I'd laugh if this wasn't so tragic. After the TT07 inquest and the kicking the Marshalling organisation got, I and some others said it could be a hard year to get Marshals. The TT, being the TT, managed OK, which is great, but it's no consolation if the MGP cannot get enough Marshals to run.

In all the years I did the Manx practice week was always marginal on Marshals, and I tried to make a point of getting out on a corner any session when I wasn't riding (and coercing my spanner monkeys out of their pits on morning sessions!). And in 20 years we never lost a session or a race for lack of Marshals. Now of course, with the ACU in charge and the safety nazis in full flow we have to have many more Marshals and you're not a 'real' Marshal if you haven't done all the training and x-number of sessions. Not knocking Marshal training or the experienced hands but switched-on volunteers led by knowledgeable sector chiefs are 99% as good at clearing debris and waving flags as experts. People need to get out and volunteer, and the organisers need to recognise those numbers DO count.

Sadly the new regime has failed to do anything real to improve the situation and now we see the fallout. It's a terrible shame for all the riders who pay through the nose to come over and support the event every year, for the locals who give huge amounts of their time (at no small personal risk given the events of 07) and for those dedicated Orange Army heroes who also give their time and money for the events they all love.

It's about ferkin time the ACU recognised it canot live on other people's dedication, time and money forever.