(13-06-2015, 10:18 PM)Westers Wrote: I can't remember red flags being used until Guy crashed in 2010; ever since then they seem to have become more common place.

I will now sound old, however as per billybookcase, big smashes didn't get red flagged before. The tragic incident with Gus Scott, and the lady marshall, is a case in point; the race carried on, however the accident scene was unlikely to be too clever (I was on the island, but not at the scene, so I'm speculating).

I think the usage of the red flag, and the no racing if it's raining, is due to the new organisation who run the races. That's not a dig at the new guys (they're hardly new, but  you know what I mean), as they've dragged the TT into the modern world, and made it stronger than ever. As a result things had to change, and that was a major revamp of safety and organisation - and fair play to them, they've done a brilliant job at overhauling the organisation, whilst making sure the essence of the races remains intact.

They used it when Paul Orritt crashed at the bottom of Bray hill that time.  The fact that half teh field were still on the start line may have influenced that decision. Other than that red flags for incidents were remarkably rare in the past.  Then again - so was closing the mountain road due to RTA's.

As above - just an observation - no criticism intended.

Sam