well a bit of thought needs to be put in to a reply to this but !!
I am afraid not much thought was put into the feelings of the marshalls in Crosby so dont be surprised if my reply upsets DJs family it wont be intentional but to answer the critisism will upset others
And there is to many who are afraid to voice their opinion which is not surprising as the amount of rubbish i had would put anyone off
but i will digest the article and reply from a marshalls point of view as soon as i am back in the IOM

Eric, just leave it. Noone needs your response. You were miles away, and being a marshall does not give you any right to comment in this instance, only those who were directly involved.
The families of DJ, Jim, the marshalls themselves and their families and friends would not have needed to be put through this prolonged agony if it was not for people who were not there sensationalising every detail.
Tony would not have needed to write this if it were not for you and your like. JUST LEAVE THEM ALONE.
I suggest that if you have such a low opinion of riders, and dislike so many of them, you should hang up your marshalls jacket and concentrate on the snooker.As a former competitor I would not want to be confronted by a marshall with your attitude should I have an accident.

This won't bring DJ back, will it !
Let's leave it please..............

I am going to be watching this thread very carefully, and if I see any postings that I deem to be inappropriate, in any way shape or form, irrespective of who they are posted by, I shall:-

1 - Remove those postings.

2 - Bar the people from this Bulletin Board, who make unacceptable or inappropriate repeat postings.

2 - Remove the thread completely.

I have made it very clear in the past, what my opinons are concerning this matter; and the ridiculous exchange of opinons from certain individuals that took place. I will not tolerate a repeat of it. Either let the matter rest or have an exchange of dialogue in a constructive and sensible manner.

Be warned.

Motorsport is dangerous. To loose a son to the sport i have loved for over 35yrs is hard enough, my only comfort is that like David, Ross was competing in a sport he had loved since childhood.But we lost Ross in circumstances whereby i knew that everything possible that could have been done, was done. If there had been any uncertainty in my mind that it was not i would like to think that i also would have composed a letter the likes of the letter that Tony Jefferries did. I have reread it a few times now and am sure like myself he feels absolutely no malice to the other parties involved but it perhaps is some comfort to the Jefferries family to try to improve things for the future. There is not a moment in the day when Ross is not in my thoughts. We cannot bring Ross and David back but lessons need to be learned as regards the future.
thankyou,
Stella

The only thing I would disagree with in the letter is that the Island Racer has got it wrong saying marshals should not look at where the riders are coming from.This is correct but flag marshals face the road the riders are going.As far as I know there are not any dedicated flagmen at the TT or Manx unlike here i Ireland where by the way I have done both.

Tony Jeffries makes an important point about silenced machines. probably one of the nearest misses I ever had in the T.T. was ridng the Crooks Suzuki Production T500 which was enough to win me silvers in the 71 or 72 Senior.

I went through the Lights at St Ninians to find a police man who had not heard me coming strolling across Bray Hill, he froze in terror and I missed him by inches, admitted he probably thought nothing was coming because most machines apart from the were open mega M.V G50s or Manx's and unsilenced 350 Yamahas that you could hear a mile away.

At least in those days if marshalls heard the motor on an out of sight approaching or departing machines stop suddenly be it through a blow up or incident it would attract their attention and put them on their guard.

just what i expected and from the same area

Yes, Marty, you are right, and that is usually the obviously right thing to do. It would probably be best in the Island, with complex and long sections, to have two marshalls working as a team, one looking each way.
Its ironic that in a branch of our sport where there are far more built in dangers, and accidents can be more complex, and lead to other accidents, there are less marshalls per square foot than on relatively safer short circuits. However, there simply are not enough people to marshall to that level.
I still think something should be done to help off Island marshalls with their costs to get there (I know several who come all the way from Germany, and spend all of the TT fortnight dedicatedly marshalling, at great financial cost to themselves.)and perhaps some kind of Big Night Out for the local ones (or a slap up lunch paid for by the ACU......)
Many marshalls, on and off the Island, train, travel and work all their weekends in the racing season so that we can have our enjoyment as riders or spectators. Just like the riders they sometimes make disastrous mistakes. They are human, and it happens. I have the highest possible respect for them, and thank them from the bottom of my heart for the wonderful work they do.

Totally agree with you there Helen. Lesson's have got to be learnt to avoid it happening again.

Have the oganisers considered what is a reasonable time to have adequate flag warnings out, after a large sudden oil spill, or other hazard, at any point on the circuit? Do the marshalling arrangements work towards this? Have I made anyone lose their temper by asking?

Instantly if not quicker is the answer, and it is clearly best to do that as soon as a bike blows, before you have time to establish if it is dropping oil...better to slow everyone (especially in practice) than take a chance.
Marshalls act on their own initiative as far as yellow or oil flags are concerned, but need permission to show a red flag, stopping the proceedings.

A bit of common sense would help. Proper training for all marshall's,on upto date procedures. Not what worked in the 50s.

What didn't work great in the 1950's, but was tolerated.