I'm sure the eligibility of the Paton has been assessed by the powers that be and whatever is happening inside those expensive cases is deemed irrelevant to the fact that the bike looks a bit like something that was made in the period. Such is classic racing and I'm no fan of the concept as the bikes out there bear little resemblance to the machinery of the period, but I accept that's the way of the world.

What I am less of a fan of, and I apologise if I've bored you with it before, is that current TT riders can come over to the classic MGP, scoop up all the pots and leave the clubmen who support the events year after year out of their own pocket with no hope of a Rep. All you guys who are used to being at the sharp end, you may feel "all's fair" etc but I know a lot of Holiday Racers (to use one dismissive term that has been levelled against us) who no longer want to come to the Manx because this is the last straw in a long line of p*sstakes. You may feel you can run a race with just a half dozen TT stars but I suggest to you that the falling grids tell a different story. Including new classes will help, for a while (well it's got me out of retirement!) but TT riders on replica works exotica will soon dampen any enthusiasm there too.

The rule allowing TT riders and past MGP winners to enter the classic events made sense originally as there was no progression in the class in the way that the main class winners were considered good enough for the TT, and should thus move on there. However the performance of the TT pot-hunters and the modification of the rules in the modern classes to allow TT riders to return after a couple of years TT retirement says to me it's time to adopt the same rider eligibility across the board.

You'd still get the rocketshops of course, but without TT riders on them at least every other rider wouldn't be hit with a double whammy to their Replica chances.