hmc Wrote:I wouldn't be the Clerk of the Course here for a bloody big clock,

Haha, that's a true Manx expression, never heard it anywhere else

As much as I don't care much for the money men at the ACU I feel Nelson didn't do a bad job this year. The only guy I would say was better was Jackie Woods who retired after several years fine work, presumably for a big clock!

Red flags. You may recall Joakim Karlsson's tragic accident in 2005, where there was uproar in the press because his body was allegedly left in the garden of the house where he crashed because the ambulance couldn't get there while bikes were circulating. I can see some justification for stopping proceedings if they are hazarding the access of emergency services to an accident or the accident itself has caused major course blockage and there is a real risk of following riders crashing (think DJ). The TT course has enough hazards and it's necessary to make a balanced judgement between disrupting the races/practices and leaving many riders needing pickup, and allowing them to continue at an unacceptable risk level. Inevitably you won't please everybody whichever choice you make.

The TT has changed (sadly if you view it as a sporting event, or perhaps not if you prefer it to be a spectacular and profitable show). With that change has come insurance difficulties, local opposition and ambulance chasing lawyers. It's hard to be as free and easy as the TT of years past when riders were sent off knowing they couldn't see more than 50 yards over the mountain (happy days! ). Today if you send them off in conditions less than ideal or don't take 100% precautions and somebody is hurt you will be hung out to dry (as happened after Marc Ramsbotham's accident in 2007). Sad, but true.

The 'wet roads' thing is really a separate discussion and as you say there are strong arguments to making a rule for the use of treaded road legal tyres only. On the IoM the weather is hugely variable and the use of slicks coupled with the above risk averse culture has led to a lot of race postponements and cancellations in recent years. In 20 years doing the Manx I don't think I ever set out when there weren't wet patches somewhere on the course, and in my last race I finished in a rainstorm (on treaded tyres, natch!). You have to make a judgement again, and a "24 hours dry" rule would never work - as we saw one TT was run in partially wet conditions this year (without major incident thank god) and the use of slicks makes this a hard one to call. Some weather conditions, which might have been viable in past years, are now deemed too risky. That's a consequence of folk wanting the TT to be a huge spectacle - you wouldn't get 130mph laps on treads. You pays your money and you takes your choice.

Lastly I wouldn't waste your breath asking Nelson for explanations of his decisions. Aside from the fact it would take all his time if he had to justify and argue his every decision, you don't get to the top of the ACU moneymaking machine explaining your decisions.