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American rider's bitterness at TT rejection


DOUG DANO: ‘It has left such a bad taste in my mouth’


By JOHN TURNER
A TT sidecar competitor whose passenger had to be airlifted back to America in 2006 has been refused entry to this year's event.
American Doug Dano, who crashed in practice leaving passenger James Cornell seriously injured, said he was very disappointed by the rejection after the money and time spent on this year's entry.

'There has been no sponsor for this,' he said.

'I have taken two jobs to come up with just over £18,000 to pay for it.
Tickets are already paid for to arrive on May 19 for fitting and testing of the sidecar.

'Except that my entry has been refused along with two other Americans I know, one of them Wade Boyd who has competed in the last 14 or so TTs.'

After the crash of 2006, Doug wrote off the remains of the sidecar and commissioned Andy Pearcy of Laxey to build a new chassis from scratch.

'Andy has built a brand new one — state of the art — taking influences from Terry Windle, Louis Christen and the like,' he said.

'But now we have been turned down with a final no and the truth is it is political so I'm going to come to the Isle and pack all my stuff and never come back.

'It has left such a bad taste in my mouth that it is just not worth it.'
Sidecar builder Andy Pearcy said a tremendous amount of work had gone into getting the machine ready in time for the TT this year.

'I can't comment on the race entry, but I understand his application went in in January so it seems very late in the day to reject it after he's made arrangements and bought tickets,' he said.

With TT organisers actively trying to recruit top riders and races becoming over-subscribed, Doug Dano is not the only person to be disappointed.

Last year, Wade Boyde was only able to race when another entrant dropped out.

This year, Argentinian rider Walter Cordoba, another regular competitor in recent years also received a knock back on his entry.

Marcelo Oliver, a supporter speaking on his behalf, said Walter had competed in the past despite the massive obstacles of cost, distance to travel and unfavourable exchange rate.

Despite riding largely unmodified bikes, Walter had still performed creditably and had been a great ambassador for the event in Latin America, he said.

'Walter feels discriminated against by the event organisers and let us not forget that at the centenary TT, some people who appealed got accepted,' he added.

A spokesman for the TT race organisers ACU Events limited, which assess all the entries said decisions were made strictly on experience and performance over the last year.

'He did not meet the required standard looking at events he took part in this year. Each case is judged individually.

'They take account of the overall field of entrants and this is one of the most competitive line-ups for many years.

'It is also to do with safety because you can't have people lapping very much slower than the front runners.

'Remember Steve Plater as a solo newcomer lapped at 125mph last year.'

He added the timing of the final acceptances and rejections was the same as in previous years.g't'n