discover that I had been denied a pass this year and when informed as to why (the reason given to me personally), he just shook his head in disbelief and stated that "Publicity of any sort (good that is) through any media has to be good for the TT".

Photographs of riders during practice and in the races, on various sites, has again been curtailed, again for what appears to be cut-backs in the issuance of Official Passes permitting those who have been able to provide the general public with action shots. Why ?

I am personally of the opinion that any manner of publicity for the TT, be it written reports, race results and/or photographs that appear on any genuine site with a TT interest, can only be good for the TT. However it appears that perhaps there are others who think differently.

I could go on here about what my involvement with this great sport is, (not as great or as lengthy as some), but others would most likely not be interested, so I shall decline to elaborate on that, however what I shall say is that this year, I think the organizers have gotten it wrong, concerning the release of information into the public domain.

I would just like to add that yes, I do feel somewhat miffed that I have been denied access to information which I have received in the past without hindrance. Information that I have previously been able to process in a manner which has proven to be timely, and has been delivered to the general public through this site.

Who knows, perhaps by way of this posting, I will never receive another Press Pass for the TT, only time will tell.

I fully agree Ammo bring back THE TT SPECIAL this posting by the way is no reflection on the TT website and can anyone tell me the full race result for the formula 1 event?

I don't think that is possible whatever site you log in to, as the source of the information that everyone is looking for is dependent upon the release of information from the official source who apparently cannot even provide that information for the official site !

Ammo - Transponder usage.

This has to be step in the right direction for accuracy. Unfortunately the racer is the one who has to cough up the money for what at the end of the day will prove conclusively to be the method that officialdom will insist upon.

You cannot fight it, it is the way ahead and like it or lump it, if you want to race, then unfortunately, the added cost is going to be down to you.

Malcolm,
I am amazed that you havent been deemed worthy of a press pass for this years TT.
I think I heard that the number of passes has been cut by almost 50% from previous years.
Maybe they have had to make the cutbacks to fund all the improvements to the press centre?
There seems to be less "Official" information regarding the results and lap times etc than there has been for the last few years.
Seems strange in this day and age???
Yes, I do think that transponder timing is the way to go, but maybe they should have just concentrated on getting accurate lap times and speeds released, instead of all the split times around the circuit. They could have built on these additional features in future years.
Someone seems to have forgotten that the TT course isnt just a short circuit!

It is like my cats left paw, it is neither fair nor right that Malcolm should not be provided with a pass or access to information that he diseminates around the world via this site.
I have tried to defend the poor tech guys who are copping heaps.
As to the reactionaries, well they are of course entitled to their own opinion. We can all understand the feelings of the riders who have had to shell out, perhaps it would be fair if they received some recompense.
I was just calculating that if there are say 80 riders in the TT week and the transponders cost 180 pounds each then the organisers, as a jesture, could pay the 14400 pounds back to the riders at the end of the forthight.That is the price of 2880 programs. After all if the riders didn't turn up the whole place wouldn't make a cent. This would let everyone leave the island on a pleasant note.

I resent being called a reactionary I'm all for this new method of timing races but NOT at the expense of riders some riders at the TT this year have had to pay out for 5 of these things one for each bike thats the best part of a grand. And the whole system has failed it simply has NOT worked.
Under the old way of doing things there was no direct cost to the rider for time keeping why should there be now for a poorer service.
By the time the Manx comes round I can only hope it's working properly rumour has it that transponder timing for the Manx will now NOT be used where does that leave those of us who have already bought transponders and if the do decide to go ahead with it will every rider get a full print out of every sector time for every practice lap. We'll meet the man on the moon first before we get that.
This whole sorry mess has been a failure and once again it's the poor old rider that pays.

Going back to Malcolm's original comments, I agree that the mistake was to rely on an unproven (TT - wise, that is with the start intervals) system.
With the good old 20/20 hindsight, maybe the original, proven system should have been retained and a random selection of riders picked out to test the transponder system, (at the organiser's cost, of course!). This can still be done at the MGP but it is unfair on the riders who have already parted with their hard earned cash for the transponders.
The electronic system can be highly accurate but I fear many people will have lost confidence already due to the poor performance. Properly set up, the results should be instantaneous and available to all.

Hi all
I raced F1 & prodution 1000 last year(2002) and as with the rest of the riders in this class we had transponders fitted free of charge to our bikes during bike checks. The system was tested and seemed to work well. both manual and transponder methods of timing were used.
there was only complete lap tims available no split times and we had to give transponders back at the end of the races.

At Billown last week, transponders were used in the Singles Race on the Saturday and our 500 race on the Monday.

Full printouts are promised to us in "one or two weeks" - it will be interesting to see the outcome.

Mind you, the Southern 100 boys are an organised Club, so there's a chance of success.

The ACU, however, couldn't organise a p**s-up in a public convenience!!

I have noticed "The official" site has been down for a period of time today and now is simply showing HTTP Error 500-13 - Server too busy.

VERY poor service from Duke this year i'm afraid. Even the comments on their own forums are damning, when they are viewable..

Would be great to see TT Website get the tender for next year Malcolm...?

How about using the money currently subsidising concerts to subsidise riders transponder costs for the first year or two....or to hire the guys who run the system for BSB timing...and this time, listen to their advice?